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Huckleberry Finn Dialect

Decent Essays

For some people the sound of Huckleberry Finn reminds them of the old American classic tale by Mark Twain about a boy on the Mississippi River. For me, the name stirs memories of high school English class and the grueling work of writing essays. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is undeniably a part of American culture. If a student doesn’t read it in school, they’ve still at least heard of it. They’ve also probably heard about the endless debates that the book has created for over 100 years. The book was banned by the Concord, MA library just one month after its publication for being “trash and only suitable for slums.” So why is the book so controversial? According to Pearl James the problem is the portrayal of the runaway slave, Jim. In …show more content…

She mentions that the different styles of dialect are helpful in distinguishing between each character. She says Twain’s use of dialect and phonetic spelling are meant to mimic speech, not writing. Even Mark Twain says in the beginning of the book, “In this book a number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri negro dialect; the extremest form of the backwoods Southwestern dialect; the ordinary "Pike County" dialect; and four modified varieties of this last. The shadings have not been done in a haphazard fashion, or by guesswork; but painstakingly, and with the trustworthy guidance and support of personal familiarity with these several forms of …show more content…

Rather she is just presenting the facts of the book that could support each argument. She writes in her essay that ending of AHF is largely based on the reader’s opinion on Jim. If the reader sees Jim as a stereotype and static character, then the entire adventure on the river was pointless, like a circle. However, she also points out that if the reader interprets a more dynamic character in Jim with actual development, then the journey was meaningful, like a line. James draws evidence for both sides mentioning the long, drawn-out trick at the end of the novel. James does not give her opinion on the subject; instead letting the reader use their knowledge to form their own

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