Morrison vs Smiley
In the articles of Toni Morrison and Jane Smiley, they spoke upon having The adventures of Huckleberry Finn canonized because of the use of racial slurs and racism. But after reading over and over Toni Morrison didn't want the book to be canonized because she read and understood it. Jane Smiley on the other hand wanted the novel gone. Now the debate is should Huck Finn stay or should it go.
“Let me hasten to point out that, like most others, I don’t hold any grudges against Huck himself. He’s just a boy trying to survive.” (Smiley)Jane Smiley felt that Huck could have been better and she understood what Twain was trying to say about Huck. Jane also was exhausted about thinking about all the things Huck character could have been. I think that Huck was great and that he did all he could as a kid and to try and understand everything that was going on around him.
“It provoked a feeling I can only describe now as a muffled rage, as though appreciation of the work required my complicity in and sanction of something shaming.” (Morison)
Toni morrison was shocked that Twain published this novel and was very blunt about the things he said. She was very uncomfortable because of the choice of words in the story. Nevertheless she loved Huck
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She doesnt think its a good idea to allow this book in schools because the novel talks too much about racism and the history of America. I think the novel should be put into classrooms because it shows critical moments in our history and how Huck voiced his option. And especially because Huck shows us we're all
The act of banning something is an aggressive measure. However, this being said whether to ban Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has long been debated. While some say that the book is offensive and disrespectful, others claim it to be a valuable learning lesson. Because of its beneficial lessons, its way of shocking the reader, its reputation as being one of the best novels in american history along with other controversial books being allowed in high schools, The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn should be read by every High School across the country.
“Who gets to decide what I get to read in schools?” This question was brought up by Dr. Paul Olsen in a recent lecture. This question inspires many other questions revolving around the controversy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It makes one wonder if books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be included in high school curriculum even with all the controversy about them or are they better left alone. Should The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn be taken off of school reading lists because of a single word when it has so much more to offer students? The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be included in high school English curriculums because it is relevant to current issues, it starts important conversations about race
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.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written by Mark Twain, published in 1884, and according to Alison Flood in the article US school stops teaching Huckleberry Finn because of 'use of the N-word', “one of the most-challenged [novels] of all time.” The story depicts the relationship between a young white boy who is running away from home and a grown slave who is running away to escape slavery. The novel focuses on Huck Finn growing up pre-civil war in deep and very racist south. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should stop being taught to high schoolers because it is too open to interpretation, and doesn't
Mark Twain throughout the book showed Huckleberry Finns personal growth on how he started from the bottom as a lonely, racist, immature kid who knew nothing to where he is now, by finally breaking away from society’s values he was taught in the beginning. He has alienated himself from the from that society and revealed how in fact these values were hypocritical. He realized that he can choose his own morals and that the one he chooses is the correct one.
Huckleberry Finn – The Changes of His Character Throughout the Novel. & nbsp; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is a novel about a young man's search for identity. Huckleberry Finn goes through some changes and learns some life lessons throughout his journey. Huck changes from being just an immature boy at the beginning of the novel to being a more mature man who looks at things from a different perspective now. & nbsp; At the beginning of the novel, Huck tends to have an immature side to him. There are some things in the beginning that show that Huck still has a very childish side to him. They get down on one thing when they don't know anything about it."
The first step taken in Huck’s moral journey occurs after Huck has escaped the cabin he was held captive in by Pap, and safely lands on Jackson’s Island. Upon his arrival Huck runs into Jim, Miss Watson’s slave who has run away. When Huck and Jim bump into each other, Huck’s first response is “I bet I was glad to see him.” (Twain, 41) This sign...
