Albeit, using the word in our vernacular today is contemptuous, using the word to preserve the historical dialect of the book set in the 1840s should not be considered offensive as the word “nigger” was part of people’s lexicon at the time. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be the only version that is taught in classrooms or should not be taught at all because Alan Gribben’s New South Edition of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn allows readers to not do any heavy lifting while reading the novel, it will distort the historical accuracy of the 1840s, and it will allow readers to circumvent around the harsh meaning of the word “nigger”.
The edited version of Huckleberry Finn will stymie readers from doing any heavy lifting of trying to comprehend the book in a way Twain wanted his readers to. The novel presents aspects of life that once existed in the