Why Huckleberry Finn Should Be Banned

For many years, classic books have been on the banned book list. These classics include Moby Dick, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Huckleberry Finn, and many others. Most often these novels are on the banned list due to sexual language, racial insults, religious prejudice or supposed advancement of witchcraft. Although some consider these novels as provocative or inappropriate, these novels have been influential in educating students about historical world affairs, as well as, important morals and values. While people feel controversial American literature is not necessary in educating young adults, it is beneficial to develop a deeper understanding of American history.

Huckleberry Finn is a story written about slavery which was

Some opponents have accused Mark Twain as being a racist writer who used derogatory and offensive language and deserves no place on a book shelf. An example of this is in the scene when Aunt Sally learns of a steamboat explosion. “Good gracious! Anybody hurt?” she asks. “No’m,” comes the answer. “Killed a nigger.” (p. 76) Rather, Twain is using this dialogue to emphasis the truth about the old South. In the old south people did not put value on a black person’s life. The “nigger” is not a human being. So what is this book really about? This book is about freedom and the quest for freedom, it’s about a slave who risks his life to win his freedom, and a white boy becomes his friend and helps him

He also asked his daughter: ‘Do you want Negroes by the carload in our schools and churches and theaters? Do you want them in our world?’ However, the turning point which shows Atticus is not a racist person is when he is appointed to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping a young white woman. He stood up for Tom even though it resulted in his family and him being racially abused. He tells Scout that courage is ‘when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what’. Atticus is portrayed as a deeply moral figure for the way he stands up against the racist attitudes of the Deep South. “To Kill a Mocking Bird” is another valuable book because it engages students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote the development a more humane and informed society. Atticus stated, “The one thing that doesn’t abide by a majority rule is a person’s conscience.” One of the major themes presented was stereotypical perceptions cloud a person’s ability to fairly judge a person’s guilt or lack