Racial Slurs In Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

Hiding America’s Real Truth From Young Adults

A young reader’s book filled with racial slurs is thought of as outrageous and should be banned right, or is there a bigger message to be learned from this book? The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain is a young readers book that is commonly taught to 11th and 12th graders in high schools all across America. The book is narrated by the main character Huck, a thirteen year old caucasian boy, and how he adventures from out from society to the wilderness with a runaway slave named Jim. These adventures help shape Huck’s perception of society and the wilderness. Additionally, it shows Huck’s internal mixed feelings towards the perception of slavery and doing what is morally correct. This

Many people do not hate the book itself but rather the amount of racial slurs it contains, “219 accounts” of the “n-word”. (Smith) For many people more than one racial slur is offensive enough. However many people still see the importance of teaching the classic novel in school and therefore proposed an idea. The critics of the use of the "n-word” in the novel proposed that the "n-word” be changed with the word slave. Supporters of altering the novel believe that it will provide the same lessons the novel teaches but in a less demanding and uncomfortable way. In 2011 NewSouth published a “... more reader-friendly edition…” of both the Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. The goal of the company was to “ … soothe the sensibilities …” of the readers who have been offended by the novels racial slurs. New South believes that “ …publishing this new edition of Twain’s works will be more emphatically fulfilled.” ( La Rosa). The goal the New South publishing company is not to change the novel completely but merely to make it so a wide variety of people can enjoy this. For example, an excerpt from the original book “ I liked the nigger for that; I tell you, gentlemen, a nigger like that is worth a thousand dollars—and kind treatment, too …” (Twain, 286) would replace all the “n-word” with slave. Therefore it would read “I like a

Supporters of the original version of the novel believe that these racial slurs help deliver an important message to the reader. I helps the reader understand how life was like for African Americans in the past and how they were often treated. These racial slurs could help provide a learning experience to young adults who may not know the feeling that comes with racism, additionally it might make them more aware of that is happening in their everyday life. The use of the "n" word gives the book the “power” and “emotion” that is enacted through the use of the word ( David Bradley 60 minutes). Mark Twain's put the word in the novel for a reason, it was not just for fun, Twain's goal was for readers to feel bothered, in order to show that the use of the word was not okay even though it was widely used back then. Supporters of replacing the word believe it is okay because the word is minor, however a more negative and uncomfortable connotation is given to the novel in doing so (60 minutes). Therefore through the act of avoiding the "n" word when it has already been imported in the novel for years gives the word a whole new meaning, because it make it seem like there is no learning experience from this. As David Bradley argues when the "n" word is removed “they are no longer teaching…” The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ( David