Some people
believe that The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn is too explicit for being read in schools around our
nation. Others believe that it is great for teaching everyday lessons and
ethics. This heated discussion is fueled by the use of the vulgar word “nigger”
which is found multiple times throughout the pages of this text.
I believe
that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
is a book that should be read in an everyday high school English class. This
book shows and demonstrates to the class the condition of the mid-eighteen
hundreds culture, including the language and actions used against African
Americans. Also, this book can help demonstrate right morals such as returning
stolen money to the rightful owner.
As Huck
travels down the Mississippi River, he and Jim run into some guys calming to be
a Duke and King. These shady characters tended to do immoral and unjust
actions. One day they all came across this town where some young ladies had
just received money from their fathers will. The Duke and King set a plan for
stealing this from them; soon Huck realizes that “[He's] letting that old reptile
rob her of her money” (Twain 157). Because Huck realizes that he is “letting”
them steal the money he plans to counter them by stealing it back. Although he
is stealing the money himself, he is also doing the moral thing by returning it
to the three sisters. This could inevitably teach students that doing the right
thing is always the better choice.
Now
returning to the usage of “nigger” those who believe that the book should be
censored in a way, which is acceptable to teach at schools, have it all wrong.
As written in Dumbing and Numbing Down Jim, “Removing that single word
from the text relieves the reader from doing any heavy lifting” (Matthews). If
the word “nigger” was replaced with “slave” the reader would be “relieve” from thinking about why Huck consistently uses this term, and why do we
always find him putting himself above the world “nigger” while treating Jim as
an equal. This is shown within the text after Huck apologizes for playing a
crud trick of Jim; “It was fifteen minutes before [he] could work [him]self up to go
and humble [him]self to a nigger; but [he] done it” (Twain 78). Huck wishes he didn’t
have to “humble” himself but chooses to anyway because it was the right thing
to do. Again this is and example of how certain scenarios from the text could
help teach students around the country to respect and acknowledge others as
human beings as Huck did that day upon their raft.
This isn’t
just focused on Huck either. As brought up in a commonly referenced book, The Jim Dilemma, “He knows
that the doctor will not let him go, but he chooses to do what he feels is
morally right anyway” (Chadwick-Joshua 130). The reason Jim chooses to stay
even though he will be captured is because he was written as a “morally right”
character. This leads me to the conclusion that not only should the book be
read in classrooms, but I believe it was written as a “morally right” book.
Chadwick- Joshua, Jocelyn.
The Jim Dilemma: Reading Race in
Huckleberry Finn. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1998.
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Needham, Prentice Hall, 1884.
Matthews, David. Dumbing and Numbing Down Jim. The New York Times, 6 Jan. 2011. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.
i agree with you that this book shows many great instance of moral choices. in the end everything works out for jim and huck after jim is set free. the book serves as a great way in which to teach kids about good moral choices, but when it comes to racism huck has almost no growth even though he "humbles himself to a nigger" he still refers to jim as a "nigger". by the end of the book huck realizes that jim is "white inside" (twain 245) but this doesn't mean huck has come very far. he now sees jim as the exception as a "white" black man. so as far as racism is concerned the book fails definitively and the use of "nigger" is unnecessary because their is no great moral epiphany when considering racism.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this book should not be censored whatsoever because it would "relieve" readers of finding the deeper meaning in the novel. However, i do not agree with what you say about it being a "morally right" book. Twain did not intend for this novel to be morally right, otherwise "nigger" and other forms of racism would not have been placed in the book. Twain wants the novel to be the exact opposite of "morally right" because then it wouldn't show readers the horrific stereotypes and racism of the deep south. If Huck, Tom, Papa and the crew were all nice guys then what would be the point of this book? In no way is this novel "morally right" because that would defy Twain's disgusting examples of racism: which he does only to show readers that we don't have to conform ourselves to society (especially if its a racist society)! -ben clark
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts! I agree with you that this book has a lot to do with other things such as describing the time period these characters were in and dealing with morals. I really liked your evidence about being "relieved from "heavy lifting" because this book definitely has more meaning than what we can see from the surface. Language was chosen for a purpose. Twain chose a specific time period and it wouldn't make sense if he didn't use the language that they used.
ReplyDeleteYou talked about Huck making the right choices and going by morals. I agree that this does set a good example for high school students because Huck does go through difficult situations. For example Huck becomes more of an individual as he follows his own choices and not with the rest of society. Individuality is definitely something students can learn about in this book. As high school students also go through this self-discovery journey as well during this period. - Kristen Pascual
I agree David; Huck Finn is definitely a morally right book because it teaches the reader that one doesn't become a morally right person over night. Huck shows that becoming a morally character is a slow and gradual process. I also think your right about Jim being a morally right character to prove that any can be that kind of character.
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about Huck being a moral book. Throughout the book, we as a class learned about the progress of Huck. His progress was due to his experiences and his values consistently change. Although Huck's decision making didn't exactly improve, his morals increased vastly. I feel as if each thing he visits while on the river is a lesson to be learned which in turn better offs his morals.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I agree that Huck Finn Should be read in schools. I like how you pointed out that if the n-word were to be censored out of Huck Finn that it would 'relieve' the reader. I have not thought about it in that way before, but I agree! Changing the word would keep the reader from having to think and discuss why Twain chose to use the n-word. it would also make Huck Finn an easier book to read, which is not what is wanted.
ReplyDelete