Racism In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

Despite all the criticism, of racism and other questionable material for young readers, Mark Twain’s The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn is a superbly written novel, which in the opinion of this reviewer should not be remove the literary cannon. Twain’s novel is a coming of age story that teaches young people many valuable lessons and to some extend makes students reexamine their own lives and morals. The most common argument for its removal from the literary canon is that the novel is too racist; it offends black readers, perpetuates cheap slave-era stereotypes, and deserves no place on today’s bookshelves.  However one must ask if Twain is encouraging

It is hard to turn on the news today without being reminded that the world that we live in still has distinct traces of racism from bygone eras, with racially charged protests towards police brutality and accountability. Racism can affect many different groups of people and can be expressed in countless ways. While we have made advances in the treatment and relative equality of others, remnants of a racist time are lodged within our society. Mark Twain’s novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” can be seens as one such remnant, due to its portrayal and attitude towards African Americans. Mark Twain writes the character Jim to be what was a stereotypical African American slave in the mid nineteenth

Since the release of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1885, the way that different races relate to each other (specifically people of European and African descent) has changed astronomically. In some ways it’s improved dramatically, but some aspects of inter-racial relations have changed in ways that are not necessarily positive since the books release.

Mark Twain has always been one of the most controversial authors of all time. Though in recent years, there has been increasing controversy over the ideas expressed in his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In some extreme cases the novel has even been banned by public school systems and censored by public libraries. The basis for this censorship is the argument that Mark Twain's book is racist, but in reality Twain was against racism and used this book to make people aware of what was going on in the south. He did this by using the regional dialect of the south, showing the attitude of the other characters in the novel toward black people, and showing his depiction of black characters. If one were to "read between the lines"

he tries to help Tom near the end, he is not shown as a human being, but at

At the start of Huck Finn, Huck is a follower of Tom, and does not stand up for his opinion, yet throughout the middle chapters, Huck develops morally and is able to see Jim as a human, and friend. When Tom returns in the finals chapters, Huck’s “clarity and moral resolve fade, and he becomes, if anything, more of a passive Sawyer-lackey than he was at the beginning of the book” (Saunders 201). Huck’s reversion back into Tom’s follower (who is essentially racist) leaves Twain’s anti-racist message to deteriorate, which impairs the final chapters. Preceding the last chapters, Huck breaks society’s expectations for a young white boy, when he says, “all right then, I’ll go to hell...” and rips up the letter he wrote to Miss Watson about Jim’s

In the book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character Huck deals with multiple problems that he comes in contact with such as becoming more “sivilized” and educated. The most significant problem that Huck deals with effectively is racism against his own moral beliefs. As readers encounter the developmental story about a boy who flamboyantly decides to have an adventure, which leads into an eye-opening experience that exposes racism not only for readers but for the character Huckleberry Finn.

In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, racism is one of the main topics that the story is based around. The stories protagonist Huck, has grown up around slaves and even has a father who would rather never vote again than to see an African American vote freely. “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). Even though Huck has been subjected to all of society’s views on blacks in the community and their only usefulness as being a slave, Huck eventually finds himself in the situation where he cares more for a black man, than he does his own father. The novel was written

Emily Silvia Summer 2014 Honors English Assignment Racism in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by well-known author Mark Twain, one of the main themes is racism. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn takes place in a time when slavery is an issue and people of African American decent are looked down upon. During this time period slaves were often abused, not allowed to be educated and had no freedom.

In Mark Twain’s novel, Adventures of HuckleBerry Finn, it tells a story of a kid running away from his home, and an African-American man escaping from slavery. Twain uses the Mississippi River as sort of a refuge from land for Huck and Jim. Although some aspects of the novel may appear to be racist to some people, Twain and the story are against slavery and racism.

Racism has played a role in U.S history ever since Columbus bumped into America and disregarded the true owners of the land, but it did not stop there. Once slaves were brought from Africa and then sold to the Americans, racism increased due to the fact that a subordinate race was not only in their towns, but also in their homes. It was not until relatively recently that our society thought to change their previously consistent views on racism. From our classic literature to our modern day news stories, racism is presented as a consistent issue throughout the history of the nation; however, it has widely changed in severity.

Mark Twain is an author who fought against, slavery, injustice, and discrimination in order to highlight the crippling effects of racism through The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . For some time, many students, educators, and scholars debated whether Huckleberry Finn deserves its place in our literary canon. Certain readers find the relationship between Huck and Jim especially problematic due to the abundant use of the N word and Twain’s stereotypical depiction of Jim. On one hand, Jim is an uneducated slave who is always in peril due to Huck’s playfulness and immaturity. Yet, however, Jim is a complex secondary character crucial for Huck’s development from naiveté into maturity. (connect) Despite, the glaring overuse of racial epithets,

Published in 1885 by Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was very progressive for its time. The novel shed new light on racism from the past and present years; most of the people living in the southern states accepted the idea of racial separation. Most African Americans, free or not, held little to no rights. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn does not explicitly ridicule racism, but rather implies the negativity of it through various elements of the story. Twain’s portrayal of Jim and Huck’s relationship with Jim help in uncovering what Twain believes to be the true nature of racism.

Although The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published in 1884, almost 20 years after the end of the Civil War, it is set in an earlier time, when racial slurs and demeaning societal roles were still thriving. Twain even has the protagonist Huck deal with moral conflicts about Jim, who Huck likes. At the beginning of the novel, Huck says “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a ni**er; but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards neither” (Twain, 49). Later Huck seems to be taking small steps into progression even though he’s living in a world full of racism. The novel paints a clear picture that living in Missouri back then is much different than it is now. This may lead to the reader

Throughout the novel, Huck’s treatment of Jim is demeaning and racist. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, set in the 1800’s, Huck, a white boy, and Jim, a runaway slave, travel together on an adventure to escape. They form a bond throughout the story, although Huck’s use of the n word and other problematic remarks have raised the question can his racism be justified?