preview

The N-Word in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Decent Essays

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 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. The protagonist, narrator and titular character, Huckleberry Finn, is the thirteen-year-old son of the town drunk. Despite his lack of education, he can be …show more content…

After encounters with bandits and slave catchers, they save two con-artists that claim to be European royalty. With them at their side, they scam every city they come across, when trying to steal an inheritance that gets thwarted by Huck feeling guilt. In retaliation, the two sell Jim to a farmer, and Huck fixes on getting him out. In the luckiest of all coincidences, he was sold to Tom Sawyer’s aunt and uncle. Both mistake him for Tom, who supposed to be visiting around then, again very lucky, and Huck rolls with it. When Tom does arrive, Huck let’s him in on the plan and Tom agrees to play along as younger brother Sid. After planning and executing one of the most needlessly complex rescue plans, considering Jim has no one guarding him, they begin to run away. Someone peruses them and Tom is shot in the leg. Huck goes for a doctor, and Jim sacrifices freedom to help Tom. The escape proves to be pointless, as Jim was already a free man. Miss Watson added to her will that Jim would be free after death, and she died two months earlier. To add to this, Jim revels that a house floating on the river they looted had Pap’s gun-shot body inside. The story ends with Aunt Sally offering to adopt Huck. Huck refuses, no longer wanting to be “sivilized” (as they would put it.) Huck then announces plans to travel out west. I found this novel to be was just as enjoyable, if not more, than the first. Even though things began to become too convenient near the end, this

Get Access