Reasons Huck Finn isn't racist
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is not a racist novel. This novel has been subject to much controversy about whether or not the book is racist. Whilst many believe the novel to be non racist, there a few people out there who believe it is. This is just not true. This essay will show you why this novel is not racist.
Huck Finn is the main character in this novel; he is an uneducated, uncivilized, backwoods hick. Huck uses the word ‘nigger’ many times throughout this story. What many people have not come to realize is that at this point in time the word nigger was no more offensive then calling another man ‘white’. All slaves in that time were referred to as ‘niggers’. At this point in time that word is very hurtful to the black community when used offensively. Huck using the word only reinforces the idea that he was in fact uneducated and it shows what kind a vocabulary to have expected from a young southern boy. In fact if that word wasn’t used in the novel it wouldn’t be as realistic as it is.
The costar of this novel is a runaway slave named Jim. Jim is a caring friend, a devoted husband, and a loving father. Many people believe that Jim is portrayed as silly and uneducated. Those people have failed to realize that this book is written through a child’s point of view. Before Huck gets to know Jim for the man he really is this is how Huck perceives him. Although Jim is perceived as stupid it’s because he is. Jim has probably lived his life as a slave and has a slaves’ education. This book wasn’t written to show how stupid the slaves were, although it somewhat did, but rather to express the situation of slaves being uneducated at the time.
The third reason why this is not a racist piece of literature is it shows that there in no racial boundrys in love and compassion for another human being. It shows the development of Huck and Jims’ father and son type of relationship. This novel concretely shows that relationships of any sort are not bound by race. The novel also shows how one’s ideals can change in spite of what you have been taught. Huck deciding that he would go to hell to help Jim escape to freedom is probably the most non racist part of the whole novel, and it is what the book is built upon.
There is many racial elements in, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a story that has caused much controversy over the years. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, was published two decades after the civil war was over, yet it is set in a time period before the civil war began so there is many examples of racism and slavery. Mark Twain believed that slavery, and owning slaves was acceptable, but he was not a racist.
Many words the book contains are full of vivid disgust towards black slaves. Every single line talks about how white people despise and refuse to accept the black race. Answering Aunt Sally's question about whether or not anyone is hurt Huck answers, "no mum, just killed a nigger."(Twain 213) This is the one and only acceptable way to talk about black people in the "white" society. In addition to this, not only is the black people treated differently from the white, they are also considered to be one's property. "He is the only property I have," (Twain 122) Huck is perforce to say in order to save Jim. This is the only way to get through without the essence of suspicions. Though Huck shows racism in public as society teaches him, deep inside he understands that Jim is a great person. Through the eyes of Huck Finn, Mark Twain shows that there is more to people then looks and race, showing the importance of beliefs and character.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written by Mark Twain, published in 1884, and according to Alison Flood in the article US school stops teaching Huckleberry Finn because of 'use of the N-word', “one of the most-challenged [novels] of all time.” The story depicts the relationship between a young white boy who is running away from home and a grown slave who is running away to escape slavery. The novel focuses on Huck Finn growing up pre-civil war in deep and very racist south. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should stop being taught to high schoolers because it is too open to interpretation, and doesn't
Is the Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Racist or Not? The book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is not a racist book. The main arguments against it are the characters’ personalities and the dialect they used. This book is criticized by Twain critics and on the top ten ban list for school reading material. If people just concentrated on the main plot of the story, instead of the fine details that makes the novel realistic, they would agree that the accusation of this novel being racist is ridiculous. Huck Finn was abused by his father all throughout his childhood.
When Huck finds out he has been duped by the King and Duke and Jim has been sold to slave traders Huck goes on a mission to set Jim free stating “All right, then, I’ll go to hell” as his proclamation. Even though society tells him that is the wrong choice Huck believes betraying someone as good as Jim is a worse fate than going to hell. Huck’s transition from prejudice to acceptance of Jim gives light to the immoral act that is slavery.
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, events throughout the novel suggest that Huck is a racist to Jim, Miss Watson’s runaway slave, whether he knows it or not. Despite the fact that Huck travels with Jim, he does not care about freeing Jim from slavery. As a result, Twain’s purpose is more focused on the adventures Huck and Jim experience rather than freeing Jim.
Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is or is not a racist novel. The question focuses on the depiction of Jim, the black slave, and the way he is treated by Huck and other
On a superficial level Huckleberry Finn might appear to be racist. The first time the reader meets Jim he is given a very negative description of Jim. The reader is told that Jim is illiterate, childlike, not very bright and extremely superstitious. However, it is important not to lose sight of who is giving this description and of whom it is being given. Although Huck is not a racist child, he has been raised by extremely racist individuals who have, even if only subconsciously, ingrained some feelings of bigotry into his mind. It is also important to remember that this description, although it is quite saddening, was probably accurate. Jim and the millions of other slaves in the South were not permitted any formal education, were never allowed any independent thought and were constantly mistreated and abused. Twain is merely portraying by way of Jim, a very realistic slave raised in the South during that time period. To say that Twain is racist because of his desire for historical accuracy is absurd.
