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During the mid-1800’s there was many “imperfections” in the world, and Samuel Clemens better known as Mark Twain decided to write a book to ridicule some problems concerning religion, greed, civilization, romantic literature, and Melodramatic art. Huckleberry Finn goes on a very complex and intense journey which helps him build a perspective on life as opposed to the ones dictated by those older than him. Throughout Huck encounters situations with problems that mimic actual problems in Twain’s world. Twain makes them look extremely pointless and senseless.…
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Twain's masterpiece was ruined when people thought the word nigger was too explicit to be said. People wanted to change the word or they didn't want their kids to read the book. “Huck’s note will now call Jim a “Runaway slave” (Leonard Pitts. Jr). Changing writer's words isn’t original for the writer. Twain is a famous original writer and it’s not your…
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Time and time again art has been criticized for being too vulgar and expressive, Mark Twain was one of these individuals who participated in art, he was raised in the generation where slavery was common and racial slurs were frequently used. So to criticized and censor his work for writing what he grew up knowing would be like punishing Huck Finn for stealing things from others when he was told it was borrowing all his life by his pa “Pap always said it warn’t no harm to borrow things if you was meaning to pay them back some time; but the widow said it warn’t anything but a soft name for stealing, and no decent body would do it” (Chp. 12 Pg, 49). I strongly disagree with the fact that people want to ‘update and improve’ the classic “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” because it uses a term that is found offensive frequently in todays generation. My problem with this posse that wants to change the wording of the book is that, their biggest concern to why they want to change the word “nigger” to “slave” is that they’re doing for the children, trying to make it more comfortable for them to read and protecting the youth from frowned upon terms. If this is their concern then why are they singling out books and classics from decades ago, why not focus on the books being published now with the terms “whore” “slut” or “trailer trash” in it? To me those are equally offensive terms. John Foley once said that he thinks “To Kill a Mockingbird” Harper Lee’s classic about racial inequality in the Deep South, and John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”(Source A) should be removed from the curriculum for similar reasons” all because they show the reader the time gap between the setting of the writing and the present of today even though in the beginning of all books they tell you what time frame the story is held in “SCENE: The Mississippi Valley; TIME: Forty to Fifty Years Ago” (Page 0).…
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In Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn it follows the story of a young boy named Huck and a runaway slave, Jim that he befriends who go on adventure down the Mississippi River. For a plot that one can assume sounds seemingly innocent doesn’t actually agree with many people. This is because of the use of the controversial word “Nigger” which people seem to be uncomfortable with. While, others believe the word is an accurate description of our history. So the problem here arises to whether or not a version of the novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” should be published with the “N-word” to be replaced by the word “slave”. So this begs the question, should both version to the book…
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While reading the book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the term “nigger” tends to constantly appear. The word first appears in chapter two when Huck says, “Miss Watson’s big nigger, named Jim, was setting in the kitchen door” (Twain 7). After that the term keeps reappearing all throughout the novel. As the novel unravels, it becomes apparent that Mark Twain is not using the term in an offensive manner. The term “nigger” has been around since at least 1619. The denotation of the term is a black person or a member of the dark-skinned race as in Webster’s Dictionary. Sometime during the 1800s the connotation of the term turned into something rather offensive.…
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The book Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain has been argued over for years about why it should be banned from being taught in schools since it uses the terms “nigger” and “injun”, both of which are looked down on in today's society for regular use. The reality behind the use of these is that they are put in to satirize that culture.…
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In John Alberti’s 1995 article, “The Nigger Huck: Race, Identity, and the Teaching of Huckleberry Finn,” Alberti addresses whether Mark Twain’s novel should be banned from school’s required reading list due to its racist content. Since the article was written, Huckleberry Finn has been banned from certain districts because of Twain’s repeated use of the term “nigger” referring to the African-American character, Jim.…
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Books such as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are part of history and Twain wrote the novel to convey the social changes that were occurring during that time. African Americans were moving away from the horrors of slavery and the Jim Crow laws, but there was still the belief in white supremacy and slavery. “Nigger” was a term of the times but Mark Twain was able to use the word “nigger” to show how wrong it was. Huck Finn was able to move past the word “nigger” and see Jim as a man, not his color. To remove “nigger” and replace it with “slave” would limit the lesson Huck Finn learned while with Jim, that all men are equal regardless of the color of their skin. By changing the word “isn’t merely adulterating Twain’s text. It is also adulterating social, economic, and linguistic history” (New York Times).…
