Racist Trash vs. Deeper Reading
How many years have passed since public discrimination against blacks ended? How many times have you personally heard someone make fun of someone because they are black within the past five years? How many times have you heard the “N” word being used as not an insult, but as a nickname for a friend? The truth is: In 2016, the “petrifying” “N” word has become less of an insult, and more of a simple nickname that many teens and young adults use for each other. The simple connotation of the word has been modified throughout the years from being something that was used as hurtful slander of the black population, to a petty pet name. For this simple reason alone, all of the arguments about Huckleberry Finn being “Racist
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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. I believe this is why Mark Twain blows every proportion out of the water as much as possible, to show the future readers how ridiculous he saw the world. Ernest D. Mason writes, “...Yet closer reading of the novel reveals that Huck supports Jim and his quest for freedom somewhat as a rope supports one who is being hanged.” (Mason 1). This quote not only proves many people’s arguments about how Twain intended this to be an anti-racist novel, but also just shows the reader that Huckleberry Finn himself is not a bad kid by any
The Adventures of Huck Finn is a very controversial book which brings much debate on whether it should be taught to children in America. The main reason for this debate is because the offensive word ‘nigger’ is used commonly throughout. The book is a classic and is seen to some people as such a great book that we should overlook the offensive word to understand the real lessons Mark Twain wanted to get across. One solution to this ongoing debate is something called the New South Edition, which substitutes ‘nigger’ for a ‘slave’ a word that is less personal and describes the history of America. Dr. Alan Gribben writes about the controversy and how the change effects the new edition. He uses personal anecdote, emotional appeal, historical references.
Hyperboles in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn turn on the reader’s imagination. When the reader reads these exaggerations they make the story easier to picture. “Well, the woman fell to talking about how hard times was, and how poor they had to live, and how the rats was as free as if they owned the place, and so forth and on…” is an example where you can picture how the rats appeared around the woman’s house with no problem (Twain, 61). It makes the reader imagine such a poor place that rats roamed freely instead of running away or not even being present in the household at
In the novel Huck Finn, the author repeatedly uses satire to ridicule the insanity of racial ignorance and inequity of the time period. With his masterful use of role reversal, irony, and the obvious portrayal of double standards, Twain exemplifies the injustices of different races contrasting them with example after example of counter-argument shown through the friendship and adventures of Jim and Huck together.
The most used literary device I noticed throughout the novel was similes. Twain probably used a lot of similes because it was Huck’s way of expressing what the situation was like. He wasn’t very literate as mentioned before so he couldn’t use big adjectives to describe the situation, instead he’d use similes. The similes added meaning because they allowed for better comprehension from the readers. The readers were able to understand what Huck was trying to depict.
One scene that helps to illustrate the realism that Twain wants to achieve occurs when Huck is mistaken for Tom by Tom's Aunt Sally. He is attempting to make up a story (for the practical purpose of freeing Jim instead of "fun" as Tom Sawyer ...
To achieve this, Twain employs humor to satirize topics in a non-offensive method. Twain uses satire to inspire his readers to change in a certain way. The first element in the novel that Twain satirizes is hypocrisy of the characters in his novel. In the novel, Miss Watson is Huck’s caretaker. She is very sincere and proper, as well as a Christian. However, in her daily life, she deals with buying and selling slaves, which is hypocritical because she is supposed to be a Christian, who are people who tend to want equality and a moral lifestyle. Miss Watson completely goes against these values and still calls herself a Christian. In this case, Twain satirizes hypocrisy to show that slavery is bad and ruins people’s lives. Miss Watson is supposed to be a good Christian woman but she still does bad things, such as trading and buying slaves. Another example of Twain satirizing hypocrisy is when Huck and the two rival families go to church. Select members of the families bring their firearms to church in case there is fighting involved. Church is a place of worship, peace, and love, but these people bring their guns, and intend to do violence with them. In this example, Twain satirizes human morals. As humans, we tend to put our personal matters over religion. Twain saw this and used humor to make the reader realize this fact. Another topic that Twain satirizes in the novel is family
In their travels together, Jim expresses to Huck his excitement to be so close to freedom. The boy comes to realize he aided a slave in running away, and he feels guilty. "Here was this nigger, which I had as good as helped to run away, coming right out flat-footed and saying he would steal his children- children that belonged to a man I didn 't even know; a man that hadn 't ever done me no harm" (Twain 99). Jim is one of the best companions Huck has ever had, yet he nearly turns him in because it feels as though he is betraying the slave owner. It seems quite ironic that doing the right thing to assist a good man would make Huck feel as though he committed a crime. Also in the novel, the worst characters- murderers, and violent stupid drunks- are all white. Pap goes on and on about how a black should not be able to vote, yet he is uneducated and never sober enough to think straight. Jim, a runaway slave, is one of the most respectable characters Huck encounters, which is Twain 's way of ridiculing the institution of slavery, and all the prejudice against African Americans at the
