...economically and socially with the newly freed slaves. Numerous acts of racism were practiced upon the black community, even when amendments were passed giving newly freed slaves full and equal opportunities as the white community. Nineteen years later, Huckleberry Finn was written by Mark Twain. This novel describes the adventures between a young, white, abused boy named Huck, and a black slave named Jim who escaped from his owner. Mark Twain uses his interpretations of Jim, in hopes of discouraging acts of racism in the nation. Because this novel...
Words: 917 - Pages: 4
...the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a story of a Southern white teenager, Huckleberry Finn is being “civilized” by the society's standards, taking place throughout the Mississippi River between 1835 and 1845, years before the American Civil War. While the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, takes place in the early 1900s, following a Southern African-American...
Words: 1791 - Pages: 8
...Like a world without light, racism and cruelty darken the heart of people with their own indecent ignorance; the people refusing to see with their own humane eyes the cruel evil that was occurring for years. Families forcing to separate, people beating others, and the torturing of a race all because of simple trait; the color of one’s skin. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, racism brutally appears in Mark Twain’s book and continuously seems to beat the reader with outrageous racial and cruel quotes that makes a person hate human society and their disgusting, despicable ways. The dehumanizing of people through the travesty of racism and slavery makes one shudder at how brutal the people of the 1800s acted. When Aunt Sally asks Huck, while he is pretending to be Tom Sawyer, if anybody has been hurt in a shooting he answers by saying, “No’m. Killed a nigger” (Twain 276). As if a slave dying does not count as a person, Aunt Sally goes on to say how great that...
Words: 814 - Pages: 4
...Huck Finn: Comparing and Contrasting the Controversies Surrounding Banning Books The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, deemed one of the great American novels, was published by Mark Twain in 1884. From the start, this novel has sparked a lot of negative criticism. There were heated debates among critics, and in schools debating whether or not to ban this controversial piece of literature. In today's society, this book still offends sensitive readers, because it was written in a time when people were not sensitive to the plight of African Americans. Just a month after it was published, The Concord, library in Massachusetts banned all copies stating that it was “Not suitable for trash.” (Ruta1) It was believed, that racism was at the heart of this book, and the content was, and still viewed as being harsh. Louisa May Alcott was a popular author who served on the very first library committee in Massachusetts, where The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was banned. She voted against this book from being sold, read or viewed. Criticizing Mark Twain saying that "Huck should not sweat. He should perspire." (Ruta1) Other libraries began removing their copies stating that it is inappropriate for children to read. The number of concerned citizens continue to debate on this subject today. Derogatory words are seen throughout this story in reference to showcase the difference between the two classes, white verses black. This book not only celebrates an unlikely friendship between...
Words: 2006 - Pages: 9
...Mark Twain’s first successful piece of work was a book about a young boy named Tom Sawyer. Tom and his best friend, Huckleberry Finn, went around, getting in trouble and going on exciting adventures. It was a popular children's book. So, when Mark Twain came out with his next book; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a story of Huck running away from home and going on new adventures with a slave, everyone was surprised by its controversial topics and offensive racial slurs. Now, 130 years later, the book is the number one most banned book in America. The question of whether it should still be taught in school is being brought up again. The themes in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain are still relevant today, and therefore, the book should still be taught in school. Some of the themes in the book are argued to be inappropriate. A boy running away from home, the bad language, a white boy and a black man being friends, the scheming and scamming; these are all topics that some may think shouldn’t be taught in school. These are themes that need to be addressed because they are real life topics. They may have been hard to talk about in the past but now, they are good teaching devices. The controversial topics in the book...
Words: 862 - Pages: 4
...achieve an education and if you did not become educated then you will not become successful or become the best of yourself you can be. Similarly, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, students should read it whether there be offensive words in it, since there is such a prevalent theme that everyone should know and be able to learn from. Every year the English language is changed whether it be “twerking” or having “swag”; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn features the n-word over two-hundred times. If every book that had derogatory terms was banned, there would be no books for students to learn from. Furthermore, almost every group of people have been stigmatized against and in order to prevent future...
