Essay about Huckleberry Finn is Not a Racist Work

Huckleberry Finn is Not a Racist Work â€Å"All modern literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn,† this is what fellow writer had to say about this classic novel. Still, this novel has been the object of controversy since it was published more than 150 years ago. Some people argue that Huckleberry Finn is a racist work, and that the novel has no place in a highschool classroom. This feeling is generated because a main character in the story, Jim, and other slaves are referred to many times as â€Å"niggers.† When Mark Twain wrote this book, he was striving to show the general public that society was wrong in the past, that the way white people thought black people were less than human was a wrong viewpoint. The†¦show more content†¦But according to Michael Meyers, â€Å"It is in the classroom, exactly, where the word ‘nigger’ belongs. It does not belong in the street, in casual conversation among whites or between blacks.† (67). John Wallace feels that because the word â€Å"nigger† appears over 200 times throughout the story, it â€Å"has caused him to be traumatized as a high-school student when it was required reading.† (â€Å"View of Slavery Still a Hot Topic†). Wallace went so far as to change the book, replacing any words that he felt were offensive to black people with other non-offensive words like slave or black man. When Wallace changed this book to what he felt was less offensive, the novel lost its irony, and its values (â€Å"View of Slavery Still a Hot Topic†). Other people argue that the text is harmful for young African-American students to read, but they must realize that Twain was writing for the time of the story. He wrote these words as a reminder that the way people acted in the past was unacceptable, and should not be tolerated, nor repeated. He knew that the way he had the characters treat Jim and the other slaves was wrong, but he was writing a period piece. These actions fit th e way people acted in American society in the 1830s and 1840s (Cryer 60). Twain goes on to show that even though Huck has been brought up to think of blacks as only slaves, and that he knows that freeing a slave, is not onlyShow MoreRelatedHuckleberry Finn and the use of Satire Essay1109 Words   |  5 Pages Huck Finn and the use of Satire Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been controversial ever since its release in 1884. It has been called everything from the root of modern American literature to a piece of racist trash. Many scholars have argued about Huck Finn being prejudiced. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses satire to mock many different aspects of the modern world. Despite the fact that many critics have accused Mark Twain’s novel of promoting racismRead MoreHuck Finn: Racist or Not Racist?760 Words   |  4 Pagescomments in his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 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