The Banning of Texts Such as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay

Supporters of banning say profanity can negatively influence the actions and thoughts of readers, especially younger readers that may not have heard or read many corrupt words. Huckleberry Finn, a book commonly inveighed for its use of contentious racial language, is commonly challenged for that reason. For USA Today, Martha Moore wrote, “When the younger reader is staring at that word five times on a given page and the instructor is saying, 'Mark Twain didn't mean this and you have to read it with an appreciation of irony,' you're asking a lot of a younger reader”. Granted, foul vocabulary is a challenge that academies need to address, but not through barring novels. Besides, if the reader is sufficiently mature for the book, they can still learn from it. For instance, some racial characterizations do not intentionally persecute people, but show the contrasting tensions between them, conforming to the time period. Again, the article “Huck Finn Navigating Choppy Waters Again” revealed, “The word is there for a reason… The word is terrible, it's hurtful, but it's there for a reason” (Moore). The racial epithets used in that book convey the attitude of Missouri in the 1840s when friction between African Americans and white people was rising. Additionally, banning a book due to concerns about the language is not beneficial to pupils because it prevents them from learning from other components of the book. “Often the organizations or schools that ban these books fail to see the book as a whole; they often center on the one page, the one scene or even the one word containing the offensive language or meaning and judge the whole book based on that one aspect,” according to an article by Adriana Lopez. She makes a sound point. A book contains a whole plot with themes that

The decision to ban the novel Huckleberry Finn from classrooms and libraries has been an ongoing controversy. The presence of the 'n word' and the treatment towards Jim, and other blacks in general, has made many readers uncomfortable. Despite this fact, Huckleberry Finn has been and remains a classic read. I do not believe the novel should be banned or sanitized because it is a part of American history whether it is good or bad, also we have no right to change someone's writing simply because we do not like how it is written, Mark Twain's writing should not be penalized because of the ideals of today.

While Huck Finn seems to be only a book of satire, most want this book banned because it is seen as highly racial. “The reading of Huck Finn is humiliating to back students. It contributes to low self-esteem. Only the insensitive and often unwittingly racist teachers respond ‘This book is a classic’ (Washington post 6).” The use of the word nigger upsets many black students and instigates the other students to use

Profanity should be the last reason a great novel should be banned. After all, it is reality, it is how people talk, and in the case of Harris and Me, its definitely how young boys talk to each other. The use of the language is hardly profanity at all. For example, Harris says, “Well you can just blow it out your butt you old cow, you ain’t no grown-up to tell me what to do. How the hell am I supposed to know things if I don’t go ahead and ask them? (Gary Paulsen, Harris and Me .7)” The words feel elementary to me, he says butt instead of ass, and old cow instead of old heifer. Maybe it’s not the actual words that parents are losing their minds about, but more about

Some parents want this book banned because they are afraid that the book could influence bullies against African American children in today’s society. However, in any history book or historical fiction about the pre-Civil War times in the United States, the same facts or even worse are shown.

 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered by many to be the greatest American novel ever written.  Despite this praise, Mark Twain’s masterpiece has never been without criticism.  Upon its inception it was blasted for being indecent literature for young readers because of its lack of morals and contempt for conformity.  Modern indignation toward Huck Finn arises from its racist undertones, most notably Twain’s treatment of the character Jim.  As is the case with many canonized yet controversial books, the biggest conflict revolves around the inclusion of Huck Finn on required reading lists of public schools throughout the country.

One of Mark Twain’s best selling novels, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has been disputed ever since the novel has been published in 1884. The novel was based on a young white boy who escaped his abusive alcoholic father and had so many crazy adventure with Jim, a runaway slave. The novel also included racial slurs such as using the word “nigger” over 200 times. Over the time that has gone by, the novel is still unwanted and so many schools are discussing to ban this famous American literature because of just one word, “nigger”. So many people found this word to be offensive so instead of banning the book, the word “nigger” was replaced with “slave”. Also other options were considered such as making a new edition of the novel or just replace

The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been causing controversy since the day the book was published. The book has been banned from multiple schools for several reasons. None the less I think it is a classic novel and should be taught in schools.

