The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been taught in classrooms all over America. What makes Mark Twains book so popular in the classroom is not his perfect plot lines, it is the characters. Twain used his protagonist Huckleberry to traverse the norms of racism. The American Journalist Nat Hentoff says this about Huckleberry Finn and his relationship with Jim “reared in racism, like all the white kids in town. And then, on the river, on the raft with Jim, shucking off that blind ignorance because this runaway slave is the most honest, perceptive, fair-minded man this white boy has ever known” (Milliken 2). Twain 's personal beliefs on racism go hand in hand with his protagonist, Huckleberry. Twain was raised in a time full of racist and …show more content…
Just like Huckleberry says things to his Aunt Sally to make her feel good about how Huck believes black Americans should be treated (Church 300-301). As Yale Professor Stephen Carter says “Twain, raised in a slave state, briefly a member of the confederate militia, and inventor of Jim, may have done more to rile the nation over racial injustice than any other novelist in the past century who has lifter a pen” (Carter 4).
When The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was first published it offended many people because of its use of racial epithets. The word nigger appears more than two hundred times in the novel (Smith 182). Twain used the offensive word nigger so that readers would be able to relate to the time period and treatment of black Americans (Smith 183), but Twains usage of the word caused his book to be banned from the shelves in libraries all over the United States. The novel was banned from the Public Library committee because its language was “trashy and vicious” (Pinsker
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He connects with the idea that Jim shouldn’t be turned in because he is a “good nigger.” Twain shows his character Huckleberry’s full passion for Jim and his humanity when he rips the letter he was going to send to Mrs. Watson and responds by saying “‘All right, then, I’ll go to hell’“ (Twain 170). Ernest Mason perfectly explains the relationship between Huck and Jim like this “it represents and interesting combination of revulsion and fascination, intimacy and remoteness, attraction and repulsion” (Mason
The lessons Mark Twain teaches throughout his book are vital for every High School student to experience. One of the major points for arguing that The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn should be banned is the repetitive and overuse of the N word. On a surface level, the way the N word is used could seem very disrespectful however as one dives deeper into analysis, Twain seemingly uses the N word loosely to portray a message. Throughout the book, Jim is always looked upon with a negative attitude and being just a typical black person because of these traits. However, as Huck and Jim venture along the Mississippi river, Huck begins to act more and more like Jim is an actual person. A prime example of this is when Huck says “they’re comin for us” (Twain 63) rather than saying they’re coming for you. Huck sees him and Jim as a relationship rather than just him and a slave. Another example is when Huck says, “It was 15 minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a n----” (89). Huck’s apology shows how Huck’s mindet towards not only Jim but all black people has changed, and that he actually has feelings for them now. The overall lesson tha...
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
The novel is set in the antebellum south, and throughout the course of Huck Finn we see Twain poke fun at the injustices of race relations by exploiting the importance and power of friendship. Twain develops a friendship between a White boy by the name of Huck, and a “runaway” Black slave named Jim. “Dah you goes, de ole true Huck: de on’y white genlman dat ever kep’ his promise to ole Jim.” (Twain Pg. 90) This quote satirizes the views of many White people in the Antebellum South. During this time period when many Blacks were enslaved, and those not enslaved were treated as slaves, it was extremely unusual for a Black person and a White person to be friends at all. It would be unheard of to see the two conspiring, and further - unthinkable that they may have a strong and lasting friendship built on trust and loyalty. Twain contrasts this racial standard by establishing and demonstrating the power and importance of friendship, no matter the color or social status of the persons involved. Huck and Jim defy civil law by becoming the best of friends, thereby letting morality nullify law to illustrate the fundamental moral injustices of race relations in the Antebellum South
Twain's stereotypical depiction of Jim originates from traditions of his time: “Writing at a time when the blackfaced minstrel was still popular, and shortly after a war which left even the abolitionists weary of those problems associated with the Negro, Twain fitted Jim into the outlines of the minstrel tradition . . . ” (Ellison 421-22). Minstrel shows, first appearing in the 1840s, were theatrical productions typically performed by white actors who blackened their faces with greasepaint and wore white gloves “to render comic burlesques of African American speech and manners” (Carey-Webb 24). The function of the minstrel mask, the “black-faced figure of white fun,” was “to veil the humanity of Negroes thus reduced to a si...
