Why Huckleberry Finn Should Be Banned

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.

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

Twain unnecessarily uses the word a total of 219 times throughout the novel. Although this argument is valid, his language is an important aspect of the story. Huck's ignorance often surfaces, and his frequent use of the “n-word” certainly causes the reader to cringe. In a classroom, discomfort among students is often magnified. The offensive language in Huck Finn certainly makes it a difficult book to read, however, it does not entail eliminating the novel from classrooms. Critics have often discussed censoring the book and replacing the “n-word” with “slave” instead. This would be just as ineffective as eliminating the book. Mark Twain intentionally uses this language to bring reality into his story and help show the change that his characters undergo. Changing the diction and language would be changing the story. Just because a word is offensive, doesn’t mean it is being used for the wrong purpose.

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.

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”

In Huck’s society, many of the town’s people own slaves and are racist. This includes Huck’s guardian Miss Watson, who owns a polite slave named Jim. Later on in the novel, Huck befriends Jim and tries to get him out to slavery. Twain satirizes how the people were racist and treated slaves cruelly, when really they are friendly people. For example, Pap (Huck’s father) displays his racism towards black people. In chapter five, Pap gets drunk and starts to complain about the government in Ohio and how a black man is allowed to vote. He displays racism by saying “It was ‘lection day, and I was just about to go and vote myself if I warn’t too drunk to get there; but when they told me there was a state in this country where they’d let that nigger vote, I drawed out… I says to the people, why ain’t this nigger put up at auction and sold?—that’s what I want to know” (Twain 27). Another obvious example is the fact that they refer to them as “niggers”, rather than by their

Twain wrote the story this way because that is the way he knew, there is no way he could have known that in the future the word would be a derogatory term. Most teenagers have a certain level of sophistication that allows them to distinguish the context in which that word is used. The use of the N word should not be looked at as a negative aspect but as a learning experience from who we were to how we are now. Teaching children about the past, good or bad, is an important part of school and something every child should know.

Because blacks are uneducated, he sees them as stupid and stubborn. He frequently tells stories to Jim, mainly about foreign kings and history. When Jim disagrees with Huck, Jim becomes very stubborn and refuses to listen to explanations. Huck eventually concludes, "You can't learn a nigger to argue". Jim also seems to accept that whites are naturally superior to blacks. He knows that Huck is far smarter than he is. When Tom Sawyer and Huck are planning an elaborate breakout for Jim, he allows their outrageous plan to continue because they "was white folks and knowed better than him". This mutual acceptance of whites as superior to blacks shows how deeply rooted slavery was in Southern culture. This made it very difficult for Huck to help Jim. When Tom Sawyer says he will help free Jim, Huck is very disappointed. He had never thought that Tom Sawyer, of all people, would be a "nigger stealer". Huck had always considered Tom respectable and educated, and yet Tom was prepared to condemn himself to damnation by freeing a runaway slave. This confuses Huck greatly, who no longer knows what to think about his situation with Jim. When Huck is forced to make a decision regarding slavery, he invariably sides with his emotions. Huck does not turn Jim in, despite having several chances. His best chance to do what he believes is right comes as they are rafting towards Cairo, Illinois. Huck finally

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

Huck is just referring to Jim that way because that’s how he was raised and that is how everyone spoke back then. Even when Huck thought of Jim as a friend he still used the word “nigger,” but he didn’t use it in a harmful way, as of to insult anyone, but just as an everyday reference to black people that wasn’t exactly uncommon. Jim is no way portrayed as a bad character in this novel. Huck even believes Jim is a good person. You can see this when Huck states, “I thought he had a good heart in him and was a good man the first time I seen him.” Huck manages to look through Jim’s race and his own racist background and become his friend and helps lead him to freedom.

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.

Huckleberry Finn constantly refers to slaves and all African Americans as niggers. Huck also talks down to Jim as if he is older than him when Jim is much older than Huck, and Huck refuses to apologize to Jim because Jim is black. It is clear that Huckleberry sees blacks as inferior and believes whites have dominion over blacks. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain shows readers that even the most free thinking individual can be influenced by the hate and racism in his

Huck still lived in a time with racism and hatred so he did view the black lives as inferior, but he did value and look at Jim equally which was the first step in the right direction. When Huck says, “I knowed he was white inside” it shows he views Jim as an individual, he cares for him and loves him and doesn't play into the societies

In one part of the novel Huck and Jim are traveling down the river by themselves, trying not to have jim caught for being a runaway slave. Huck tells the audience, “I made Jim lay down in the canoe... Because if he set up people could tell he was a nigger a good ways off” (39). Despite Huck using derogatory language to describe Jim, Huck still means the best for Jim and wants him to not get caught and to end up being a free man. When Jim was talking to Huck about being free, Jim calls Huck his best friend, “Huck; you’s de bes’ fren’ Jim’s ever had; en you’s de only fren’ ole Jim’s got now” (67). Being a slave, Jim does not have many people that care for him, also known as friends. Since Huck is also a child, it brings a sense of innocence to when Huck does say the word, or use other stereotypes. The use of derogatory language and harsh stereotypes can be excused due to the fact that Twain is making a clear statement against