Something important I found when I read a little more about the novel, is that it was banned and censored in various parts of the world, but especially in the southern United States. The south was offended not only by the crudity, but realistic way Twain portrayed the pre-Civil War American society. Racism, slavery, superstition and morality are some of the most important topics of the novel. Here, Huckleberry Finn is portrayed as an outlaw, some kind of outsider who has grown in complete freedom and therefore a person who neither knows nor applies the rules of society. Huck is a person who does not distinguish what is right or wrong, but who is carried away by his particular way of understanding the world. A character who only cares about his basic needs without even questioning the means by which he gets them and is not influenced by religious ideas. …show more content…
All those who have already been alienated by the way they use not only to understand but to interact with the world. A clear example is the vision he has regarding religion: “I set down one time back in the woods, and had a long think about it. I says to myself, if a body can get anything they pray for, why don’t Deacon Winn get back the money he lost on pork? Why can’t the widow get back her silver snuffbox that was stole? Why can’t Miss Watson fat up? No, says I to my self, there ain’t nothing in it. I went and told the widow about it, and she said the thing a body could get by praying for it was “spiritual gifts.” “ However, religion plays an important role in the dilemmas that Huckleberry has to face. When he finally feels trapped by all of that (what actually seems completely unrelated to him) is when he decides to flee down the river far away from civilization. The moment when he fakes his death and hides in an island near the
Huckleberry Finn recognizes Jim as a human being, but is fighting the beliefs bestowed upon him by a society that believes slaves should not be free. However, it is important to realize that although Huckleberry Finn's decisions create the conflict between society and himself (and that this conflict forms the theme of the novel), Huck is oblivious to the justice, the righteousness, and even the heroism of his own actions, they are simply in accordance with his own conscience.
The novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, covers the situations and people Huckleberry Finn encounters after he runs away. Huck prevents his alcoholic father from getting his fortune and is able to run away after his father, Pap, kidnaps him and leaves town. It has many colorful characters that exhibit several facets of society at that time in history. It is anti-racist although it uses the word "nigger" frequently. Huck seems to struggle throughout the book with what he has been taught and what is morally right. His main and most consistent interaction is with Jim, a runaway slave. Although he had been taught differently throughout his entire life, he eventually makes the choice to go against what society deems to be right and be Jim's
One of Mark Twain’s best selling novels, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has been disputed ever since the novel has been published in 1884. The novel was based on a young white boy who escaped his abusive alcoholic father and had so many crazy adventure with Jim, a runaway slave. The novel also included racial slurs such as using the word “nigger” over 200 times. Over the time that has gone by, the novel is still unwanted and so many schools are discussing to ban this famous American literature because of just one word, “nigger”. So many people found this word to be offensive so instead of banning the book, the word “nigger” was replaced with “slave”. Also other options were considered such as making a new edition of the novel or just replace
Israel Cobian Ms.Ward English 11 15 March 2024 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Have you ever been told to be a good example for others watching you and looking up to you? Well, Huck Finn was the opposite of a good example to us as readers watching his actions. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should continue to be banned because it shows that Huck Finn is a poor example for those reading. In my argument, I’m going to show that lying, smoking, and being rebellious toward society is the reason why Huck is a bad role model. Although lying may get you out of trouble for the time being, it’ll eventually catch up to you.
The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn emphasizes the strategies of ethos, logos, pathos to satirize religion in the mid nineteenth century. It is arguable that Huckleberry Finn is obviously centered around the degree of racism during the given time period, but other topics are apparent when audited. Throughout Huckleberry Finn, religion is cultivated in a humorous way such that Huck’s views, a warring family’s morals, and the teachings of the time period are prime examples of religious satire in Huckleberry Finn and utilize ethos, logos, and pathos.
The decision to ban the novel Huckleberry Finn from classrooms and libraries has been an ongoing controversy. The presence of the 'n word' and the treatment towards Jim, and other blacks in general, has made many readers uncomfortable. Despite this fact, Huckleberry Finn has been and remains a classic read. I do not believe the novel should be banned or sanitized because it is a part of American history whether it is good or bad, also we have no right to change someone's writing simply because we do not like how it is written, Mark Twain's writing should not be penalized because of the ideals of today.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Huck Finn) by Mark Twain is a renown piece of literature both for its usage of language and the historical aspects that are heavily embedded in the storyline. Historically, society has looked at itself, each other, and events differently throughout the years. The slavery in the United States that is so heavily involved in Huck Finn was socially acceptable during the period of the book is no longer socially acceptable; both when Twain is writing Huck Finn and in the present time. What society finds acceptable can set the precedent of what is morally acceptable and this affects how Huckleberry Finn views some of the decisions he makes throughout the book. Huck struggles to understand the world he has grown up in and its moral ideas of how people should be treated. Society of the 1830s was a judgemental one due to the different social statuses and judgments people received from society. Huck Finn is a young boy who
One of the reasons that Huckleberry Finn was banned in the past was because people found the dialect that Twain used unintelligible and shameful to the United States. These people thought that the manner of speech in which the novel was written would make Americans appear simple-minded. This may be the case with some, but the vernacular that the author used was the real dialect that majority of the population practiced in the time period that Huck existed. The novel is not meant to put America to shame, but rather to show the reality of how people spoke and acted in the mid nineteenth century. The vernacular is yet another aspect that makes the novel truthful because it gives readers a realistic view into the life of people from that time in American history.
