Wallace The Case Against Huck Finn Analysis

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is a very controversial book that has spawned many authors to write for or against its inclusion in the school literature curriculum. One such piece, The Case Against Huck Finn by John H. Wallace, tries to argue that the book should not be included. He makes many strong points for his claim, including that a black child may feel intimidated by the use of the word nigger in class by his peers or that it may make black children ashamed of their ancestral history. However, I must disagree with Wallace’s assertion that reading the book “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” will intimidate and isolate the black child from his peers to a large extent because while the book may make some children ashamed of their ancestral past, many children actually want to learn about it and are ready to move past it. Wallace goes into great detail about how black children start feeling discriminated as early as elementary school when we start to learn about slavery in the U.S. However, what Wallace fails to understand is that this also true for students of all ethnicities learning about …show more content…
One such piece, Ishmael Reed on the Language of Huck Finn by Ishmael Reed, supports the idea and believes that the book should be taught in school. He makes many strong points for his claim, including that the stories that Twain has made around the major and minor characters make for a great discussion and that the book gives us great detail of what occurred during the nineteenth century in the USA. After reading his claims, I have to agree with Reed’s assertion that “The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn” can teach us a lot about 19th century American’s lifestyles to a moderate extent because Twain takes us through experiences that may be common during that time period, however not very