Words: 822 - Pages: 4
...Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, was written by Mark Twain and originally published in 1884 during a time when slavery was prominent in the United States. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the story regarding the interracial friendship between the two main characters, Huck and Jim. Huck is a young white male who is on the run, making his getaway from his abusive father. While escaping the life he lived, his adventures take him down the Mississippi River. Jim is a black escaped slave, making the same journey along the Mississippi River as Huck, making his way to freedom. As they experience different adventures on their travels along the Mississippi River, Huck and Jim form a very unique friendship. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn became a book that both revolutionized American literature and became a book at the center of literary debate (Webb). Many people regard The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as one of the greatest novels in American literature; others think it celebrates racism and should be banned from our schools. “In recent years the racial (and racist) implications of every aspect of the novel have been subject to critical debate, as have questions about the racial beliefs of the author”(Levine 95). The reason for the wide spread debate is mainly due to the books vernacular use of the word “nigger” and, although some argue that the novel is extremely racist, it is a powerful anti-slavery and racism novel useful for teaching...
Words: 1192 - Pages: 5
...physical, inner or imaginative journey. These journeys however can be a combination of two, inviting readers to explore deeper within the story. This is advocated with Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Peter Jackson’s Lord of the rings trilogy, to which characters not only undertake a physical journey but a undergo inner struggles and changes.The characters of Huckleberry Finn (Twain) and Frodo Baggins (Jackson) will be analysed before and after their journey to which the effects of journeys will be expressed to the audience. Mark Twain’s Huck Finn through his ignorance of ‘racism’ within his society provides a motive for Huck’s transformation in his journey. Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain gives way to the protagonist Huck who during the starting phase of the Picaresque novel is shown to have a limited view on the world through his lack of education and is oblivious to the unethical views of his society. Huck’s ignorance is symbolised with his comment on the Widow’s refusal of his smoking “That is just the way with some people. They get down on a thing when they don’t know nothing about it.” This quote used for a smaller issue can be seen to highlight the Huck’s own lack of knowledge regarding “racism”, to which the novel’s key theme is revealed to the audience. Parallel to Huck Finn, Lord of the Ring’s Frodo Baggins easygoing and oblivious nature of the outside world is used to contrast the irreversible effects of the great journey into Mordor. While the trilogy’s human...
Words: 935 - Pages: 4
...of this racially-marked history manifest themselves today in a wide variety of mediums, including television, music, police brutality protests, and in a controversy surrounding a two-syllable word—the “n-word.” With a major spike in American progressivism, a heated debate has ignited over the appropriateness of the n-word in literature, including its usage in Mark Twain’s world-acclaimed classic, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Centered around the journey of a young boy, Huckleberry Finn, and a slave, Jim, around the Mississippi river, Twain incorporates within it moral and anti-racial lessons through characters, events, and its unique regional...
Words: 680 - Pages: 3
...of literature about the american classic Huckleberry Finn. You are either on the side saying Huck Finn should be banned or that it should be praised for being a well written novel reflecting human weakness. While researching there was a considerable amount more of people who believe Huck Finn to be a great novel. But with great persistence I have came to believe that Huckleberry Finn should be not be taught in school due to having large amounts of the N-word, racial stereotypes, and religious disobedience. Throughout the novel Twain repeatedly uses the N word to such a degree that is intolerable. During the entirety of the novel “Twain uses the N-word a total of 219 times”(CBS 2). “NAACP...
Words: 826 - Pages: 4
...approach to waking up his readers. Many school districts and libraries banned his classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, due to its nerve-striking content. Many people only see what is on the surface of Huck Finn and ignore the true message within the text. Some teachers whilst reading aloud to the class even refuse to openly say “nigger,” which is found two hundred and nineteen times in the novel. From all of this Twain and Huck Finn have gathered a bad reputation despite all the thought provoking and positive aspects of the novel. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be kept in high school curriculum because it showcases a truthful side American history, teaches morals and values,...
