For nearly a century, Mark Twain’s Novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been viewed as one of the greatest American novels. However, initially people were skeptical towards its intent and disapproved of its diction. As stated in an article by Huffington Post, “Twain admitted to once having embraced all the most cherished beliefs about racial difference and black inferiority that gave moral justification to the slavocracy of the antebellum South. He used his story of the boy Huckleberry Finn to illustrate his own epiphany about American racism and to offer a cautionary tale at a time when American society was receding back into the same depravity that had earlier torn the nation apart in the Civil War” (Hotchinkiss 1). Still, to this day, many people believe it to be racist and not credible. There is an ongoing controversy on whether the novel is able to portray the theme in a manner that is non-racist but realistic. The current controversies are about the popular belief that the novel should be banned in schools and about rewriting and substituting certain words with politically correct words. The novel conveys a powerful theme when studied at face value. The central theme is focused on the constant struggle between freedom and slavery. This struggle exists for both Jim and Huck. Jim fears the physical slavery of the 1840’s, while Huck fears conforming to society as Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas do. Both Jim and Huck turn to nature to escape the grip that civilization has on them and their town. Wither or not Huck Finn is appropriate for readers below high school level, brings about several issues. The actual meaning behind the text is a source of conflict. The use of the word “nigger,” the unethical treatment of J...
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...ne another” (272).
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is celebrated as one of the greatest American novels. It is well written and has all of the criteria of a good novel. The use of dynamic central character, strong contextual symbols, powerful social conflicts, vivid imagery, and satire makes this novel one to remember. As quoted by Ernest Hemingway, “The good writers are Henry James, Stephen Crane, and Mark Twain. That's not the order they're good in. There is no order for good writers.... All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. If you read it you must stop where the Nigger Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating. But it's the best book we've had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since" (Classiclit).
The Adventures of Huck Finn is a very controversial book which brings much debate on whether it should be taught to children in America. The main reason for this debate is because the offensive word ‘nigger’ is used commonly throughout. The book is a classic and is seen to some people as such a great book that we should overlook the offensive word to understand the real lessons Mark Twain wanted to get across. One solution to this ongoing debate is something called the New South Edition, which substitutes ‘nigger’ for a ‘slave’ a word that is less personal and describes the history of America. Dr. Alan Gribben writes about the controversy and how the change effects the new edition. He uses personal anecdote, emotional appeal, historical references.
Mark Twain’s best works is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The main characters in the book are Huckleberry Finn, Jim and Tin Sawyer. This book is about the adventures Huck Finn takes to get away from his drunkard father. When Huck gets suck of his father he decides to run away to Jackson’s Island which is in the middle of the Mississippi river. On the island he ends up finding Jim who is a slave of Miss Watson’s. Jim wants to be a free slave so they both decide to head to the Free states. On the way Huck and Jim run into some obstacles. They somehow end up in a feud with the Grangerfords and Sheperdsons also they meet two thieves. After facing all of these problems, Huck decides to go to the Phelps’ who are actually related to Tom Sawyer and were expecting to see Tom. Knowing this, Huck decides to act as Tom for a while. By the end of the story word comes out the Jim was already free. He was free because Miss Watson had passed away and had freed him before she did. At the end of the story huckleberry decides again that he will go north without telling anyone.
The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn’s unique ability to incorporate moral lessons through satire and simmilar literary techniques prove it to be vital for High school students, especially at Rye, to read. The vast nature of things it teaches is something very rare for one book to do. It not only provides the reader with important life themes like other great novels do but it also shocks the reader to show the power of racism which makes it one of the greatest pieces of literature of all time. Just think of how different things would be if no one had read such an important book.
How would you feel if a white boy couldn’t apologize to a grown black man because it goes against his faith? If I was in the black man’s position I would feel disrespected but I wouldn’t blame the white boy because he was brought up like that and it’s in his mentality to look at African Americans as property and with disgust. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain incorporates racism and slavery to show how and why it is wrong. He uses Huck, one of his man characters, to demonstrate how a white boy breaks forth from society’s racist ideas and the people around him to have a strong friendship with a slave name Jim, who becomes a fugitive. He uses Jim to demonstrate humanity and how it has nothing to do with the color of your skin. He also shows the struggle African Americans had to go through during that period of time in order to be free. Through friendship Huck learns that Jim is a regular human being just like everyone else.
Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the greatest American novels ever written. The story is about Huck, a young boy who is coming of age and is escaping from his drunken father. Along the way he stumbles across Miss Watson's slave, Jim, who has run away because he overhead that he would be sold. Throughout the story, Huck is faced with the moral dilemma of whether or not to turn Jim in. Mark Twain has purposely placed these two polar opposites together in order to make a satire of the society's institution of slavery. Along the journey, Twain implies his values through Huck on slavery, the two-facedness of society, and represents ideas with the Mississippi River.
