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Commentary on the adventures of huckleberry finn
The adventure of huckleberry finn as a social critique
The adventure of huckleberry finn as a social critique
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Over the course of a decade, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been widely read throughout America by high school students. The controversy surrounding Huck Finn is regarding the abundance of racial styling that is within the book. Supporters of the novel would say that Twain was simply being a product of his time, revealing the harsh stereotypes of that period, something that he believed must be looked at more closely. Opponents opinions would be that the continuous racial insults void the book of any true substance. Despite being occasionally depicted in negative ways, the numerous positive portrayals of African Americans make this novel appropriate for high schools simply because it obligates high school students to analyze and …show more content…
The consistent use of the N-word does not degrade the education that is within the literature itself. If anything, the racial slurs help enhance the point that Twain was trying to get across to readers, which is the ignorance of people during that time. As many people seem to be getting confused, the reasoning behind Twain writing this novel was not to teach people that harsh language towards a race is acceptable, but to expose the immoral society in which he had to live amongst. In addition, the novel generates the idea of true realism and crosses the barrier of racial injustices that are continuously looked over. In school particularly, we are taught a condensed version of what reality of racism was truly like, leaving out the harsher areas to spare uncomfortable situations. However, as Katherine Timpf stated in her article, “We need to know what the past was like in order to fully understand the present and knowing more about what the past was like for African Americans in this country is only going to make people more understanding of the current movement for racial justice.” Twain allowed an open window
...acist attitudes prevalent in South at this time. For all those school administrators who say that the language and ideology of Twain’s writing is offensive, well, maybe Twain wanted to offend people with this novel. Maybe he wanted to offend them so much that they would come to the realization that individuals should not conform to society’s standards, one of these standards being slavery. Until someone is offended, status quo doesn’t change. Maybe it’s about time that we remove the blindfold from our nation’s youth and stop trying to be politically correct. Maybe it’s about time that kids are exposed to the true horror of racism and prejudice so to detour them from repeating fatal mistakes. High school students are neither naïve nor stupid; they can handle the contents of this novel, and hopefully, learn from Twain’s messages.
Blum, L. (2011). A "Crash" Course on Personal Racism. Ethics at the Cinema (pp. 192-212).
Routledge, Clay . "Exploring the psychological motives of racism." More Than Mortal. N.p., 31 July 2010. Web. 30 June 2014. .
In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain the main character, Huck Finn, grows and learns many lessons. Throughout my life I have learned many similar lessons. In addition, I have discovered that there is a relationship between Huck's life lessons and my life lessons. Also I have learned many different lessons that Huck was dispossessed from learning. Twain's character, Huckleberry Finn, and I can be compared and contrasted through lessons we both have learned and lessons that only I have learned. During my life I have learned that lessons are hard, complex, and above all else are universal. One lesson that Huck and I have shared in learning is that a person can choose to escape an unfair situation. Huck escaped his abusive father and was taken in by the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. I too escaped an abusive father. When I was six years old my mother divorced my father and I decided to live with her. Another lesson that Huck learns is to be his own person. He learns this when he left Tom Sawyer and his gang for his own adventures. I learned this same lesson when some friends wanted to go to a concert on a night that I had school and a project due the next day. I did not go with them and even though my friends had fun, I was proud to be an individual. Additionally, Huck learns that friends are very important because they are always there for you. He and Jim become very close over their long trip down the river. They do things for each other that shows that they are friends. Tom helps Huck rescue their friend Jim from slavery. Huck and Tom free Jim because he is a good friend to them. I have also learned that friends are a tremendous part of my life. On various occasions, friends have helped me study for important tests. Consequently, Huck and I have learned similar important life lessons though the experiences were different. On the contrary, there are also a few lessons that I have learned that Huck has not learned. I have learned that you must deal with your problems instead of running away 12/19/98 from them.
takes place? (43). Some people might take the word nigger in an unfashionable way. It
There are many racists’ people in the novel. The story has people that definitely had racism in their younger years, such as the butcher, but by the end of the book they are not directly being racist. They still make jokes and comments, but have ‘matured’.