Many books around the world have been banned because they are offensive. One example is Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a novel about the journey of a thirteen-year-old boy named Huck, who fabricates his own death to run away with an escaped slave named Jim. The two voyage in a raft along the Mississippi River to gain their individual freedom. In addition, Huck gains a new understanding about humanity. Huck Finn has been creating great controversy on both sides of the argument: to ban or to keep in the school curriculum. Currently “much debate has surrounded Mark Twain’s Huck Finn since its publication in 1885, but none has been more pervasive, explosive, and divisive than that surrounding the issue on race”

words in the book are not trying to offend the reader there trying to tell and story and illustrate

Then they can fully understand the true meaning of the book. “In reality, being required to confront difficult, embarrassing, and controversial matters and to learn how to deal with them does not constitute a hostile learning environment. It constitutes education” stated Joan DelFattore. High school students have heard the N word in songs, in movies and on television. They’ll hear it in college, in real life and it will make some of them uncomfortable. Generally speaking, high school students are capable of separating the N word that they know to the N word that was used in that time period.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a significant book in the history of American literature that presents readers with the truth of our past American society in aspects such as speech, mannerisms, and tradition that we must embrace rather than dismiss by censorship. It is a novel that has been praised and proclaimed America’s “first indigenous literary masterpiece” (Walter Dean Howells) as well as one that has been criticized and declared obscene. It has undergone much scorn and condemnation as a novel and many feel that it should be censored. This, however, is not the way it should be. Huckleberry Finn is a masterpiece and, as a matter of fact, it is one on many levels. The story itself, though

Never mind that attaching the word slave to the character Jim effectively labels him as property. Worse, it relieves teachers of the fundamental responsibility of putting such books in context and helping students understand that “Huckleberry Finn” actually stands as a powerful indictment of slavery. Using its contested language is an opportunity to explore the painful complexities of race relations in this country. When Mark Twain had people using that word, he was trying to show readers how wrong that was. Twain isn't calling somebody the word; he's showing people using it. Simply discussing a topic is not condoning it. That word is part of this country's past. These things happen: sex, drugs, rape, identity, death, sexuality, etc. Life happens. It seems to me that people who want to ban these books because of the said things want to pretend like none of that is happening. To whitewashing these issues or pretending they do not exist negates the point. Every person, including kids and young adults deserves access to information. The second we stop that information from getting to them, the more ignorant they become and consequently, the more ignorant our society becomes. That mentality is dangerous. Ignoring an issue is only going to make it worse. They need to be encouraged to have open and honest

If Huckleberry Finn is altered or banned from school curriculum, questions will surely be raised about censorship and whether or not it has become too extreme. Questions will also be raised as to why a word that is so often used in daily conversations could possibly get a work of literature banned. Robert Hirst, writer of “Huck Finn, Navigating Choppy Waters Again” touches on the subject of banning the book over its language. In his article, he touches on the fact that banning the book would lead to a “slippery slope” of consequences (Moore A.3). In this case, banning the story would lead to many other works of literature in question to possibly being banned as well. People will begin to feel that just because any story is offensive, it can be banned with no consequences. Little do they realize that by doing this, they are only creating a more corrupted society, not a more perfect one. By doing this, they are only deceiving children. Most children do not want to be deceived. They would rather hear the truth about something, no matter how cruel or offensive it may be. In a school setting, children need to be taught about the good, the bad, and the ugly truths that once existed. Censoring the truth from children will not prepare them for the competitive and somewhat unforgiving world that currently exists. Hirst also quotes two teachers in his article. Lindsey Franklin, an English teacher, says, ‘They use it (nigger) in the hallways. They hear it in music. They hear it all

Since the publication, people have protested the language concerning the novel; words like “nigger”, “damn”, and “whore” are not acceptable in a novel which was a reason for the novel to be considered as banned. For example, in the state of California the California Union High School District’s English classrooms in 1978 banned the book for the use of inappropriate language and the behavior of Scarlett O’Hara (bannnedbooks.world.edu).