Huckleberry FInn
...an author always wrote using “proper grammer and syntax.” Twain created waves of tension by “employing an uneducated narrator” who speaks in a rough dialect and is of teenage status (………………..1). Twain’s word choice is often criticized. The use of the word “nigger” brings about immediate disarray. The reality is, this word is not meant to be offensive and “to have used Negro or African-American would have taken away from the story’s impact” ( 1). It is important for students to understand Mark Twain’s impact on literature with his controversial text. To see the history behind the word and understand the drive it gives the novel and the emotion it inflicts is imparitive. The controversy surrounding this novel and the knowledge students can obtain from the controversy makes it an essential piece of literature for Ironwood students. Ironwood High School students should be required to read Huckleberry Finn because it provides moral lessons through the journeys of Huck and Jim. Huck and Jim find their morals on their journeys to freedom. Huck searches for morals between slavery and friendship, while Jim tries to find how to be a moral person and a free person at the same time. Huck’s journey is successful when he decides, “I’ll go to Hell” (Twain ) and tears up the letter that would reveal Jim’s deceit. Huck decides that the moral thing to do is be loyal to his black friend. Twain teaches his reader this positive moral lesson. Jim finds morality when he decides to help Tom and the doctor with Tom’s leg. Jim then understands that saving a life is the right thing to do and is worth the cost of his freedom. Twain teaches another moral lesson through Huck’s jouney against society. Huck runs from Miss Watson’s home. Twain is implying that it is not moral for Huck to act like someone he is not. Twain illustrates it is moral to stand up for yourself and not be subservient when Huck escapes from his father. Huck becomes discusted with the Duke and King’s devious acts; the reader then honors Huck’s morality due to Twain’s example. The novel also follows the journey of Huck and Jim’s friendship in order to teach a moral lesson. At the start of the novel, Huck views Jim as a superstitious, inferior slave. He plays tricks on Jim and uses him only as company when times are boring. Jim is elated to see Huck on the island in the beginning, mainly because he will now have more to eat than berries, because Huck can hunt. As the novel progresses, Huck and Jim’s friendship grows into a strong relationship. Huck damns himself to Hell because he remembers how wonderful a friend Jim is and can no longer turn him in. Jim reguards Huck as his best and most honest friend. Twain educates the reader on the value of friendship. Through various journeys in Huckleberry Finn, high school students will learn many moral lessons. It is essential that Huckleberry Finn be taught at Ironwood because, despite contradiction, it is not a racist novel. Mark Twain depicts the setting and characters historically accurately, not on a rasict level. Jim was indeed characterized as superstitious and foolish. He found a majic hairball and believed it held answers to the future, but both blacks and whites come from all around to use the hairball’s powers ( 1). Twain accurately explains that all southerners are superstitious and foolish, not just blacks. Jim was described as having a shameful life. He hides his face in the daytime, is locked up, cannot be with his family, and is forced to perform free labor with the risk of being sold. Twain, though, does not intend this description to portray Jim as a shameful person. This is the life a black would live. If described differently, the reader would not feel the same sympathy towards Jim. Also, this novel is not racist because it satirizes the racists. Twain offers “biting criticism of the hypocrisy of the South” (Anaunomous 1) throughout the novel. He criticizes the southerners for having hogs and guns in church. He criticizes Pap for praising his stupidity. Twain emphasizes the bad qualities of the Southerners so the reader thinks of them in an unappealing light. All racist views in the novel originate with the Southerners. If Twain satirizes the South, he is not encouraging the readers to be like them and hold racist views. Another reason Huckleberry Finn is not racist is Huck and Jim are, in fact, both slaves trying to find freedom. Huck is enslaved by society and his father. When being held captive by his father, Huck explains, “I was all over welts. [Pap] got to going away so much, too, and locking me in. Once he locked me in and was gone three days. I was dreadful lonesome” (Twain 27). Jim is enslaved by Miss Watson. They both must run, Huck from death, Jim from being sold. Each race is a slave; there is no discrimination. The two work together to find freedom. Racism is no excuse to ban this book from Ironwood; it contains no pro-racist viewpoints. It is understood that many Americans view Huckleberry Finn as an inappropriate novel for high school students. They argue that the use of the word, “nigger” is hurtful and proof of Mark Twain’s racist views. These people must understand, though, that the dialogue Twain uses is historically accurate. Twain is successful in creating a realistic depiction of S...