Racism is not a factor of the heart, according to Tommie Shelby in “Is Racism in the ‘Heart’?” He writes “the ‘heart’ does not have to be involved in order for an action or institution to be racist” (483). Instead, Shelby argues that racism is based on the effect of a person’s actions on deepening racist institutions or promulgating the oppression of a particular group of people based on their race. The individual intention of a person or the “purity” or his or her heart does not take precedence over the effect of his or her actions. Shelby’s argument is constructed as follows: Individual beliefs can be true or false but not inherently immoral. Therefore, it is not appropriate to morally condemn someone for holding a particular belief. However, when the particular belief leads to “race-based hatred...actions...or institutions” that is when it becomes appropriate to hold the individual with the belief morally culpable for racism.
THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN AUTHOR’S SKETCH Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. When Samuel Clemens was four years old, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, where he spent his childhood. Clemens first approach to literature was through typesetting for a newspaper in 1851. At the time Orion, his brother, was a newspaper publisher in Hannibal. From 1857 until 1861, he served as the pilot of a riverboat on the Mississippi River.
In this Award winning novel the 1900 display an astonishing amount of racism, and makes us realize that is is still going on till this very day. “I was just shootin a negro in my collard patch” (pg72Lee). This quote shows us that even maybe the gentlest most kind people are very judgemental and racist. That's the problem even today before even getting to know someone we automatically process the way they look and say to ourself he is black so he will steal something or we will say he has tattoos so we have to hold our belongings a little tighter, and without even knowing, we ourself have become something that we have all feared which is not give everyone a fair chance based on what they look like. Today racism is still very much apart of our culture
Author’s craft is the main source of creative writing for many authors, especially for Mark Twain. In the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck Finn has been trying to get Jim to escape from Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas. Both boys know that this is a hard escape to pull off because both Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas are trying to keep Jim hidden. While trying to keep Jim they would never guess that a plan to escape would ever happen since Jim already knows what it is like to get caught as a runaway. Mark Twain really helps to depict this scene through his author’s craft techniques. Throughout this section Twain uses exaggeration, humor, and irony in this passage to get the point across that Aunt Sally was not a happy camper
Racism is based on the belief that one’s culture is superior to that of others, and this racial superiority provides justification for discrimination. Racism begins with categorising by race, and therefore stereotyping particular cultures. A simple definition of prejudice given by St Thomas Aquinas states prejudice as “thinking ill of others without sufficient cause” (1. pg 21). Racism is a major issue in today’s society, affecting a large number of the world’s population and causing political and social turmoil. To evaluate the true meaning, effects and views concerning racism in today’s world, a number of literature sources were researched including novel, films, short stories, poetry, song lyrics, textbooks and magazine articles.
Routledge, Clay . "Exploring the psychological motives of racism." More Than Mortal. N.p., 31 July 2010. Web. 30 June 2014. .
In a society where racism was in the outset of the moment in was extremely difficult to escape the antagonism of the community.
The portrayal of these two characters by Twain indicates that this novel is anti-racist. Although Twain uses the “n” word, he uses it to prove a point and show the readers what society thought about black people during the time period. Twain attacks racism and tries to break down the racial stereotypes in the portrayal of Pap’s character. Twain uses satire by exaggerating the reality of racism in order to get people to think about the social issues.
In “On Being Crazy”, DuBois defines crazy as behavior based on illogical perceptions. Both the narrator and wayfarer agree that the wayfarer walking in the mud and becoming muddy rather than walk along side a dirty nigger who is clean is crazy. DuBois illustrates that society prefers to cut off its nose to spite its face instead of fixing the nose. Twain builds much of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the same manner. His commentary regarding the social injustice is buried within the story’s humor. While it isn’t readily available on the surface, if one is so inclined to look, it can be easily found.