The Power Of Word In Huckleberry Finn

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The power of a word
By Margot Sosa, Alexa Vassiliou and Martine Fierro

One word should not stop someone from reading a novel which has been considered one of the greatest pieces of American literature. Mark Twain's use of the n-word was specifically chosen for Huckleberry Finn as a major contribution to the story's plot and message.

Huckleberry Finn was not written to upset the audience, but to teach a lesson on how society should not have the power to prevail. Twain’s character Jim purpose was not to offend the black community, but to show that African Americans were humans too and deserve to be treated like anyone else.

Throughout Huck’s journey, he realizes that Jim is as much of a person as any white man and has grown to think of …show more content…
Galanty Miller says in the Huffington Post “The language in the novel is the language that was used at the time. We can’t deny the terrible past by pretending it didn’t exist”. This is why the book should not be removed from shelves but instead embraced.

“When they told me... they’d let that nigger vote… I says to the people, why ain’t this nigger put up at auction and sold?” (27). This quote uses the n-word twice, but in no way was intended to offend Africans. Instead this quote is one of many in which Twain shared the truth. The racism in this quote is a harsh truth which in one way or another had to be exposed.

Some believe that for the book to be read in schools, the n-word should be replaced by “slave” because of the harmful effect it has on people. “But that's one of the reasons we can't mess around with it. There is a reality there that you cannot avoid." (60 minute, David Bradley). The n-word creates a story to be remembered and replacing such an important word takes away Twain's message, and diminishes the effect the word has on readers. As Bradley says in the 60 minute video “slave” is a condition while the n-word “has to do with shame” and “was what made slavery possible”. Without it Huck could not provide strong criticism on societies wrong
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