Huck Finn Research Paper

The Complexities Behind Huckleberry Finn The United States of America was built on the tears of Natives and the blood of slaves. The founding fathers of America proclaimed that the country would prosper under the ideals of freedom and equality, however, they failed to mention the Declaration of Independence only applied to white men. People colored in melanin were thought to be naturally inferior to the white men. Ignorance instilled to the white population that skin color defined the value of a human. The doctrine of Manifest Destiny was used to justify Western expansion, disregarding any effect migrating would have on the lives of the many Native Americans who populated the western hemisphere. The Trail of Tears took place in the mid 1800s, …show more content…
More than 200 years ago, people fought so we would not have to live today in a discriminatory life of shambles. But yet here we are - arguing whether or not the government should be allowed to ban a classic piece of literature, because its liberal use of racial slurs is deemed offensive. The debate is especially controversial, because it raises the question of the extent of freedom of speech one should practice. Freedom of speech and the idea of equality become paradoxical when a group of people expresses prejudice against people of other races. The government applies censorship to works that contain alarming or offensive ideas. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain has sparked a debate, because of its offensive depiction of Jim, an African American slave who is a prominent character in the book. Before we can deliver an assessment of the discriminatory language the book is decorated with, one must analyze the overall intent of the book. The book is a satirical interpretation of the South which accurately creates a depiction of the views of white southerners towards people of African descent. The book refrains from editing discriminatory terms …show more content…
The public should not be debating on whether or not to incorporate the book into their curriculum “but how to teach this book, and it is an incredible opportunity to get students talking about our racial history and our racial present," says University of California, Santa Cruz literature professor Jody Greene (Beck). Because of his expressive usage of the English language, Twain illustrates the historical time period in a way that other literary works cannot. The n-word itself promotes discussion that delineates the institution of slavery and its contribution to our modern world. In response to the banning of the controversial book, certain teachers lamented “the lost opportunities for readers to engage in provocative discussions about the role of racism in American history” (Smith). Elimination of the book would disengage students from experiencing the American South in the 18th century from a very interesting point of view, a young white boy who is constantly complexed with attending to his moral obligations based on the ideals of society. The altering of the n-word is unreasonable as Jim remains a “nigger” at the end of the novel but not a “slave” (Smith). The continuation of characters referring to Jim as a “nigger” serves to illustrate that “nigger” was far more than a derogatory description towards people from African descent. “Nigger” was a state of mind that enslaved Jim. This serves

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Huck Finn Research Paper