The Consequences Of Censorship In Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain

The revisional author, Alan Gribben, said he worried that the N-word had resulted in the novel falling off reading lists. He believes his sanitized edition will please more readers and teachers. Gribben has plowed over Twain's freedom of speech in the process. After all, Twain isn't around to comment(Dawkins 1). The responsibility of this book belongs to no one. Banning or sanitizing Huckleberry Finn should not be a topic of discussion because Twain had every right to write the book however he desired. Offensive terms and words are being invented right now. We should not pick on historical terms when others are being invented everyday.

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

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”

Since its first publication in 1884, Mark Twain’s masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has proven to be one of history’s most controversial novels; especially recently, the novel has often been banned by schools and censored by libraries. Characters in the book are constantly using disparaging language toward slaves, and the repeated use of the word “nigger” makes many sensitive and offended. Critics denounce the novel and Mark Twain as racist for this word being insulting and politically incorrect and for its depiction of black people and how they are treated. However, Twain was not attempting to perpetuate racism; on the contrary, he used satire to expose the ignorance and paradoxical views held by many in America at that time.

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

Not only do most people believe the word is needed, some believe replacing the ‘N-word’ with slave is not accurate because within the book Jim ran away from slavery “Twain’s point is that he can’t run away from being a nigger”( Larry Wilmore). As many believe keeping the book in its original print allows to teach every good values and lessons it offers, replacing the word with slave not only takes out teachable moments but now teachers readers “bad history”(Larry Wilmore). Having the ‘N-word’ in the book, having us read it, having us say it, forces us to think more about race and racism in reality. Many argue replacing the ‘N-word’ with slave changes the book as in, the values or the book rather is not Twain 's work anymore. The arguments are approaching this as thinking if this is the children’s first encounter with slavery, and since there is a possibility it means no one should mess around with the book because “there is a reality there that you cannot avoid”(Bradley).

“The difference between the almost-right word and the right word is really a large matter- ‘tis the difference between the lightning bug and lightning.”(Mark Twain). Mark Twain, the author of an extraordinary yet controversial novel; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn had a great way of capturing moments in time and bringing them to life through the use of meaningful and direct diction. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been a vexed novel for it 's a use of the “N-word”. However, many scholars and associations have devised a “solution” for this problem such as, completely banning the book, creating sanitized versions, or even replacing the book for another American literature novel. “What is so wrong

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

A vast amount of people see this other version of Huckleberry Finn as an educational advantage knowing that teachers can utilize this version of the classic novel without offending some of their students and also making sure that they are able to teach this book to their students without making them feel offended or uncomfortable since the N word has now been changed to slave. Although this opens up a variety of opportunities for many schools in the United States, one fact cannot be ignored at this point in which although the N word may have been replaced with the word slave, it completely changes the authorial intent for Huckleberry Finn let alone the fact that while teachers use this novel as a learning experience for their students, they will have to change the intent that the author had throughout this book knowing that Twain had originally used the N word in order to emphasize the attitudes that the characters that he had created have had during this period of time in the

The Roaring Controversy Huckleberry Finn, a spectacular novel from Mark Twain, has been stirring up immensely controversy for the word “n*****.” The overwhelming support of detractors of the original novel has grew increasing, many parents, teachers, novelist, etc. are now focusing on changing the “n-word” to “slave.” Even though the support of altering the book, Huckleberry Finn should be allowed in classrooms across America in its original form and the “n-word” should not at all be changed to “slave” in consideration that the change will change the meaning and message of the overall theme of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain is a fine novelist. With books like The Innocents Abroad and Life on the Mississippi, there is no wonder why Mark Twain

This fictional, satirical follow-up to to Mark Twain’s 1876 novel is just as popular, although for most it’s for different reasons. The amount of times that the “n-word” is used is between 160 and 213 [2]. Since the 1950s, black parents and some white sympathizers have called this book out as being racist. As for my opinion on this, I never got why this was bad. Sure, it may seem racist to us, but in the context of it’s time, there’s really nothing wrong. That was the controversy of it, as for the story itself, it’s a classic in it’s own right.

With teaching the book as it was written by Twain, there could be some students who find it uncomfortable hearing the word a great deal of times; the author was well aware of this. School districts that choose to teach the book with the NewSouth alternation- or not teach it at all- argue that the book will teach students that using the word is acceptable and the blatant racism shown will be justified. They also argue that the word is not necessarily crucial to the plot and, therefore, can be removed without changing the classic American novel. David Bradley argues completely opposite of that, saying that even changing the N-word to “slave” completely changes Huckleberry Finn and diminishes Twain’s message. Bradley explains that replacing the

Mitchell’s article reviews the issues of censorship revolving around the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Citing commentary offered during the novel's early publication, Mitchell decides that the majority of critics had negative interpretations or ignored it all together. Those few that chose not see the necessity of censoring the novel, which Mitchell accuses Century, a popular publication that printed excerpts of the work, of doing; arguing that they were defending morality. Mitchell then advances 100 years after the publication where critics have a more positive interpretation of the work, enjoying Huck’s honesty and Jim’s good natured character. Mitchell then moves her argument between the 1980’s thru 1990’s, at which time schools across

    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

The novel was published in 1884, but it portrays the period 1835-1845, before the Civil War, a period in which slavery was legal.