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Should Huckleberry Finn Be Taught In High Schools Essay

641 Words3 Pages

Mark Twain published the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1885. This book shows the story of a young boy, Huck Finn, who goes through challenges in the society. Huck Finn is full of controversies. Twain satires religion, authority, and the society of his time and addresses the issue of slavery. Throughout the novel, Jim, who represents an African American slave, is the character representing all the problems that an African American experienced during the period of slavery and racism. In the US high schools, this book has caused a lot of controversy as well. Some people are uncomfortable with the use of the word "nigger" and are against the teaching of the book in high school because the novel is offensive. Others argue that banning the book is taking away the freedom and causing censorship. Should the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn be taught in high school with all the racial issues that are caused? The use of the n-word in the novel has caused some to oppose the teaching of the book in classes. Usually the students and the parents who think …show more content…

The n-word might be offensive to some people, but if that word is changed with other words or the book is banned because of that word, the issue of censorship raises. Any type of art is about expressing ideas without boundaries, and censorship might take away the opportunity of reading a great piece of literature in schools. If an author wants to reveal racism in society, “[he has to] show racists as they are, speaking as they would speak” (Fishkin). Mark Twain had to use the n-word and show the conditions as they are to reveal the true racism. As Fishkin says, “the difference between the almost right word a[n]d the right word is really a large matter”, and changing the word still creates censorship. The use of the book in classroom as it is, can educate all the students, not African Americans, about the conditions of slavery.

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