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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Racism or Reality? - Online Term Paper

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Racism or Reality?

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Racism or Reality?

Nick Ziats
Ms. Woldendorp
Period 3
November 23, 2011

The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is highly controversial because of the belief by many that the book promotes or exploits racism. Some people believe that to solve this problem, the novel should be banned and removed from bookshelves. Throughout the events that take place in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain exposes the ignorant views held by many "wholesome" and religious families in 1830's America, which provides historical accuracy of the language and attitude of the time period, as well as offers his own views on slavery and racism, ...

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as they referred to African-Americans as "niggers." Twain provides the reader with a historically accurate portrayal and enables the reader to imagine what it was like to live in the pre-civil war era, the 1830's. If Mark Twain wrote Huck Finn in a more "acceptable" way, then it would take away the profound undertone the novel contains and loses its classic quality. In addition, Mark Twain used the "n-word" as an adjective or a proper name, but never in a rude or racist way. For example, when Huck and Jim contemplate racism in society, Huck believes, "so she'd sell him straight down the river again; and if she didn't, everybody naturally despises an ungrateful nigger, and they'd make Jim feel it all the time, and so he'd feel ornery and disgraced" (pg. 120). Huck is not using "nigger" in an unacceptable way; only to refer to an African-American person by the name coined "acceptable" in the 19th century. Whenever the "n-word" is spoken in Huck Finn, it is to describe a person's ...

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 2/5/2012 10:22:43 PM
Submitted By: buckeye1
Category: Book Reports
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1135
Pages: 5

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