The largest debate as to why the novel is a racist work is because of the use of the "N-word." Although there is an abundance of evidence pointing towards the theory that Mark Twain was a racist, therefore making the book itself a reflection of his ideologies, Huckleberry Finn is created as a form of social commentary, on the racism of the time period. As reflected in the essays in Satire or Evasion?, the perspectives on the views of racism in Huckleberry Finn vary widely (Arac 113) and it can be concluded that “there is no single ‘black’ position on Huckleberry Finn any more than there is a monolithic white one” (Leonard
Huck Finn does not promote racism. All racist comments are merely historically realistic or are to be taken with a satirical manner. Twain uses the novel to morally fight racism. More volumes of Twain's Autobiography will be published in coming years according to his will (Auto). His true feelings may then be fully understood. Until then Huck Finn will be the subject of debate. However, no amount of debate could upset the novel's position as one of the most definite works in American history (Fishkin, 1993).
One thing Huck experiences is racism throughout the novel. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, racism is not as broad as it was in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but it is still present. After the hurricane struck their home, Tea Cakes was responsible for burying the dead. The government said find coffins for the white people and throw the black people somewhere. This tells us that racism will always exist in novels.
From the start, it is patent that Huck is somewhat an outcast who fails to agree with the morals and perceptions of society. As his bond with Jim tightens, Huck questions and disregards many of the lessons he has received about slavery and race. Rather than following the teachings of civilization, Huck decides to follow his own experience, logic, and conscience. At first, he struggles to decipher which is correct, society or his heart; but Huck decides that regardless of right or wrong, he is going to embrace his conscience in regards to Jim. In the beginning, Huck starts out seeing Jim as a worthless “nigger”, but he gradually defies the Jim Crow South by valuing and admiring the escaped slave. One sees Huck following his moral instincts when he battles social customs and accepts his ideas to help Jim in many dire situations. Regardless of feeling the pressures of having the social obligations to turn in a runaway slave, Huck remembers “how good [Jim] always was” (214) and is internally faced with the dilemma of trying to do what he perceives as right. More than once, Huck comes to the resolution, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell” (214), because he sees Jim as more of a father and friend than anyone he has previously encountered. For Huck, his time on the raft is where he truly receives his moral education because that is
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an incredible novel. It is hard to believe that people would protest against it, but they do. Mark Twain set his story twenty years before the Civil War, during the slave era. It is written just as everyone spoke at that time, using the word “nigger.” This book uses the word a lot, which has upset many African-Americans. I believe that the word can be obscene, but in this book it is not. It only shows the reality of that time.
Throughout the years, Huck Finn’s message has been misinterpreted as racist. In fact, according to John H. Wallace the narrative is “racist trash” (112), mainly because of the word “nigger” (Twain 7), which is used more than two hundred times. Never-theless, most anti-Huck critics fail to understand the elemental use of the word. Twain intends to unveil the South’s reality; therefore, the absence of the word “nigger” would result in the erroneous portrayal of how a twelve-year-old, uneducated boy from Missouri would talk. For the same previous reason, Twain gives each character different speech. Not in order to generalize and stereotype, but actually “[forming] identity… by social realities” (James 16). Despite Twain’s intention, the diction he uses for Jim’s portrayal has offended several students and parents throughout the nation, for its jester-like characteristics (Henry 25). In reality, the different slangs, not just Jim’s, give each character the needed humanity to make them more “believable, complex, and therefore dignified” (James 16). Twain’s chosen diction exposes the reality of human beings, which a censored versio...
On a superficial level The Adventures Huckleberry Finn might appear to be racist, and for the most obvious reason: many characters use the word “nigger” throughout the novel. But since the action of the book takes place in the south twenty years before the Civil War, it would be amazing if they didn’t use that word. A closer reading also reveals Twain’s serious satiric intent. In one scene, for instance, Aunt Sally hears of a steamboat explosion. “Good gracious! anybody hurt?” she asks. “No'm,” comes the answer. “Killed a nigger” (Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn 1409). But anyone who imagines that Mark Twain meant this literally is missing the point. Rather, Twain is using this casual dialogue ironically, as a way to underscore the chilling truth about the old south, that it was a society where perfectly “nice” people didn’t consider the death of a black person worth their notice. To drive the point home, Twain has the lady continue: “We...