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I see where your train of thought is headed concerning Mark Twain's use of the word nigger, but I would like to add to it as well as bring up another perspective. Twain may be speaking out about the demeaning aspects of slavery and the lifestyle those people had during that time period, but I believe the use of the word nigger is not ment to be offensive. From what I gathered from the novel the word nigger was a synonym for black person, just like to a child poddy is code for bathroom. To say the word is "too offensive" and that it should be removed from the novel would be destructive to the novel and history its self. Twain did not sugar coat things and the word seems to just be part of the character's normal diction.…
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Ultimately, Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is not a racist novel. Through his recurring use of the n-word as well as the relationships and stereotypes he spotlights, Twain wishes to show his readers the faults in a racist society, as well as push them to find their own moral truths. If society is to progress beyond unjust prejudices and mistreatment due to race then, like Huck, everyone must venture out into the world and formulate their own views and opinions rather than blindly follow outdated traditions such as…
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In the 19th century, racism and segregation was apart of the culture in the United States. Throughout the novel, Mark Twain uses the derogatory term “nigger” multiple times to speak about the black slaves. “ When they told me there was a State in this country where they’d let that, nigger vote, I drawed out. I says I’ll never vote again....I says to the people, why ain’t this nigger put up at auction and sold?” (Twain 28). Pap is speaking to Huck about a man he once met in Ohio. The problem with this man is that he is a “nigger”. In the earlier days, when the novel was first released, there was no controversy due to the bigotry, but in more recent times, after slavery was abolished, people began to denounce the book as racist. There is also the idea that Twain was depicting Jim as a stereotypical black. He is always put down throughout the text. Due to the racist depictions, many schools and literary institutions have censored this book from their students.…
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According to the “Boston Transcript”, Huckleberry Finn is “regarded as trash and is more suited to the slums than to intelligent, respectable people” (“Boston Transcript” 308).The language used by Mark Twain in Huckleberry Finn is offensive and depicts humor during this period of time. According to the “Harvard Gazette”, "The n-word is spoken there a number of times," said NAACP Pennsylvania state President Charles Stokes. "The concern we have is that to a black child it might be damaging. Also to a white child, or a Hispanic child, those words could be damaging" (Powell). Parents as well as high schools and colleges have demanded that Huckleberry Finn not be taught. The thinking behind Twains, writings is that it will only strike discord between the races. Huckleberry Finn is consider to be a stereotype of racists and language and instead of bringing light to this time in history and the building of a relationship it is poking fun. The belief of that if our country is to move on from racism and division writings like Huckleberry Finn should not be taught (Yee). Huckleberry Finn is outdated and portrays a society that stood at odds and more writings of unity should be taught to reflect changes of…
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Most of the students reading this novel are at a very immature age and are in some cases very sensitive to the material in the books. The students feel awkward and are often shocked while reading a book with repetitive use of the N- word and the discriminating words used towards the black slaves. None of them are ready for the hatred and ridicule centered on one race in this novel, this is especially true for the African American students in a predominately white school. “What do dead white male authors know about your particular situation in this particular class?”(Toni Morris). Twain was aware of the African race, but he had no perspective of how they would feel towards his novel years after its release, it is demeaning and offensive to all black students who…
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Aside from the novel’s new style of writing, Twain’s decision to use thirteen-year-old Huck as the narrator allowed him to include certain content that a more civilized narrator probably would have left out. At first, Twain’s novel was labeled crass by some readers. The book was even banned in schools for its use of the n-word which is ironic, given that the novel is up in arms over slavery. Even today, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn makes "Banned Books" lists.…
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Mark Twain repeatedly used the word ‘nigger’ in the book to describe how in the town where it took place, everyone uses the word ‘nigger’ casually, from old ladies to Huck himself uses the word very casually. This shows how at that time, dark skinned people are very discriminated by the white. They are treated as slaves, up to the point where they will sell them in exchange for money. From the words that Mark Twain used in describing the society, we can clearly see that slavery and racism both are still an on going thing. If we compare this to today, it is completely different, people are now forbidden to say the word ‘nigger’ and dark skinned people are way more respected.…
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