...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
...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...
Words: 935 - Pages: 4
...The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be banned in public schools despite its use of racial slurs because it not only challenges the reader with such a controversial topic but shows the prevalence of racism in that era. The novel’s fictionalization of the south makes it more enriching as it brings a sense of realism to the novel. This novel is a beneficial teaching tool for students learning about racism in America so banning it would impair students’ learning of the south in this era. Many historical concepts of race are displayed throughout the novel, giving it more historical context than just slavery. The underlying reason for the push for the ban is because many parents are concerned about their child well-being while reading....
Words: 1262 - Pages: 6
...Huckleberry Finn: School Worthy Nigger. Does the word offend you? Normally the answer to that may be yes and perhaps rightfully so with the general disrespect it carries today. Now say you watched a civil war film. Would it offend you if a southern character in that movie said it? The likely answer is no: it’s in character, in context, and readily expected before it happens. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn uses this word hundreds of times, and that single word has raised more opponents and uproars than most, if not all, other books on our country’s High-School level reading list. The book was published in 1884, but takes place before the civil war, which started in 1861. Since it was placed on the reading list the book has made an uproar, mostly over claims that it is a racist book to the core. The critics of the book, that is the ones causing such uproar over the novel, seem to have either only read to the third chapter or only understood up to the third chapter. The book is as racist and pro-slavery as Abraham Lincoln was, should be found about as offensive if given the proper understanding, and has earned itself a well-deserved place in our schools. The time in which this book takes place is of paramount importance to the arguments for and against it, but seems mostly ignored in that perspective. The book, as previously said, takes place shortly prior to the Civil War and in the southern states of our country at the time. This, if nothing...
Words: 1054 - Pages: 5
...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
...motivation for writing “The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn”, is not to start a conversation on race rather; to start a conversation on morality of our thoughts and actions. Twain developed his purpose through a story of Huck and the situations that test him. In the society where he resides a common word is “Nigger” in referring to African-Americans who were mostly slaves. This negative connotative word is what changed the focus away from the main purpose of the book. Twain expressed the true message of the book through Huck's “Adventures”, and how he is tested on his morals. During these Adventures Huck does not act in the stereotypical way expected of a boy in this society. This represents why “ The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn” is not a racist book rather a depiction of a boy in a racist society who choose to pick a different outlook on what is morally right. By considering the use of the word “Nigger” throughout the book, analyzing the adventures that tested Huck, and the relationship that developed between Hick and Jim. To make a stereotypical southern society Twain choose to mock the dialect and common language used. He choose to keep the society in the book as similar as possible to the one that would be seen in real life. This leads to negative conclusions on how Huck was raised and also to question the morality of the book. To dispute this Jane Smiley in “Say It Ain't So Huck” is that the use of this word causes there to be a deeper racism in this novel [pg.3]. Her augment...
Words: 1127 - Pages: 5
...turns his back on his society and follows what he thinks is right. Our nation needs censorship. Censorship helps end racism, prevents military corruption, and protects kids. Racism is a worldwide issue that someone needs to put an end to. “This is great literature.But there (are so many) racial slurs in there and offensive wording that you can’t get past that,” the parent,said. The quote is a parent complaining about how the books To Kill a...
Words: 830 - Pages: 4
...Hypocrites Throughout history, racism and bigotry have been underlining problems in our society; problems in which I’m sure will almost certainly never go away. People find differences amongst each other and seem to enjoy using these differences to exploit or belittle others. Looking back a few centuries, racism and bigotry were qualities shared by almost all people, as long as you weren’t the one being ridiculed. Luckily as time passed by and America became industrialized and settled, more and more people began to realize that this hatred towards other people is wrong. Fortunately for humanity, there were some special souls that realized society was wrong way before everyone else did. One of these special souls is an author by the name of Mark Twain, who used satire and moral critique to make fun of race relations and new American culture hypocrisies. Mark Twain was a social critic who observed a society filled with bigotry and racism, even after the abolition of slavery. Twain lived in a time when there were two very separate and also very different belief systems. The first is a world where every man is equal and every person is entitled to his or her freedom. The second, and sadly more common, is the exact opposite of the first. In this system you were looked at as either a legit civilized member of society or on the contrary, a savage. This belief is what Mark Twain boldly opposed and attacks in his story, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Throughout the story, Mark Twain...
Words: 1729 - Pages: 7
...Since Mark Twain's best selling novel, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", there has been controversy over whether the book should be banned in public schools. Some people say that the book has strong political and religious views, along with pervasive language. "It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a n****; but I done it, and I warn't ever sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn't do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn't done that one if I'd a knowed it would make him feel that way" (Twain 156). Huck is not too happy about having to apologize to a black man, but he does it anyways. It shows a paradox by having Huck be not as racist as everyone else, which makes him a good person. This could have a negative effect on students due to racial slurs and foul language that could offend others....
Words: 627 - Pages: 3
...Adam smith once said, “To feel much for others and little for ourselves; to restrain our selfishness and exercise our benevolent affections, constitute the perfection of human nature.” Even we, as people, have never seen this quote before I think we all believe in it one way or the other. That’s why books are always being challenged to be banned in order to protect human nature. We do not want to see the negative effects of the books being read by adolescences. That is why many people considered banning books to be a benevolent act rather than an act of hate. Often books that are banned are considered to have racial themes, too violent, or can be damaging to lifestyles. I’m sure that in your lifetime you have read a book or two with and extremely...
