The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Research Paper

Mark Twain’s publication of The Adeventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1883 stood as a groundbreaking novel for its time. The book definitely shocked quite a few people, and many were offended by Twain’s criticisms of society. Fast forward over 100 years, and Twain’s book has found itself banned in several areas after being accused of being a racist novel. However, not many realize that Twain’s portrayal of other races in Huckleberry Finn was through a satirical and ironic lense. Twain himself criticized society for several things, but some large critiques of his were of the gullibility of people and of the foolishness of slavery.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a staple of many middle school, high school, and college English curriculums across the nation for its crucial lessons about race and slavery. Historian Peter Salwen explains that Twain’s colloquial dialogue is “a way to underscore the truth about the old south” and highlights Twain’s mastery of satire (B). Thus, his ability to use advanced literary tools to convey that slavery was a widespread epidemic in Southern white society makes his novel ideal for study in American classrooms. Apart from the value of the story is the value of the words with which it is told. As an alternative to banning the novel entirely, many of its opponents recommend censoring the N-word, particularly Twain scholar Alan Gribben, who led an effort to publish copies replacing the racial epithet with “slave” (F).

Since its publication in December of 1884, Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has created a great deal of controversy in American society. This well-known story follows a troubled young boy and a run away slave as they adventure down the Mississippi in search of new lives. Huck Finn longs for freedom from both his father, and from the society he has been exposed to. Jim longs for freedom from slavery and racism. Readers have argued over the matter of whether or not this novel should be banned from schools due to the frequent use of the “n-word”. It has caused many to question Twain’s intensions throughout the book, and is often seen as offensive. Although slavery has remained a difficult and upsetting issue in our nations

“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 “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

Apart from being one of the landmarks of American literature, Mark Twain’s classic tale,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a mirror of the deeply embedded racist attitudes of the Deep South in the 1880’s. First, not to mention the most controversial and obvious, is the liberal use of the “n” word throughout the book. Taken as a derogatory term by modern-day Americans, Twain’s use of the “n” word is simply a reflection of the times. Huck Finn was written when cruel and unjust treatment of colored people were commonplace and use of such a word didn’t get so much as a second thought.Huck Finn depicts a time when slaves were not treated as people but as things without emotions or personalities, mere property. For instance, Jim is initially known only in relation to whose property he is. He escapes from being continuously treated as property, even sold to a family that will most likely treat him even less humanely.

     In recent years, there has been increasing discussion of the seemingly racist ideas expressed by Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In some cases, the novel has been banned by public school systems and even censored by public libraries. Along with the excessive use of the word, “nigger,” the basis for this blatant censorship has been the portrayal of one of the main characters in Huck Finn, Jim, a black slave who runs away from his owner, Miss Watson. At several points in the novel, Jim's character is described to the reader, and some people have looked upon the presented characterization as racist. However, before one begins to censor a novel it important to distinguish the ideas of the author

The novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, has received much criticism through the years. Yet Ernest Hemingway, among other great American writers, considers this work a great American classic. This novel addresses many social issues in the South before the Civil War, causing some critics to find it racist or degrading to the African American culture. For this reason, these critics often attempt to ban Huckleberry Finn, or at least censor it, taking it out of the teaching curriculum for junior high and high school students. Analyzing Twain’s major themes—his satire of racism, the cruelty of the dehumanization of Jim—and the ignorance and inhumanity

Mark Twain went against endless amounts of criticism about his racist’s comments in his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The character of Jim is demeaning to African-Americans as he is portrayed as a foolish, uneducated, black slave. The “n” word is also used in the book describing him and many other African-American characters in the story. However, some see this book as anti-racist and believe that the use of racist’s comments is not racist at all. Those who think that are mistaken because Huck Finn in clearly a racist novel.

Ever since its publication over a hundred years ago, controversy has swarmed around one of Mark Twain’s most popular novels, Huck Finn. Even then, many educators supported its dismissal from school libraries. For post Civil-War Americans, the argument stemmed from Twain’s use of spelling errors, poor grammar, and curse words. In the politically correct 1990’s however, the point of argument has now shifted to one of the major themes of the book: Racism. John Wallace once said of the book, “It’s the most grotesque version of racist trash” ever written. Were Twain’s archetypal characters and use of vernacular language an assertion of his own racist views, or a critique of the injustice of

Since the release of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1885, Mark Twain’s novel has been subject to debate over the story’s racial and societal themes. In an era with a growing intolerance for demeaning epithets and culturally degrading undertones, the United States educational network has quarreled over the novel’s place in American schools. Several school systems have banned the book from the classroom, citing that the continuous use of “nigger” and other racist rhetoric in Twain’s prose has engendered humiliation to American racial minorities. These educational organizations have conveyed that the story does not reflect the principles of social harmony and other progressive philosophies that schools are trying to promote. Conversely, others have argued for Twain’s novel to remain a topic of discussion in American schools, claiming that novel’s entertaining storyline and racial burdens are worth analyzing. Supporters of Twain assert that barring the novel from academic settings defeats the entire

    Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is perhaps one of the most controversial novels the North American Continent has ever produced.  Since its publication more than a hundred years ago controversy has surrounded the book.  The most basic debate surrounding Twain's masterpiece is whether the book's language and the character of Jim are presented in a racist manner.  Many have called for the book to be banned from our nation's schools and libraries.  Mark Twain's novel is about a young boy who was raised in the south before slavery was abolished, a place where racism and bigotry were the fabric of every day life.  The novel is the account of how Huck Finn, who is a product of these

“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.” (Twain, ix) Mark Twain opens his book with a personal notice, abstract from the storyline, to discourage the reader from looking for depth in his words. This severe yet humorous personal caution is written as such almost to dissuade his readers from having any high expectations. The language in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is completely “American” beyond the need for perfect grammar. “Mark Twain’s novel, of course, is widely considered to be a definitively American literary text.” (Robert Jackson,

“Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” a novel based around a boy named Huck and a freed slave named Jim as they venture out away from where the originally from in search of freedom. In the beginning of the story, the main character of the story was named Huck, and later we find out that Huck’s father, Pap Finn, was coming back to town. Huckleberry got terrified, because of, Pap Finn’s alcoholic past. I could visualize why Huck was so scared for by the news of his father coming back, and could relate to his feelings. Huck does nothing to prevent Pap’s presence to be around and Pap proceeds back into Huck’s life. He advised Huck to stop wasting his time and school and to stop going. Huck refused and continued to go to school, for this reason, Pap

     There is a major argument among literary critics whether the adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, is or is not a racist novel. The question focus on the depiction of Jim, the black slave, and the way he is treat by Huck and other characters. The use of the word “nigger” is also a point raised by some critic, who feel that Twain uses the word too often and too loosely. Mark Twain never presents Jim in a negative light. He does not show Jim as a drunkard, as a mean person or as a cheat.

Throughout the evolution of the world’s societies, the roles of women seem to act as a reflection of the time period since they set the tones for the next generation. Regardless of their own actions, women generally appear to take on a lower social standing and receive an altered treatment by men. In Mark Twain’s pre-civil war novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, lies a display of how society treats and views women, as well as how they function in their roles, specifically in regards to religion and molding the minds and futures of children. The novel’s showcase of women affords them a platform and opportunity to better see their own situation and break away with a new voice.