For hundreds of years up to this day, racism is still present even though there has tried to been a change, for good, but when this novel is brought upon english classes around the world things do not seem to have gotten anywhere. From the switch of the word “nigger” to slave to being super hard to teach to not being teachable at all, this is something that should not be happening as in today’s world this should be surpassed. Huckleberry finn should keep this grandiose book
So as you can see the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a great piece of american literature and should be taught in all high schools. not only because it shows how racism was back in the late 1800s but also because it shows the true meaning of the word
Huckleberry Finn deals with the issue of racism. Racism, however, is only a single scourge of society. The book is suggesting social change in any form it may take (and it takes quite a few). Racism is only a readily available example that people where already taking notice of, easy pickings for mister
In addition to this, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be taught in schools because it teaches important moral lessons. Early on in the book, after Huck had come across Jim on Jackson Island, he’d decided to play a mean trick on him. He kills a rattlesnake and puts it on the foot of Jim’s blanket and expects that he will react like any stereotypical black person. “Jim’s eyes will bug out; his teeth will chatter; his knees will knock together,” (p.63) The joke turns bad when Jim gets bitten by the snake’s mate, and as a result Huck feels ashamed. But at this early point in the book, Huck doesn't blame himself because all his life, everyone around him had reiterated the idea that black people were property, not people, and they deserved
Should Huckleberry Finn be taught in schools? This question has been a topic of discussion over the past years and is still being talked about today. A lot of people say that the book should be banned from schools because of the racial comments in the book. People claim that it could offend the youth, and teach them unfit words. It is understandable for people to be concerned about the books language, but in reality all the book does is enlighten the youth on the history of slavery and many more. In Joan DelFattores article she states. “The elimination of "nigger" is presented not as censorship but as a rescue mission to save Huckleberry Finn from oblivion, because many secondary schools will not teach material that makes students
“All modern literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn,” this is what fellow writer had to say about this classic novel. Still, this novel has been the object of controversy since it was published more than 150 years ago. Some people argue that Huckleberry Finn is a racist work, and that the novel has no place in a highschool classroom. This feeling is generated because a main character in the story, Jim, and other slaves are referred to many times as “niggers.” When Mark Twain wrote this book, he was striving to show the general public that society was wrong in the past, that the way white people thought black people were less than human was a wrong viewpoint. The
Apart from being one of the landmarks of American literature, Mark Twain’s classic tale,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a mirror of the deeply embedded racist attitudes of the Deep South in the 1880’s. First, not to mention the most controversial and obvious, is the liberal use of the “n” word throughout the book. Taken as a derogatory term by modern-day Americans, Twain’s use of the “n” word is simply a reflection of the times. Huck Finn was written when cruel and unjust treatment of colored people were commonplace and use of such a word didn’t get so much as a second thought.Huck Finn depicts a time when slaves were not treated as people but as things without emotions or personalities, mere property. For instance, Jim is initially known only in relation to whose property he is. He escapes from being continuously treated as property, even sold to a family that will most likely treat him even less humanely.
Huckleberry Finn should not be taught in school Huckleberry Finn, the novel that Samuel Clemens wrote who took a pen name called Mark Twain, ‘A month after its publication, a Concord, Massachusetts, library banned the book, calling its subject matter “tawdry” and its narrative voice “coarse” and “ignorant.”.’ (‘Twain publishes’) The book talks the time that during the Missouri Compromise. The main character Huck is a boy that do not study and know things. He has a friend called Jim who is black and wants freedom.