Words: 591 - Pages: 3
...Hannibal Journal, where he quickly became saturated in the newspaper trade. Rising to the role of sub-editor, Twain indulged in the frontier humor that flourished in journalism at the time: tall tales, satirical pranks, and jokes. II. Influences of the Writer The following were the persons, things, places and events that influenced Mark Twain. -his connection to the mississippi river as a boy and the fact that he became a riberboat pilot -time spent traveling the world -the nice life he led shortly after he married -tragedies in his family -financial problems -problems he saw in the south during reconstruction Hannibal inspired several of Mark Twain's fictional locales, including "St. Petersburg" in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. These imaginary river towns are complex places: sunlit and exuberant on the one hand, but also vipers' nests of cruelty, poverty, drunkenness, loneliness, and life-crushing boredom. All of that had been a part of Sam Clemens' boyhood experience. The story is set in the town of "St...
Words: 1738 - Pages: 7
...They both have various things in common such as they were rebels, against slavery, and they had a sense of humor. Throughout Mandela’s life, he was a rebel, he wanted to modify the South American government and it's racism on its citizen. He engaged in many resistance such as making numerous speech on the abolition of slavery. In Mandela's speeches, he uses humor to charm the media. Not only was his used of humor was effective, it was also dignified.Mandela hard work paid off when he triumphed over the apartheid and the ruling government.While Mark became a rebel through his writing. An example of his rebellious writing was in Huckleberry Finn, he portrayed how crucial slavery was and he also use his writings to show he was an abolitionist. Twain uses the Mississippi River to help show the issue of the necessity of freedom of people from the clutches of slavery. Mark Twain was also a comic just like Mandela, but instead of speeches, Twain wrote using satire. An example of Twain’s use of satire is in “ Jim Smiley and His Jumping...
Words: 693 - Pages: 3
...Both Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye are bildungsroman novels about a young character’s growth into adulthood. Written 67 years apart, both novels feature unusual protagonists who are somewhat innocent, naïve and desperate to reject the process of maturity and being ‘sivilized’. Twain focuses on a key moment in American history to ask readers to reassess the definition of “civilisation”, freedom, justice and social responsibility. Published in 1884, the novel relates to the pre-civil war years when the controversy over slavery corrupted America. Twain set his novel in 1860 prior to the abolition of slavery in order to criticise racist attitudes and uses the Mississippi River as the centre point of his novel. It symbolises the route toward freedom and escape for Huck and Jim providing the setting for the growth of both a young boy and a country struggling to understand definitions of freedom, individualism and civilisation. Salinger, however, uses his protagonist Holden to explore the materialistic, conformist society he saw developing after WW2. The first extract I chose is from chapter 22 of Catcher in the Rye where Phoebe accuses Holden of hating everything and everyone. Holden reveals here his fantasy of becoming ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ protecting children from falling into the adult world. This links with chapter 31 of Huckleberry Finn where Huck decides to write a letter to Tom Sawyer to tell Miss Watson where Jim...
Words: 1956 - Pages: 8
...Chapter 1 Summary The narrator speaks of his grandparents, freed slaves who, after the Civil War, believed that they were separate but equal—that they had achieved equality with whites despite segregation. The narrator’s grandfather lived a meek and quiet life after being freed. On his deathbed, however, he spoke bitterly to the narrator’s father, comparing the lives of black Americans to warfare and noting that he himself felt like a traitor. He counseled the narrator’s father to undermine the whites with “yeses” and “grins” and advised his family to “agree ’em to death and destruction.” Now the narrator too lives meekly; he too receives praise from the white members of his town. His grandfather’s words haunt him, for the old man deemed such meekness to be treachery. The narrator recalls delivering the class speech at his high school graduation. The speech urges humility and submission as key to the advancement of black Americans. It proves such a success that the town arranges to have him deliver it at a gathering of the community’s leading white citizens. The narrator arrives and receives instructions to take part in the “battle royal” that figures as part of the evening’s entertainment. The narrator and some of his classmates (who are black) don boxing gloves and enter the ring. A naked, blonde, white woman with an American flag painted on her stomach parades about; some of the white men demand that the black boys look at her and others threaten them if they don’t...
Words: 1762 - Pages: 8
...NORTH AMERICAN FICTION BRIEF INTRODUCTION: Before starting our study of American Fiction we must understand what American Literature is in itself and which pieces of writing we can include within this label. It is believed that when a piece is written in North America, more precisely in the USA, it would automatically be given this epithet. But it should be taken into account that this idea is quite broad and doesn’t reflect the real essence of the term. However, there is also another definition that gathers this essence: American Literature is the one that represents the Americanism, the singularity of the USA philosophy and culture. This way, instead of focusing on who the author is, it is focused on the content of the writing. In that which concerns Fiction, the following documents are the ones considered as narrative: Speeches Letters Short Stories Essays Political Documents Sermons Novels Diaries 1 FIRST LITERARY EXPRESSIONS The first documents in which the idea of Americanism is very present are the Sermons. They respond to the strict Protestantism settled in the New Continent after the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers and Puritans in the Mayflower (1620) and the Arabella (1630). They established a theocratic community whose main and only point of reference was the Bible. That is why the idea of the ‘city upon a hill’ is still very present in American mentality. As we all know...
Words: 12691 - Pages: 51
