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Mark twain influence on society
Mark Twain's contributions to American literature and his affect on American society
Racial issues in the united states
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Censorship can be for the good of people, but as well for the worst. When censorishop comes into mind, many think of undemocratic or fascist regimes preventing any type of influence other than theirs. Most of the time, certain sensitive topics, phrases, or even words would be redacted to protect the public, but what happens when a famous piece of American literature was modified because of its choice of words that was purposely selected to convey its message? This is the case for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain and is a fiction book about a young boy facing moral dilemmas in the racially-biased South. The book, commonly known in high schools, used the word “nigger”, a word ridden with a dark history of African American …show more content…
There is still a majority of people who believe the book should remain. Many want the book altered or modify so it will not be as offensive as before. As a result, a proposition was asserted to replace the “n word” with “slave” to continue on in schools. The word causes so much controversy that it does not need to be circulated in society. As claimed by Marc Schulz, “ For a single word to form a barrier, it seems such an unnecessary state of affairs.” (Schulz). Many still see the values, lessons, and morals from the book, but they also see that the word is not needed to express them. Seeing the controversy that was erected from this book appears meaningless to readers young and old. As this is taught to the developing generation, it brings to mind the negative connotations the “n word” creates that teachers refuse to teach. Teachers believe that Twain’s message of abolitionism could be still interpreted without the use of the “n word”. Certain people feel that the use if the “n word” in the book is not doing what Twain wanted and in contrary it is dividing us. It is believed that among the populations, “People who use the N-word encourage division, because it is considered to be a fighting word.” (USA Today). In other words, rather than learning the significance and emphasizing precautions on the word it is pulling us apart as the word is not popular in …show more content…
The reason that Mark Twain wrote this book was to open the eyes of the South on the mistreatment of African Americans and on the South’s ethics towards them during his time. Twain was known as an abolitionist, meaning that he was against slavery. By Twain writing this book, he is actually scolding the South for how the black community is treated. The book is "is one way Twain condemns the prejudicial attitudes of the South.” (Hallett). It was not meant to offend anyone, but instead give a lesson to the racially biased and unfair in the South. Twain careful chose his words, including the “n word” to further support his message not only in the South, but as well anywhere in the world to change the view on African slavery. The reason of removing the book from schools to forget the past is irrational because it is part of our history. We learn and retouch on this infamous time period in the United States so that the people “ learn from it, leaving the negative aspects in the past, not erasing them.” (Rumstead). The book serves the purpose to educate us about our history and removing the book is simply not right. We should not be bothered by this because people need to embrace what society did before in order to not repeat
In fact, true appreciation of the novel requires the reader to “read between the lines” and pick up on the hidden subtext and more importantly, the story of Huck Finn’s moral development. In his arguments on the New York Times’ Room for Debate article, Do Word Changes Alter ‘Huckleberry Finn’?, Dave Matthews states, “Great books — or any work of art — require that the reader meet the author half-way.” In this quote, he is saying that for the reader to fully comprehend Huckleberry Finn, he/she must put forth a great deal of thought in addition to simply reading the text. By removing the N-word from the novel, the story becomes nullified and the task of stomaching the word, which is purposely included to upset the reader, is bypassed. One of the reasons why our curriculum waits until tenth grade to teach the book is because it is meant to be challenging; the reader is supposed to struggle with the reading. If the word is replaced, the book truly becomes a children's book; subtext-wise, it will still require good comprehensive skill to understand Huck’s development, but story-wise, the book becomes an easy-to-read story of a child running away from home and embarking on an action-packed adventure with a slave who he befriends along the
"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain was first published in the United States in 1885 as a sequel to the book "Tom Sawyer." The book, which uses Huck's or the first person point of view surrounds the events of two runaways: Huck Finn and a black slave by the name of Jim. Shortly after publication, the book became controversial because of Huck's casual use of the word "nigger." Due to Huck's careless grammar and the book's controversy, libraries began to ban the book from their shelves. The first library to ban the book from their shelves was the Free Public Library in Concord, Massachusetts (Greenhaven Press 12). The book was banned from the Free Public Library shortly after publication (Greenhaven Press 12). However, "More than a century later, some parents, educators, and public officials still say that students should not be required-or perhaps even allowed-to read the book" (Greenhaven Press 12). Adults fear that the uncivilized Huck Finn would be impressionable on young minds, and may cause them to use "faulty grammar, play hookey, steal, lie, and run away" (Greenhaven Press 12). Others fear "that the use of the word nigger in the book is offensive, racist, and harmful to black students" (Greenhaven Press 112) "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is a thoroughly debated book that should not be banned because it has transformed American literature, depicts a realistic look of race relations, and is a classic book that is loved by Americans.
They hear this because of the excessive use of the word “nigger,” the many “racist” comments made throughout the book, and the moral injustices that are shoved into the reader’s face. This of course, can all be taken very literally if someone were to read this book from the surface, without demonstrating any thought analysis as to why the characters are doing and saying what they are. When the reader looks deeper into the book, he/she will see that not only is Mark Twain trying to portray his extremely anti-racist message, but also just recite history as it happens. Many people don’t take into account the time period of this novel. It is set in the nineteenth century, where people were actually excessively racist, and there was slavery.
To delve into a topic as serious as book censorship, one must first determine the purpose of reading, of literature in general. Blahblahblah (what Ms Buckingham said). Mark Twain’s novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has sparked much controversy since its publication in 1884 due to countless racial slurs and stereotypes; in fact it is the most commonly banned book in American history (source). While many argue that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be banned, the literary merit, namely the realistic setting and characterization, outweighs the vulgarity and crude language. Twain’s satirical social commentary provides a moral exploration of racism and a vignette-style plot of contrast between the shore and the land and between Huck Finn and his partner-in-crime, Tom Sawyer.