It is odd to think that a high school student would pick up the word “nigger” and use it against another student because high school students have already been exposed to topics such as slavery and racism. Therefore, it would be unlikely for a student to use “nigger” against another student given the fact that race is still a “volatile and divisive subject” in this country and high school students is not ignorant infants that can’t distinguish the rights and wrongs about the word “nigger.” (Williams, Randle). At this point in time teenagers are exposed to excessive profanity through the media, music lyrics on TV and many times it is not censored. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be kept in library shelves and schools in its original form because students can receive moral lessons and therefore, mature as human beings. A big part about how a student can react to the novel is how the book is being taught. Teachers should acknowledge the intention and purpose of Mark Twain, which was to appeal to the reader 's emotions through the use of specific diction. Along with teaching the literary elements of the novel the teachers should also imply the ideas and controversies that are being presented in the novel. Twain’s purpose was also to capture the moments that defined the 1800s such as slavery and racism. After all, the novel should be taught in its original
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is Number 14 on the list of 100 banned/challenged books (ALA). With a book as high on the list as Huckleberry Finn it only is natural that it would have some controversy. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was first published in 1884 and was banned a year after in 1885 (Ruta). It is banned for its portrayal of stereotypes, and most importantly its excessive use of the word “Nigger.” The book has been challenged, defended, and banned throughout the years since its release, with limited classrooms teaching it.
Although this is true students are aware that it is not accepted in society and when they see it accepted in the novel they start to believe it is fine to say racial slurs in the “real world”. Even though some of the more mature and sophisticated can understand the role of racism in this book most students will interpret it another way making it a good reason why Huck Finn should be taught in a higher level of education.
When the argument of replacing the word "nigger" with "slave" one sees the issue with that. The issue being that "nigger" in that time meant African-American, not necessarily a slave. So looking at a high school or college student in the future reading Huckleberry Finn for the first time and reading is with the word "slave" the story loses its effect on the reader. It does not give a sense of the time, it would only give a vibe that something is not right in the story. When reading this story for the first time, one must have an open mind and not pay attention to little things like racism in this book. The main plot is not, lets raft down a river and see how racist we can be. As one reads the story flows, and part of that flow is to allow discrepancy in racial slurs. It is okay to have the
There has always been controversy about Mark Twain’s book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and whether or not it should be taught and discussed in school. Many think the book should be banned. The argument against using the book is based on the “N-Word” and other racial slurs which are used throughout the book. They are offensive.
Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is perhaps one of the most controversial novels the North American Continent has ever produced. Since its publication more than a hundred years ago controversy has surrounded the book. The most basic debate surrounding Twain's masterpiece is whether the book's language and the character of Jim are presented in a racist manner. Many have called for the book to be banned from our nation's schools and libraries. Mark Twain's novel is about a young boy who was raised in the south before slavery was abolished, a place where racism and bigotry were the fabric of every day life. The novel is the account of how Huck Finn, who is a product of these
Once upon a time, in a world not far from here, there are students who are forced to miss their annual train ride to Hogwarts, lock the wardrobe to the magical land of Narnia, and walk through the English countryside themselves instead of upon the back of Black Beauty. Why are these students deprived of those occurrences? They live in America, the land of the free- except when it comes to the books they can read. In fact, many schools across America exercise the practice of banning books. Since 1982, libraries, parents, and schools have attempted to ban 11,300 novels, according to the American Library Association. The essentially innoxious books are challenged for an assortment of reasons, including use of malapropos language, graphic or explicit
Huck Finn is a historical fiction novel that uses offensive language in a satirical way to portray slavery in the nineteenth century. The novel is questioned for its historical inaccuracies and use in junior high and high school classrooms. Some believe that the “reading aloud of Huckleberry Finn in our classrooms is humiliating and insulting to black students” (Wallace, 17). Yet, others believe that “one gathers a deeper understanding of the meaning of living in a slave society such as the one Huck and his peers lived in” (Barksdale, 49). Because of the novel’s vulgar language and repeated use of the “n-word”: “the appellation commonly used for slaves in slavery time, appears more than 200 times”, the novel can become a source of discussion within the classroom environment (Barksdale, 52). Although students would have to be prepared for the “far-flung historical and psychological causes and consequences”, after reading the novel, its negativity and racial discrimination can be discussed rather than its status as a literary classic (Barksdale, 53). This novel can create a safe way to discuss the use of racial profanities as well as racism during the 19th and 20th centuries compared to the racism experienced in the 21st century. If teachers and students are able to discuss The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in a constructive manner rather than