There is a major argument among literary critics whether Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is or is not a racist novel. The question boils down to the depiction of Jim, the black slave, and to the way he is treated by Huck and others. In the 1950s the effort to banish The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from required classroom reading lists came publicly to the floor again, not chiefly on the grounds that its depiction of black characters and the use of the word “nigger” were demeaning to African-American students. Many feel that Twain uses the word too loosely. However, many believe that Huck Finn should be taught in schools on the grounds that the novel’s racist theme accurately depicted what life was like for a slave in pre- Civil War times.
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...
The way Jim acts tends to depict blacks in a negative light, based on his language throughout the novel, that makes the African American character sound ignorant. Fishkin debunks this argument by saying “Jim’s speech represented Twain’s ‘pains-taking’ efforts to accurately record, to the best of his ability, “Missouri Negro Dialect.”...His use of eye dialect (like ‘wuz’) is minimal. His primary concern is communicating Jim’s very pain.” (Fishkin
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 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. Racism was and forever will be a dark part of the American past, and no one can change that, no matter how many books one may alter.
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).
As for some, the novel of Mark Twain, known as Huckleberry Finn, is subjecting high school students to a literature they are not mature enough to handle. These individuals who share in this idea encourage the novel to be introduced to students after their college enrolment. This is simply because they are not comfortable exposing the word, “nigger” in such a manner that it can be viewed as harmful to African Americans. My stance on this subject is very in favor of exposing the novel to high school students for many reasons. I find that many people look at the word “nigger” in only one viewing, and need to broaden their views of this word. The maturity of high school students is almost the same as those in college. However, many college students
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
They face racism every day, with mindless judgement put upon them simply by the color of their skin. As freedom for African Americans only came within the past two hundred years, and desegregation within the past one hundred years, racism still dwells within communities and schools. Africans Americans face prejudices just as they have in the past two hundred years and beyond, “It most froze me to hear such talk. He wouldn 't ever dared to talk such talk in his life before. Just see what a difference it made in him the minute he judged he was about free”(Twain 110). Such racism dwells from the many centuries that blacks were seen as inhuman, or even three-fifths of one, and even today in the media, race has major pertinence, for example, when speaking of someone who robbed a store, without a second thought the media states the person’s race as if that pertains to the crime somehow. Therefore, stereotypes and judgements of race come about, such as all young African American boys are troubled. Nearly the same thing happened two hundred years ago at the time the novel was written, an African American was seen as inhumane and unequal, an assumption that was obviously false. For example,an African American man cannot achieve the same goals as a white individual: “Jim never gains the intellectual complexity of Huck, never becomes a figure of disruptive alienation, nor even seems capable of learning this from Huck”(Carey-Webb). Twain’s failure to develop Jim as a character shows his judgements towards African Americans, and makes aware the stereotypes of African Americans today, the stereotypical young man of that minority does not have the same aspirations as one of European origin. Even though many young men have repeatedly falsified that claim, many still see worth in it. The media of today represents the minority with many blind
...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]
Since its first publication in 1884, Mark Twain’s masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has proven to be one of history’s most controversial novels; especially recently, the novel has often been banned by schools and censored by libraries. Characters in the book are constantly using disparaging language toward slaves, and the repeated use of the word “nigger” makes many sensitive and offended. Critics denounce the novel and Mark Twain as racist for this word being insulting and politically incorrect and for its depiction of black people and how they are treated. However, Twain was not attempting to perpetuate racism; on the contrary, he used satire to expose the ignorance and paradoxical views held by many in America at that time. Despite objections to the novel for offensive and insensitive portrayal of African Americans due to Twain’s negative and stereotypical “minstrel-like” characterization of Jim and the extensive use of the term “nigger,” throughout the novel, Twain exposes Jim’s unfeigned humanity behind a “minstrel-like” pretense by illustrating his capacity to possess profound human emotions and his triggering Huck’s moral transformation from a conscienceless, uncivilized juvenile into a an adolescent able to make the ethical choice.
Huck also states, “I do believe [Jim] cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their’n. It don’t seem natural, but I reckon it’s so” (Twain 157). This statement exhibits how bad discrimination was during this time period. Discrimination was so bad that White Americans were objectifying Blacks. Whites do not believe that Blacks can even care about someone, much less feel what a white man could feel. The Americans of European descent are treating them as property or animals rather than human beings with