In the world we live in, racism has always been a big issue. It was hundreds of years ago, and it still is today. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a novel written by Mark Twain, should not be taught in schools, as it brings up controversial issues such as racism that we should not teach our children about. Although we should not ignore racism, we shouldn 't advertise it to our children in a way that justifies it. It may have been okay in that era, but it isn 't today. The book portrays that racism is okay, and showing our children that it was once okay may allow them to believe it is still okay today, which in no way it is. Jim and Huck in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn were similar in some ways, but only in the sense that they …show more content…
The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has many questionable quotes that targets slaves with racism. In the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a commonly referred to quote is, “ 'Good gracious! Anybody hurt? ' 'No 'm killed a nigger. ' 'Well, it 's lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt.’" This conversation shows how slaves and people of color were treated at the time. Although this conversation wouldn’t be allowed or tolerated in society today, it shouldn’t even be allowed to exist. The idea of this ever being said and meant is sickening, and we shouldn 't have our impressionable youth exposed to something so awful. Something so horrible should not be taught in schools. Future generations should not be influenced by anything like this, so it shouldn 't …show more content…
Many people saw the racism in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and almost felt personally targeted. Julius Lester is one of them. In his piece "Morality and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Lester comes off as opinionated and close minded. He hates racism and feels targeted by it. Although he is an extremist, his points about racism in Huckleberry Finn are valid. He talks about Tom wanting to help Jim escape, but doing it for his own enjoyment since Jim was already free. This was an awful thing to do on Tom’s part. It shows racism and how Jim being black and a slave, former or not, makes him less of a person. Lester acknowledges this, as in the book it was ignored to an extent. Tom should have been punished, as what he did was awful and inhumane. However, nothing was done. In the world today, something would most likely have been done. Still, we shouldn 't let it be believed that something like this is acceptable, as in the book it was brushed off as being okay. Do we want our children to believe that it’s okay to do such things? As a society, we need to let our youth, the future of our societies, know that racism is
In the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is a book about a boy named HuckleBerry Finn who 's from St. Petersburg, Missouri. Huck has a drunk and abusive father who only wants huck for his money, so Huck fakes his own death. At the same time Jim (a black slave owned by Miss Watson) heard that he was going to be sold down south, where he would be mistreated and separated from his family. They team up and try to make it up to the free states up north. This book shows examples of large amounts of racism and stereotyping threw out the book, and the big question is show it be taught in today 's school systems?
According to Raziye Akkoc, a writer for The Telegraph, the American novel “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [has been banned] because [of] its use of the N-word was not "inclusive" and made students uncomfortable.” Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn is about a young man that travels down the Mississippi river with a slave named Jim, and the many different journeys they encounter. Many people in society, however, have come across the question of whether or not the novel should be banned because of some of the vulgar language in Twain’s work. Even though it includes poor grammar and spelling, Huck Finn is a novel that establishes good morals, true friendships, and demonstrates the true historic time period.
Hanna Baker Mrs. Swiergosz English 1 4 December 2014 Censoring The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn "Mark Twain's (Samuel Clemens') Huckleberry Finn is so often cited as being racist, when it was written against slavery and racism." Jamey Fletcher said this quote on the extremely disputed matter of one of Mark Twain's greatest masterpieces in history. The subject of censoring The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been a controversial topic since the idea was first introduced to the public.
Should the word “nigger” be used in high school literature? That is the tough decision that many high school teachers face when try to decide whether or not to teach The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Huck Finn uses the n word throughout the book to refer to a friend who is a slave. Even though that word can be very offensive, it is a big part of our history that high school students should be mature enough to learn about. Many students do not continue on to college after high school; therefore, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be allowed to be taught in high school.
The appropriateness of Huck Finn being used in a High School curriculum has been a widely debated topic since the time that it was published. Many believe that the book promotes racism and stereotypes and provides no value to students in the classroom. Being a High School student that has read this book, I strongly disagree with these negative views. Some might say that Huck Finn celebrates racist stereotypes because of the way that many of the characters in the book talk about and treat black people. For example, minstrel episodes, which served the purpose of making the audience laugh at minorities’ expense, and the frequent use of the ‘N’ word, are very offensive to many people today.