Every one hundred years dialects change and what is considered “politically correct”, or socially acceptable, changes. “David Bradley argues that ‘if we'd eradicated the problem of racism in our society, Huckleberry Finn would be the easiest book in the world to teach’” (Zwick, Jim. “Should Huckleberry Finn Be Banned?”). If we, as a nation, make it a point to rule out all books that could possibly offend students, then every hundred years or so our library of American Literature will be completely different. Even today, modern day authors use vulgar language, lurid sexual content, and racial slurs to get their point across. If The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is taken off of required reading lists across the country, then that could create a never-ending cycle of books being taken off of school shelves every time words and ideas become unacceptable. If this is the way that American society is turning then something must be done, and the Superintendents, Deans, and Principals of every High School around the country must take it upon themselves to do it because the students will not.
who is more commonly known by his pen name, Mark Twain. He was born in
Mark Twain’s book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, educates high school students on how the Southern society operated at that time. When analyzing the novel, one can see that Twain’s writing clearly does not endorse slavery or the use of derogatory language toward African-Americans. In a petition to remove this book from a high school required reading list, a school board in New Jersey concluded, "the literary value of the book outweighed the negative aspect of the language employed.” (2) Huckleberry Finn is a satirical novel that was written to show the flaws of 19th century American society. It shows how people thought and acted back then, and points out what was wrong with the white supremacy mindset of many Southerners during these years. “The book itself is a great testament that...
In the book, “Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain should not be banned in school because it is educational, it has wonderful symbolism about society, and talks about both the good and bad of the slavery era. “Mark Twain is a humorist or nothing. He is well aware of the fact himself, for he prefaces “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” with a brief notice, warning persons in search of a moral, motive or plot that they are liable to be prosecuted, banished or shot.” (Huck Finn Controversy). This quote talks all about how Mark Twain was only a man of humor and was in no need to put the words personal to anyone and instead to make it a good book. This story talks all about the times of slavery and how differently people were treated based on their color
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, is an American classic taught within the nation present all throughout the educational system. The book was published in 1884, still around the time where American society had segregated against African Americans and treated them less than human. In the era when The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published, it had been unpopular in the south for revealing African Americans as human and how slavery was inhumane. The n-word is highly frowned upon by today’s society because of its racial term toward African Americans. Now variety schools have decided to get rid of the novel due to the n-word offending African Americans and replace Mark Twain’s novel with another. While both arguments
In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the “n” word is used often. There is a lot of discrimination and slavery is still existent. Even with these arguments, Huckleberry Finn should not be banned. Slavery was an awful time for America. Slavery should be against the law, but not forgotten. White Americans can not forget what they did. Students reading about discrimination and slavery will only discourage them in repeating the past. The use of the “n” word is only relevant to the time period. Nowadays it is one of the most
In conclusion, throughout the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the usage of the word N-word has been overlooked as being wrong and to be changed to the word “slave” instead because it is not that offensive towards black people. Also, there have been many different opinions of whether to keep the N-word in the novel or to change it to the term “slave” instead. However, other people think that the whole entire novel should be banned from the shelves, which is not necessary because just the change of the word can make a difference already. Therefore, rather than making a big deal about removing the novel out of the shelves, it is much easier too just make a change of what term should be said 219 times throughout it all.
Over the 129 years for which the book has been in print, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been regarded with much controversy, for many different reasons. As it has progressed, the subject of this controversy has been almost constantly changing. This essay will explore some of the claims and explanations of the controversy, as well as a discussion on whether the book is even that controversial. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion about this novel, The main complaints seem to revolve around three core topics: Twain’s portrayal of Jim and other blacks, The extensive use of the racial slurs and racism, and the final chapters of the book itself.
Many schools have chosen to adopt the idea in hopes that the classic of American literature can remain as is, without having to face complaints on behalf of the use of the “n-word.” Coming down to wanting “something less hurtful, less controversial” to be teaching their students (La Rosa, Suzanne). Although, with thoughts such as this one, in making people uncomfortable, the same point of growing from this sense of uncomfort can be found. How can a school claim to teach its children if they are choosing to hide the truth of the past and the powerful oppression found in the word alone? In other words, “there is a reality there that you cannot avoid” (Schneider, David). There is no good that can come from censoring the “n-word” and replacing the word, since it removes much from the point Twain is trying to accomplish and takes away from the overall message. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn manages to tackle the obvious racism and oppression faced in the South during the 1800s, while showing the perspective of a young boy and the way he choose to follow his own morality instead of the societal norms he was raised to believe. In censoring the word, it is the same as removing an important historical aspect of the word and the way it
Conforming to all the rules society has placed is not important, what is important is knowing when it is okay to not follow a rule. People straying away from rules can have many possible outcomes, they are primarily as basic as making the right choice or making a mistake. Sometimes society’s rules are in the wrong, to be able to fix the problem what is needed are people who aren’t afraid to stand up to the rule.Society makes mistakes in the rules that are placed, and people have stood up to them. It is necessary to know when it is or is not okay to break a rule. It is okay to stand up to a rule if someone else is getting hurt, a group of people are being sectioned off or if the rule currently in place is endangering someone that have done
This book has been banned from school libraries all over the country because of the main character's teenage angst, which many feel is too graphic for teenagers, and its profanity. Profanity, whether it be frequent or a rare occurrence, is a characteristic of many literary classics, as is the use of racial epithets.In the book Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (ranking number 2 on the list), an epithet is use many times over to describe the people of color in the book. Now since the book was published in 1885 and such language was common at the time, I do not belie...