In the beginning of this novel Huckleberry was an ornery boy, who liked to do as he pleased. The superstitious Huck, and his friend Tom try to create a gang of robbers, While sneaking out at night to go on secret adventures, they find Miss. Watson’s slave Jim sleeping under a tree. Although they could just pass by him and ignore him, they decide to pull a prank on him. “Tom said he slipped Jim’s hat off of his head and hung it on a limb right over him, and Jim stirred a little, but he didn’t wake” (18). When they played
Since the early ages of literature, there have been works of literature that have been considered controversial because of the content, as some believe they are offensive or inappropriate. Works such as Martin Luther 's 95 Theses and The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger are just two works of literature that have sparked major controversy. One of the most controversial works of American literature is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain and eventually published in 1885. The novel expresses major points of that controversial time period that many people take offense to. One problem that people have had for years about Huck Finn is whether or not to allow this novel to be taught in the English Language Arts curriculum. People included in a grade nine through twelve grade are taught by the use of the ELA curriculum. The groundbreaking themes of Huck Finn, outweigh the reasons why people believe it should be banned, making it an essential read in American literature. There are parts of the novel that should not be read by young children, such the use of the word "nigger," how Huck saves a black man, Huck’s lack of maturity, and Huck’s fraudulent schemes require a certain amount of maturity that is not possessed by middle school students. Therefore, the teaching of this novel should be restricted to ninth grade as the minimum age to read this novel in an English classroom.
I think that the book Huckleberry Finn should not be banned because although the content may seem inappropriate it is what America was like in the time period that the book was based upon. And if we hide it from the future then no one will know what it was like in that time period.
Once upon a time, in a world not far from here, there are students who are forced to miss their annual train ride to Hogwarts, lock the wardrobe to the magical land of Narnia, and walk through the English countryside themselves instead of upon the back of Black Beauty. Why are these students deprived of those occurrences? They live in America, the land of the free- except when it comes to the books they can read. In fact, many schools across America exercise the practice of banning books. Since 1982, libraries, parents, and schools have attempted to ban 11,300 novels, according to the American Library Association. The essentially innoxious books are challenged for an assortment of reasons, including use of malapropos language, graphic or explicit
The theme of racism is the most obvious and well known in the novel. Twain was not one to conform to social norms, and he sure wasn’t one to censor himself. Mark Twain used the n-word 219 times in Huck Finn. He knew that this might be construed as offensive, but he wanted to accurately represent how people talked at the time. Anyone could tell that Twain was against slavery, but he also made people who agreed with it seem less intelligent. Mark Twain
He like the majority of the Deep South’s population was forced to submit to popular religion in the form of Christianity, being racist and not being able to criticize the institution of slavery, as well as acting like a “proper” boy and being civilized with manors, rules, and restrictions. However, he is the polar opposite of the ideals expressed by his society. Huck is forced to reside with Widow Douglas, he describes the experience in the first chapter, “She took me… allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time … I wanted to smoke, and asked the widow to let me. But she wouldn't. She said… I must try to not do it any more.” (Twain, 2). In this particular environment, Huck is forcefully civilized by the Widow Douglas as well as Miss Watson. This essentially shows an indirect form of slavery in which Huck is forced to do as society and his elders dictate regardless of what he believes in which many of us are also subject to. This enslaves him and leads him to decide that he needs to relocate himself as far away from society as possible. Therefore, he forges his death and runs away meeting Jim on the way. This idea of Huck being controlled by society influences him through the novel, for instance he thinks about turning Jim in because it is wrong to steal since Jim is
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain provided social commentary on southern society and beliefs. Twain addressed a number of significant issues throughout the novel, including religion and slavery. There are a number of instances where Huck, the 14 year-old protagonist, pushes back against the idea of organized religion. Similarly, Huck encounters a personal and moral dilemma when it comes to the practice of slavery. This idea of rebellion against society is a major concept explored in the book. Small instances of Huck’s rebellion culminate with him eventually freeing a runaway slave. The main examples include Huck’s refusal to learn the Bible, Huck’s decision against not to turn Jim in, and Tom and Huck’s choice to set Jim free at the end of the story. Huck’s refusal to conform to and demonstrate the social norms of the South illustrate the theme of rebellion against society.