Spring Blog #1: Huck Finn: Racist or Honest?

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a controversial book. It is either beloved or hated by all for its perspective on slavery. Censorship of  the book is common, solely because the "authors" didn't like the Twain's liberal use of the word "nigger". CBS televised a production of Huck Finn, except they deleted all mention of slavery and omitted the character of Jim, turning a story about a boy who bravely defies society into one about a little boy running away from home. Some have gone even as far as to ban the book (Texas, I'm looking at you) and to burn it (the Nazi's favorite past time). Debates rage on to this day about whether or not Huck Finn should be taught at school. I think it should. All these disputes have been because of the slavery issue and the word "nigger", and it has been argued that Mark Twain is racist. In reality, Twain wasn't racist. Everything he put into that book was to show the racism of the times, not the racism in himself. Twain was an ardent abolitionist. He wanted the book to show ignorant northerners of the time what it was like in the deep South, even if his account was a little more romanticized than Uncle Tom's Cabin. He also wanted his book to show future generations what it was like in pre-Civil War times, and how bad conditions were. So, even though many don't agree with the brutal representation of the South and the taboo word, nigger, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should still be taught in schools.