Mark Twain’s book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, educates high school students on how the Southern society operated at that time. When analyzing the novel, one can see that Twain’s writing clearly does not endorse slavery or the use of derogatory language toward African-Americans. In a petition to remove this book from a high school required reading list, a school board in New Jersey concluded, "the literary value of the book outweighed the negative aspect of the language employed.” (2) Huckleberry Finn is a satirical novel that was written to show the flaws of 19th century American society. It shows how people thought and acted back then, and points out what was wrong with the white supremacy mindset of many Southerners during these years. “The book itself is a great testament that...
When taking a look at Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, racism is a large theme that seems to be reoccurring. What some may think to be racism in Twain's words, can also be explained as, good story telling appropriate to the era the story takes place in. Twain himself has been suggested as a racist based on the fact that he uses the word "nigger" in his book. However, Twain was an avid abolitionist. For those who claim that Twain was a racist, they must have only been looking out for themselves and not those who are willing to learn about the past, whether it be ugly or perfect.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is considered a classic novel from the realism period of American Literature that accurately depicts social conventions from pre-civil war times. Despite this reputation as a historical lens of life on the Mississippi River, elements of blatant racism overshadow the regionalist and realist depictions. Huck Finn does not promote racism because all derogatory or racist remarks are presented as a window to life during the 1850s, in a satirical context, or to show Mark Twain's moral views on racism.
The most popular problem people have with this book is the use of the word
...e end of the novel, Huck and the reader have come to understand that Jim is not someone’s property or an inferior man, but an equal. To say that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a racist novel is absurd, but there are always some hot-heads claiming that the novel is racist. These claims are not simply attempts to damage the image of a great novel, they come from people who are hurt by racism and don’t like seeing it in any context. However, they must realize that this novel and its author are not racist, and the purpose of the story is to prove black equality. It is vital for the reader to recognize these ideas as society’s and to recognize that Twain throughout the novel does encourage racist ideas, he disputes them. For this reason, and its profound moral implication, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be removed from the literary canon. [1056]
Literature has many different point of views, from which a reader can develop certain conclusions, theories, or ideas. At times those same pieces of work that inspire many can also bring a negative light onto others, resulting in the work being offensive. Many factors are taken into consideration when analyzing a work that causes a stir amongst readers, such factors as the author 's background, life experiences, encounters with different people, and also the time period it was written in. In the case of Mark Twain 's, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, its literary content causes much conflict amongst readers and has sparked an ongoing debate. Many argue that the work promotes racism through the casual use of the word "nigger" which is derogation
Mark Twain, a famous American writer and satirist, wrote many highly acclaimed books throughout the world. His masterpiece, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, earned him recognition as one of the greatest writers America would ever produce. The novel follows a teenage boy named Huck Finn, whose father is an alcoholic. Due to his father's violence, Huck runs away and meets a runaway slave named Jim. Instead of turning Jim in, Huck goes against society and decides to help Jim break free from slavery.
Why would a man who fought against slavery, injustice, and discrimination write a racist book ? For some time, many students, educators, and scholars debated whether The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain deserves its place in our literary canon. Certain readers find the relationship between Huck and Jim especially problematic due to abundant use of the N word and Twain’s stereotypical depiction of Jim. On one hand, Jim is viewed as an uneducated slave who is always in peril due to Huck’s playfulness and immaturity. Yet, on the other hand, Jim is a complex secondary character crucial for Huck’s development from naiveté into maturity. Despite, the glaring overuse of racial epithets, Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn should remain in the literary canon and continue to be taught as it allows readers to address racial misconceptions, such as racial
Mark Twain’s masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through much criticism and denunciation has become a well-respected novel. Through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy, Huckleberry Finn, Twain illustrates the controversy of racism and slavery during the aftermath of the Civil War. Since Huck is an adolescent, he is vulnerable and greatly influenced by the adults he meets during his coming of age. His expedition down the Mississippi steers him into the lives of a diverse group of inhabitants who have conflicting morals. Though he lacks valid morals, Huck demonstrates the potential of humanity as a pensive, sensitive individual rather than conforming to a repressive society. In these modes, the novel places Jim and Huck on pedestals where their views on morality, learning, and society are compared.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is an immensely realistic novel, revealing how a child's morals and actions clash with those of the society around him. Twain shows realism in almost every aspect of his writing; the description of the setting, that of the characters, and even the way characters speak. Twain also satirizes many of the foundations of that society. Showing the hypocrisy of people involved in education, religion, and romanticism through absurd, yet very real examples. Most importantly, Twain shows the way Huckleberry's moral beliefs form amidst a time of uncertainty in his life.