The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Should NOT Be Banned Essay examples

Many books around the world have been banned because they are offensive. One example is Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a novel about the journey of a thirteen-year-old boy named Huck, who fabricates his own death to run away with an escaped slave named Jim. The two voyage in a raft along the Mississippi River to gain their individual freedom. In addition, Huck gains a new understanding about humanity. Huck Finn has been creating great controversy on both sides of the argument: to ban or to keep in the school curriculum. Currently â€Å"much debate has surrounded Mark Twain’s Huck Finn since its publication in 1885, but none has been more pervasive, explosive, and divisive than that surrounding the issue on race† (Chadwick-Joshua xi). In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, characters speak with a racist dialect. The way that characters speak and address African Americans causes a tremendous amount of controversy regardin g whether to ban or keep the book in public schools. Huck Finn is thought to be a racist book, and some of Mark Twain’s audiences believe that it should be banned from school curriculum. The main reason the public wants Huck Finn to be banned is because of its racial dialect. The use of the word â€Å"nigger† is used repeatedly throughout the novel. Some people say that â€Å"Twain’s consistent use of the word ‘nigger’ is†¦troubling to readers† (James). The fact that the word is so often used throughout the book offends many African Americans. It is offensive because the word â€Å"nigger† has very strong negative connotations and past references to blacks as slaves. Hughes describes, â€Å"The word nigger to colored people of high and low degree is like a red rag to a bull. Used rightly or wron... ... Works Cited â€Å"A Rationale for Teaching Huckleberry Finn.† EXPLORING Novels. Online Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center – Junior. St. Francis High School – GA. Web.17 Feb. 2014. Chadwick-Joshua, Jocelyn. The Jim Dilemma: Reading Race in Huckleberry Finn. Jackson: University of Mississippi, 1998. Print. Henry, Peaches. â€Å"The Struggle for tolerance: Race and Censorship in Huck Finn.† Huck Finn Controversy. Western Michigan University, July 2002. Web. 25 Feb 2014. â€Å"Huck Finn Teacher’s Guide. About the Book.† PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. James, Pearl. â€Å"Overview of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.† EXPLORING Novels. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center – Junior. Gale. St. Francis High School – GA. Web. 1 March. 2014. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Bantam, 1981. Print.