Huckleberry Finn Hypocrisy

America’s history is wrought with slavery and racism. This issue of racial discrimination and bias, as well as the treatment of others of different backgrounds, has led to countless debates and even the Civil War. Of course, history shows that this “civil” war was not actually civil. This war succeeded in resolving and banning slavery, yet it brought into dispute the issue of equality. Twenty years later, Mark Twain’s book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published, showcasing the treatment of slaves in the past and illuminating the hypocrisy present in society. However, this book is one of the most controversial in America. When first published, it was banned by many. In fact, The Philadelphia Board of Education in 1957 replaced the
The characterization and the development of both Huckleberry Finn and Jim and their relationship with each other illustrate an important lesson about the development of moral laws in an individual. Huck’s behavior at the beginning of the book is contrasted with his behavior as it continues. At the beginning, Huck, along with Tom, ridicule Jim, a black man that they don’t know. As the story continues, Huck grows to create his own opinions about Jim, and doesn’t just accept those of society. Society tells him that blacks are inferior – that they are property and are less than human. The socially acceptable and correct thing to do when he discovers that Jim has run away would be to tell Miss Watson. However, he doesn’t tell and eventually ends up building a relationship with Jim, saving him multiple times. At one point further along in the book, Huck tries to “do the right thing and the clean thing, and go and write to that nigger’s owner and tell where he was” (Twain 267). However, he finds that he can’t betray Jim and states that “[he] would go to work and steal Jim out of slavery again” (Twain 268). Huck attempts to do the right thing in the eyes of society, but his morals have changed and he has grown to Jim as a friend so he can’t accept the thought of Jim’s enslavement again. As Huck’s morals develop, the
However, due to the strong racially charged language and the perhaps difficult-to-grasp concept that the narrator’s voice is not necessarily that of the author, the book should be taught only to higher-level students; they should also be properly informed of the controversy surrounding the novel and the excessive use of vulgar