Why Should Huckleberry Finn Be Banned

Once upon a time, in a world not far from here, there are students who are forced to miss their annual train ride to Hogwarts, lock the wardrobe to the magical land of Narnia, and walk through the English countryside themselves instead of upon the back of Black Beauty. Why are these students deprived of those occurrences? They live in America, the land of the free- except when it comes to the books they can read. In fact, many schools across America exercise the practice of banning books. Since 1982, libraries, parents, and schools have attempted to ban 11,300 novels, according to the American Library Association. The essentially innoxious books are challenged for an assortment of reasons, including use of malapropos language, graphic or explicit

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.

Many of the eminent author Mark Twain’s books have been banned from school reading lists and libraries all over the country. These books, like The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn are iconic and give readers an insight into just what life was like in slavery. Although some people think The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be banned, it should not because in the book readers get to experience a character grow in morality and the book shows the history of the country but in a fictional way that is interesting to young readers.

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”

‘’We have all come to the conclusion that the community costs of reading this book in 11th grade outweigh the literary benefits,” said Art Hall, the headmaster of Friends Central School in Philadelphia. Is that really an accurate connotation describing this novel by Mark Twain? Some may say it is, some may completely disagree with that statement. Is there really any benefit from reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? A number of schools have banned The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, for a variety of reasons, mainly the racial controversy, lying, deception and the morals of the book.

One of the reasons that Huckleberry Finn was banned in the past was because people found the dialect that Twain used unintelligible and shameful to the United States. These people thought that the manner of speech in which the novel was written would make Americans appear simple-minded. This may be the case with some, but the vernacular that the author used was the real dialect that majority of the population practiced in the time period that Huck existed. The novel is not meant to put America to shame, but rather to show the reality of how people spoke and acted in the mid nineteenth century. The vernacular is yet another aspect that makes the novel truthful because it gives readers a realistic view into the life of people from that time in American history.

“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

My picture book lesson that developed as a result of this class discussion was presented to a ninth grade college-prep level class at Bishop Hendricken High School. Hendricken is an all-male Catholic high school, and this particular class has thirty students. Although there is not a great deal of diversity at Hendricken (about 90% Caucasian students), this class is fairly diverse. There are four African-American students, seven Hispanic-American students, one Japanese-American student, one Syrian-American student, and one Indian-American student in the class. Most students’ literacy skills are at or above reading level, but there are three students with 504 plans (each with ADD) and one other student with dyslexia. The class has been reading Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night, and based on a survey of the students most have had limited experience studying the Holocaust.

What he is not realizing is the pain this work brings to the black society. A book that has brought so much controversy to the world should be banned from libraries and schools. What school committees need to do is think of the African American students in their school systems and think of how they must feel when reading this book. I am not targeting Mark Twain as a racist, but he has brought this upon himself when creating such a racist book like The Adventures of Huckleberry

     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.

HuckleBerry Finn has been one of the most challenged and banned by schools and libraries since it was published in 1885. This book gives us a great insight into what America used to be like during its times of slavery in the Southern States.

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"

If you ever happen to come across a list of banned books across classrooms, surely you must have seen Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn on there. It is ranked number fourteen in Banned Books from 2000-2009 by the American Library Association. Despite its many critics, it is considered one of the greatest novels by many prominent authors. Many controversies such as its coarse language and its disregard to religion follow for this novel, but the main controversy and criticism surrounding it is the use of the n-word. Mixed views are felt about the connotation of the word and the true meaning behind it.

As one of the most accosted and banned books since the early 20th century, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has illustrated in fine detail the extents of racism in the 1900s. Scholars, librarians, teachers, and students alike have worked to discover the exact meaning of the book’s blatant use of racist qualities and slurs, contrary to Mark Twain’s forewarning against such debate. Although The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn may at first appear to support racism by making the “educated” pro-slavery, Mark Twain uses a combination of reverse psychology and influential role models to show the birth of abolitionist ideals within the youth towards the end of the 1900’s. Therefore, despite its potentially excessive use of the “n-word”, it should

    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