Words: 1136 - Pages: 5
...helps answer all the earths problems. Many authors utilize satire in their stories to express their emotions about certain topics of humanity. Mark Twain is concerned about societal issues, such as violence, racism, and slavery. In all of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim is treated with no respect and Pap has no sympathy for whenever he hurts Huck physically or emotionally. Twain's satire of human violence and racism/slavery is evident through the satirical techniques of situational irony and exaggeration. Twain satirizes human violence through situational irony. Pap decided to stop drinking and change his life by trying to...
Words: 735 - Pages: 3
...The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the noblest, greatest, and most adventuresome novel in the world. Mark Twain definitely has a style of his own that depicts a realism in the novel about the society back in antebellum America. Mark Twain definitely characterizes the protagonist, the intelligent and sympathetic Huckleberry Finn, by the direct candid manner of writing as though through the actual voice of Huck. Every word, thought, and speech by Huck is so precise it reflects even the racism and black stereotypes typical of the era. And this has lead to many conflicting battles by various readers since the first print of the novel, though inspiring some. Says John H. Wallace, outraged by Twain’s constant use of the degrading and white supremacist word ‘nigger’, "[The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is] the most grotesque example of racist trash ever written" (Mark Twain Journal by Thadious Davis, Fall 1984 and Spring 1985). Yet, again to counter that is a quote by the great American writer Ernest Hemingway, "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn…it’s the best book we’ve had…There has been nothing as good since" (The Green Hills of Africa [Scribner’s. 1953] 22). The controversy behind the novel has been and will always remain the crux of any readers is still truly racism. Twain surely does use the word ‘nigger’ often, both as a referral to the slave Jim and any African-American that Huck comes across and as the epitome of insult...
Words: 390 - Pages: 2
...The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain By Brenda Tarin British Literature 2323 Lois Flanagan January 27, 2009 Tarin ii I. Introduction II. Biographical sketch of author A. Past to present B. Experiences and achievements III Plot analysis A. analysis of plot structure 1. Exposition 2. Complication 3. Crisis 4. Climax 5. Resolution B. Theme of plot IV Critical analysis A. Theme 1. Racism 2. Slavery C. Characters D. Atmosphere E. Conflicts V. Evaluation VI. Review of movie version VII. Conclusion Tarin 1 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Samuel Langhorne Clemens also known as the famous and brilliant Mark Twain, was born in the small town of Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835 to John Marshall and Jane Lampton Clemens. Clemens was the youngest of the five children, as a child Clemens moved around a lot, he first moved to the small town of Hannibal at the age of four. Here he attended a private school and seemed to finally recover from his poor health at the age of nine. When he was twelve his father died of pneumonia, he suddenly decided to leave, and make money, since his family needed all the help they could get. He quit school and was a printers apprentice, then moved and helped his brother print and edit for a newspaper. In 1858 Clemens became a river pilot...
Words: 1826 - Pages: 8
...RR #5 Say It Ain’t So, Huck by Jane Smiley, Pg. 815 Brief Summary Throughout her piece, Jane Smiley’s underlying purpose remains to criticize Twain in his writing of Huckleberry Finn. Smiley carries a skeptical and disapproving tone throughout her essay. Her first argument is that the last twelve chapters of the book was a complete “failure”. She supports this with the fact that the novel strayed from its central focus: the relationship between Huck and Jim. She also argues that the novel had a weak beginning as well as a weak ending and that the author did not really know the actual meaning of racism, and due to this, the novel had no deep meaning. Lastly, Smiley argues that a better novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, should be considered a greater novel than Huckleberry Finn because it carries better propaganda and holds better messages of racism. Questions 1. Literal- Is Smiley’s thesis clearly stated in the essay? If so, where is it and what is it? 2. Literal- What novel does Smiley contrast Huckleberry Finn to? Why does she say that it is a better novel? 3. Interpretive- Huck is supposed to be the hero of the story. What major aspect of the novel demonstrates that the novel is another failure because Huck was not emphasized as a hero? 4. Interpretive- What characteristics of the character Jim make him inferior in the novel, according to Smiley? 5. Evaluative- Early in the essay, Smiley says that she isn’t criticizing the character Huck, but do you think that...
Words: 356 - Pages: 2
