The Unfathomable Banning Of Huckleberry Finn

The Unfathomable Banning of Huckleberry Finn Literature throughout all of history has conveyed thoughts, enlightened minds, and has satirized issues of its time. Literature educates those of all ages and knows no bounds. It allows us of the present a look at the past and to those of the past it gives hope of the future. Many of these works have been revered for their brilliance, but one of them specifically has been scored and ridiculed unjustly. That book in particular is The Adventures Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The story is one of both cold truth of a horrible part of history and the heart touching story of a forbidden friendship. Twain uses it to satirize the society of the southern man in nineteenth century America and to …show more content…
I was put off by some of the racial terms used and was a little intimidated by the writings of Mark Twain. This of course was before I began reading the masterpiece. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is about a boy who does not know what to do with himself and that resonates deeply with me as a teen myself. Not only did hit home with me, but also with many others in my class. All of us have been in a place like Huck Finn. “Civilized society” is telling us one thing while “uncivilized society” is telling us something else. Reading Huckleberry Finn allowed us to see that we are not alone and allowed us to learn about what it means to be human. Throughout the book Huck Finn is at a constant struggle with himself. Heart versus mind. Huck’s head or ‘civilized society” is telling him that his friendship with Jim, a runaway slave, is wrong. While on the other hand his heart or “uncivilized society” is telling him that it is right. Huckleberry Finn teaches students in a class to follow what you know is true not what others tell you is the “truth.” Not only was it an enlightening experience reading it, but being able to talk about in the classroom was an amazing feeling. To be able to dissect and elaborate on what we read with teacher guidance and in a group environment was absolutely wonderful. I understood more than just reading the text with the help of my teacher …show more content…
The main argument behind this is that the book is racist and harmful to african-american readers. Some even go as far to say: “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is the most grotesque example of racist trash ever written” (Wallace 112). The book may uses offensive language such as, the n-word, or injins, or other crude names, but that by no means is meant to harm non-white readers. In fact the use of such words are necessary to the story. When a poll was taken on if the n-word should be replaced eighty percent of white readers said it should not, seventy one hispanic said it should not, and sixty three of african american reader said it should not (May Graph). That being said even the majority of black readers believe that the n-word is necessary in the book. Twain was not a racist man. In fact Twain was an avid supporter of equal rights (Houle 117). The n-word is an offensive term stemming from a hateful period in time, but it is not there to do harm: it is there to remind people of that era of cruelty in human history (May 88). Some african american parents just “wish to prevent their children from exposure to such insulting references” (Karolides, Bald, and Sova 444). One must ask themselves would they rather have their child being exposed to such a word in outstanding literature or a modern rap song, or some other inappropriate source. Finally a very important question