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is very important to the American culture. When Mark Twain was around, the use of the word “nigger” was quite common. That was how they referred to African Americans in that time. In the book, Twain makes Pap look like the worst possible white trash where as Huck and Jim, the slave, get closer throughout the book. The book shows how people felt towards African Americans back in the day and how it was wrong. They considered them as “inhuman.” In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, Aunt Sally seems to be a nice person, but when the little black boy was killed she does not care since “no human was hurt.” This shows how far along we have come since this time period. Huck plays three jokes on Jim, but in the end begs for his forgiveness because he felt he had done something indeed quite wrong. This shows that not all Southerners in the day were “racist.” Mark Twain makes fun of how many people in the South were wrong to think badly towards the African Americans. This book is a very good book to get an understanding of how things were wrong back then and how far we have come since then.
Smiley apparently does not “hold any grudges against Huck…,” but rather “…Mark Twain, who knew how to give Huck a voice but didn’t know how to give him novel.” She argues that Jim’s freedom is not possible. Twain only knew the Mississippi River, and authors usually only write what they know. To have Huck and Jim sail down the Ohio, would have both ended the novel, but also take away from the “artistic integrity” of Twain. On the Mississippi, Huck can have has adventures, which is Twain’s purpose of the...
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, shows moments of a lifetime of one boy. As one reads Huck Finn, they begin to grow with Huck , which could be considered good and bad.
Specifically, Jim could have been given a sad ending that was realistic and still took a stand against racism. First, it is important to note that it is just as useful to analyze how racism and slavery came to be as it is to condemn them. Judging from a modern perspective, most of the world already condemns slavery and there are many forces working towards universally condemning racism. Of course, narratives that remind us why we condemn racism are important, but so are those that view the dynamic of racism in society, like Huckleberry Finn. In this sense, Huckleberry Finn deserves its place in the literary canon. It provides a different perspective on racism -- Twain could have told the audience to take action, but he chose to study and comment on societal racism instead. The book benefits readers today because it allows them to better understand that blind adherence to society is what allowed slavery to be such a huge institution around Huck’s time, despite the moral objections people have to it
...e end of the novel, Huck and the reader have come to understand that Jim is not someone’s property or an inferior man, but an equal. To say that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a racist novel is absurd, but there are always some hot-heads claiming that the novel is racist. These claims are not simply attempts to damage the image of a great novel, they come from people who are hurt by racism and don’t like seeing it in any context. However, they must realize that this novel and its author are not racist, and the purpose of the story is to prove black equality. It is vital for the reader to recognize these ideas as society’s and to recognize that Twain throughout the novel does encourage racist ideas, he disputes them. For this reason, and its profound moral implication, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be removed from the literary canon. [1056]
Throughout the novel Huck struggles to follow his morals because he is afraid of abandoning the values that he had been taught by his environment. When he first travels with Jim along the river, he thinks it’s a sin to help an escaped slave because he is breaking the laws of Southern society. While thinking about his conflict he is reminded of Miss Watson. Huck asks himself, "What had poor Miss Watson done to you that you could see her nigger go off right under your eyes and never say one single word? What did that poor old woman do to you that you could treat her so mean” (Twain 100)? Even though Huck feels that Jim deserves to live freely, Huck is anxious about helping him because he fears disobeying his environment’s values. Whenever Huck follows his own sense of decency, he still makes mistakes, but he knows that he is wrong.
In Toni Morrison's essay, From Introduction to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn she talks about the issue of people wanting to remove Huckleberry Finn from public schools' reading lists and the libraries. Morrison raises the argument of race in this essay. This argument about race is one that still faces the world today. Morrison argues that because this argument is one that preoccupies us today we need to keep reading it. In her essay Morrison goes against the people who claim that Huckleberry Finn is racist. Morrison praises this book and holds it to the highest of standards. Morrison's opinion on this novel is made clear in her statement, “The brilliance of Huckleberry Finn is that it is the argument it raises” (pg 322).
In conclusion, the physical journey in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the central focus of the novel and serves many purposes; ranging from plot development to teaching Huck multiple lessons about equality and treating people for what they are, rather than what they appear to be. In this novel the beginning and the end are not significant, only the middle because this is where Huck learns things by experience that the rest of the country is ignorant to.