Ever since Mark Twain published Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1885, it has been one of the most banned books in America. Not only one, but many different people/groups have banned Mark Twain’s classic due to the consistent theme of race. The book is considered inappropriate because of how Mark Twain regards African Americans and Indigenous people. Historically, it is off of many school bookshelves because many may argue that the book even promotes racism. One month after the book’s debut in 1885, a library in Concord, MA stated that Twain’s novel was "trash and suitable only for the slums".
Judging someone for their race, ethnicity, or skin color is never portrayed as the right thing to do. However, these are some of the main themes in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This was taken place before the Civil War, when slavery was still legal. When Huck Finn and Jim meet, even though Jim is a slave, they connect immediately. Their friendship grows stronger and stronger as the novel continues, it got to the point where Jim was not only a friend, but a father figure to Huck.
The novel Huckleberry Finn has been a classic but controversial piece of history. Huck is a young racist boy. The society as a whole was racist. The lack of consequence for treating Jim badly because of his color is all about the time period. The limited knowledge can lead an individual into being a racist, but a strong minded young adult like Huck should be able to know the humanity of black people.
With the novel being told in the first person point of view of Huck, we get a first hand experience of the prejudices then. We are able to see just how stereotypical and racist white people were in the past. A majority of the people in the south viewed blacks as inferior, or below them in social ranking. They ordered around their slaves and treated them with little respect at times. Although The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn can make students feel “uncomfortable," it is beneficial for students to read it.
Rosa Parks once said, “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.” She describes that the future of our world has to be aware of things that have happened in the past, such as racism. The NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is a civil rights organization that displayed their position on this certain situation. The NAACP position is correct in that Mark Twain’s un-sanitized version of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be taught because the book describes the important awareness of the historical oppression of people, it provides a value of morality from that time period that students should learn, and gives an important lesson about race that should be taught to students.
In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the racist attitudes of the Deep South in the late 1800's are shown. Mark Twain portrays a runaway slave, Jim, as a racist caricature who does whatever is asked of him and exhibits little intelligence. The reader can initially see this through the use of the word "nigger" that is all throughout the book. In the modern 21st century this term is taken offensively, but in the 19th century this term was commonly used and Twain took advantage of it.
The black man on the back porch is afraid of the rattle snake because it is bad luck, or the innocent little slave is quick to believe everything one tells them at the drop of the hat. These are just some of the many racist stereotypes of the 1840s. A character named Jim is the star African American whom Twain bestoys the mission of being the stereotypical black man to prove a point. He along with his much more pallor companion Huck go on exciting adventures that unfold the events which expose the racist conduct of the time. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain saturates his novel with potent images of acute racism severe enough as to create a satirical mien that exposes the absurdity of prejudice.
In this case, it teaches students about racism, how it’s still a part of society today, and how it’s so deeply rooted in our country’s history. It’s necessary to talk to our students about slavery’s roots in the United States and how recent African-Americans only got their equal rights and treatment with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Act of 1965. John Schwetman, an assistant professor teaching American literature at the University of Minnesota Duluth, explained about a “conversation about literature… acknowledging changing reading tastes, changing values, changing concerns of readers.” (Louwagie) Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, wrote of her experience with racism in mind. It teaches the importance of morality and resonates with the white students.
These reasons show why Twain may have intended to discourage racism. In the novel Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain it is a story of a troubled young boy and his good friend Jim. In the story Twain is not trying to portray racism toward the character Jim but rather is discouraging it. We see examples in the novel where Twain shows how Jim differs from other White men who cheat others, how he describes the white and black symbolism, and shows empathy for Jim.
Is anyone really free in this world? What does being enslaved feel like, and what kind of enslavement do men endure? In “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, slaves like Jim are eager to find their freedom, but so is Huck himself. There are many different ways authors use diction, regionalism, and imagery in their stories to make it more intriguing, and to make the reader want to read more. Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is about a young boy named Huck, in search of freedom and adventure.