Since it was first published in 1885, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, has been challenged, banned from schools, and is now causing controversy as it is newly censored in response to the appearance of the ‘N-Word’ 219 times within this classic novel. Schools question its appropriacy and politically correctness, often countering the book because it contains either information, ideas, or language that conflict with their own values and beliefs. However, by using the "N" word in Huckleberry Finn, it reminds the reader that blatant racism was the accepted social norm of the day in which the novel is set, exposing Twain’s underlying challenge to casual and accepted racism that cannot be seen by the eyes of a superficial reader. It
Huckleberry Finn is an entertaining story, but its frequent use of a taboo word is a stain on the novel’s history. The use of the “N-word” in Huckleberry Finn has been hotly contested. Many schools have banned the book for its use of the slur. The slur is used many times throughout the book, in a heartbreakingly casual manner. Huckleberry Finn’s continual use of the N-word is shocking, offensive, and outdated. This is authentic to the time period, but upsetting to the modern person. But I believe that Twain’s use of the N-word is necessary to the story.
Back in the time period of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain “the N-word” was not a racial term, it was simply what African Americans were called, especially when they were involved in slavery. Mark Twain used “the N-word” because in the time period he wrote the novel, people did not know any better and nobody should change his work. Most of this controversy comes from Twain’s frequent use of the word “nigger” when referring to black slaves, including one of the main characters, Jim. Today, that term is considered a seriously offensive racial slur. However, in the setting of the novel, and during that time period, this is the term most frequently used to describe African Americans. Since Huck Finn was set in the south before
In Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain, a satirical novelist, portrays Huck, the main character of the book, who has adventures with Jim, a slave, who must deal with the problems of slavery in society and eventually isolate themselves from what they believe to be a repressed society, which leads to the discussion of whether or not the book is appropriate to students. The controversy between the two debates is that people say that the book harms others from the foul language that it uses and also if the depiction of racism, but what critics do not understand the book is that it is a satirical novel, which means that the text isn’t suppose to create opinions. It causes people to believe that racism is the major topic in the book, when in reality, there are a variety of topics in the book besides racism. Although critics argue that the book uses foul language that can affect many African American’s self-esteem and how they perceive society, The
The controversial novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, has been considered a classic in American literature. The novel details on the journey of a southern, young, American boy with the name of Huckleberry Finn and a slave, Jim. The two encounter interesting characters along their adventure who bring difficulties. However, one aspect of the book that is hard to miss would be the constant use of the “n-word”. As a result of the repeated use of the word, some schools believe that the “n-word” should be replaced. Others believe that the book should be replaced with another entirely new piece of writing or simply be permitted in class, in its intact form. While those for replacing the n-word and those for choosing another novel
Mark Twain utilizes the element of irony to show that racism is present throughout the society at this time. He shows this through Huck and how he views Jim as a person. When Jim had pointed out that he no longer wanted to go on risky side adventures, Huck realizes that “...he was right…he
Mark Twain's, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is unarguably an American classic. It takes on themes such as: morality, racism, and friendship. This book is told by Huck, a white boy escaping a father who is abusive, and about his time traveling the Mississippi River with an escaped slave named Jim. My understanding is that this book has been taken away– in other schools– because of the use of the N-word. I definitely do not support the use offensive language in day-to-day speech or for the purpose of offending people. But, an important thing to remember is that this book was written in a different period in time. This book is a real representation of the south after the civil war. Although I don’t agree with what has happened in the past,
One of the most popular yet controversial novels in American literature is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. While managing to have a sense of control in its comedic aspect, Twain, writes through an aphorism in an individual given the societal norms at the time. The novel tells the tale of a young boy and a runaway slave, named Huck and Jim, placed in St. Petersburg, Missouri in the late 1800s. The 1800s was a time of the most brutal sense of slavery in American history. The controversy dealt with the novel is with the overall usage of the “n-word” in its text. The usage of the word has made countless of students, as well as teachers, uncomfortable in learning from the book and using it for their teaching. The constant debate