Essay on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is Not a Racist Book

It is important to remember that Mark Twain was not racist. If he had been, it still does not give any person the right to change or ban what he has said for their own pleasure. "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightening and a lightening bug"(Dawkins 1). A famous quote of Mark Twain. If Twain had wanted his book written a different way then he would have done so himself.

Less subtle are Huck’s observations of Jim as their relationship progresses. Jim at first is nothing but a source of amusement for Huck, but Huck slowly discovers the real person inside. In Chapter 23, Huck states, “…I do believe that he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for ther’n.” Later, Huck goes even further to say, “I knowed Jim was really white inside.” From Huck, this naïve statement was the highest compliment he could have given Jim, and reiterates the idea that a black man can have true emotions and real feelings, something that was not commonly believed at the

Although Huck is a bit racist to Jim at the beginning of their journey, the negative attitude held by Huck begins to fizzle as their adventure continues on. The more Huck and Jim go through together, the closer the two become. Huck begins to see Jim as a friend and vice versa. By the end of their journey, Huck disagrees with society's idea that blacks are inferior. One example of this is evident when Huck doesn't tell anyone of Jim's whereabouts. Huck doesn't tell anyone because he knows that if he does, Jim will be forced to return to slavery. Instead, Huck chooses to "go to Hell" for his decision. He has shied away from society's acceptance of slavery.

This is exactly the kind of behavior that twain didn’t like. However, the main theme in this book is breaking free. He urges his readers to do the right thing, not necessarily what everyone else is doing. He illustrates this ideal with Huck. Most everyone else thought of Jim, along with blacks in general, as something less than human. Huck knew this was wrong, and his actions followed this when he rescued Jim. Main characters Huckleberry Finn Huck is the narrator of the story and for the most part is honest to us, the readers. He dreads the rules and conformities of society such as religion, school, and everything else that will eventually make him civilized. A big debate surrounds Huck on whether he changes or not throughout the story. Huck, in the beginning, seems very set in the south’s anti-black ways, however, Huck states that he will go to hell to keep Jim out of slavery. At this point it seems like he does change, but at the end of the book, Huck plays yet another joke on Jim and seems as though any change was temporary. Huck has little sense of humor, which is ironical, considering the book is satirical. Twain has also been criticized about Huck’s character, in that it seems as though Huck knows too much for his age. In one of the movies Huck was about seventeen, in another he was about eight. I figure from the book that Huck is

Throughout the book nearly everyone Huck and Jim encounter treats Jim as if he is inferior and not worthy of respect or equal treatment. As the story progresses, Huck

If the author wished-for the story to be racist, he would not write about the way Huck felt towards Jim. “He [Twain] tried to evince the beauty of Huck and Jim's friendship by sealing it in flawed and humble English.” ( Race Traitor [D’Andrea 1992]). It is seen some throughout the book that Huck sees Jim as a white man. Huck tells the reader this when he realizes that Jim misses his own family and children, “I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their’n” (150). Any words that seem to humiliate African-Americans is simply a casual use of Southern slang and not purposeful. Huck talks the way he was taught according to the culture then to stylize a specific behavior toward black slaves. However, his feelings toward Jim throughout the novel has taught Huck to conquer certain stereotypes, such as black stupidity and apathy. Huckleberry still

Two chapters into the story and Twain has already placed Huck and his friend Tom found themselves sneaking past a man in the kitchen Huck referred to him as, “Miss Watson’s big nigger, named Jim” (11). This is when Jim and Huck’s view on Jim is first introduced. Huck made it very clear on how he viewed him, Jim was nothing but Miss Watson's unimportant property in his eyes. After the two boys got away without being spotted Tom decided to pull a prank on Jim, Huck did not make any effort to stop him. The way Huck allowed Tom to humiliate Jim shows that he does not see him as a person worthy of respect due to the color of his skin. Jim was just an average slave, and his feelings never crossed Huck’s mind.

At this point in the novel, Huck still holds the belief that blacks are essentially different from whites. Also, Huck's conscience constantly reminds him that he is an abolitionist for helping Jim run away from his owner. Huck does not see that Jim is looking for freedom just as he is.

“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

"I never see a nigger that was a better nuss or faithfuller, and yet he was resking his freedom to do it…He ain’t no bad nigger, gentlemen; that’s what I think about him.” (Page 271). I think this quote relates to freedom because Jim was risking his life and freedom for people; Huck stated that he was a gentleman for stepping up and taking control. I think it meant a lot to Jim when Huck called him a gentleman when he did that, because Jim didn't really have anyone there for him and he was a runaway slave so it was nice to hear something like that from a person like Huck. "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." (Page 251). I also think this has to do with freedom and even racism a little bit because Jim is a dark skinned man and Huck stated that Jim respected anyone even though they were a different race just like he would people his own race. Also Huck stated that it didn’t seem natural for people with a different race to respect each other like in the world today, todays white people don’t look at dark skinned people the same way they do whites and Jim was a white and respected anyone no matter what race they

Mark Twain went against endless amounts of criticism about his racist’s comments in his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The character of Jim is demeaning to African-Americans as he is portrayed as a foolish, uneducated, black slave. The “n” word is also used in the book describing him and many other African-American characters in the story. However, some see this book as anti-racist and believe that the use of racist’s comments is not racist at all. Those who think that are mistaken because Huck Finn in clearly a racist novel.

     There is a major argument among literary critics whether the adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, is or is not a racist novel. The question focus on the depiction of Jim, the black slave, and the way he is treat by Huck and other characters. The use of the word “nigger” is also a point raised by some critic, who feel that Twain uses the word too often and too loosely. Mark Twain never presents Jim in a negative light. He does not show Jim as a drunkard, as a mean person or as a cheat.

Jim does have a major effect in Huck’s development because he taught Huck that niggers have feelings, just like the whites do. In the south, the niggers were believed to be worthless and trash. Society has shown Huck that niggers were merely property. They were not people not did they have feelings. Rather, the reason for their existence was to be sold from one slave owner to another. Although the blacks are misrepresented in the south, Jim proves to Huck that he is not property but a human being, as well. He cares for his family just like white people do. While Jim was trying to escape from slavery, he wanted to help his family escape slavery, as well. Therefore, this causes Huck to understand Jim not only cares about himself but other

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"

The society which Huck tries to escape looks down upon blacks. Society sees blacks as nothing more than slaves, possessions. Jim himself reinforces this: "I owns mysef, en I’s wuth eight hund’d dollars" (Twain 41). The society also sees blacks as superstitiously afraid. Huck and Tom tease Jim at the beginning of