Argumentative Essay On Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry Finn Essay The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the most widely debated books taught in schools. The controversy surrounding it is mostly due to the frequent use of the “N-word.” The use of this word and other racial situations incorporated in the novel have a lot of discriminatory background and tend to make students uncomfortable. This being said, it is very important for this kind of language to be used because it truly shows how people used to speak and how black people were treated. Reading this novel in high school is a crucial step to understanding how life was back then and how far we’ve come as human beings. One of the most significant reasons The Adventures Huckleberry Finn is such an esteemed novel is because it was the first “truly american” book written. This is said because unlike the language used in other novels, Mark Twain wrote in the way people really spoke back then. The dialect that Twain uses gives the characters complex and real personality, which was something that was never really seen before. Ernest Hemingway, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1954, said that, "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry …show more content…
More specifically, the 219 times the “N-word” was used in the novel. Some argue that using the word isn’t necessary, is overused, and highly offensive. On the contrary, it is believed that without the use of the N-word and racism present in the book, Huck would cease to be seen as a moral protagonist who breaks free from the social norm. Mark Twain himself says that, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter – it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning” (Messent). Without the use of the n-word, the novel would be lacking realism and would not be nearly as influential and important as it