Huckleberry Finn: Rebel Against Society

Historically Accurate
Regarded as one of the greatest literary achievements of all time, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn follows the rebel against society, Huckleberry Finn, on his journey down the Mississippi River with Jim, the runaway slave. Undermining its vast popularity, this novel is however one of the most commonly banned books in the United States. Prejudice language, racism, and the coarse depiction of Huck Finn are causes of this social uproar. I believe The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be banned, because it demoralizes the integrity of this novel, being that its plot is in the more racist 19th century.
In the 19th century, racism and segregation was apart of the culture in the United States. Throughout the novel, Mark Twain uses the derogatory term “nigger” multiple times to speak about the black slaves. “ When they told me there was a State in this country where they’d let that, nigger vote, I drawed out. I says I’ll never vote again....I says to the people, why ain’t this nigger put up at auction and sold?” (Twain 28). Pap is speaking to Huck about a man he once met in Ohio. The problem with this man is that he is a “nigger”. In the earlier days, when the novel was first released, there was no controversy due to the bigotry, but in more recent times, after slavery was abolished, people began to denounce the book as racist. There is also the idea that Twain was depicting Jim as a stereotypical black. He is always put down throughout the text. Due to the racist depictions, many schools and literary institutions have censored this book from their students.

Huckelberry Finn is described as a “rebel against school and church” who is “fleeing the respectable society that is trying to ‘sivilize’ him.” (O’Meally Back Cover). To many institutions Huck is considered a bad role model. They believe that the book is unfit for children and should not be read. Huck Finn, a teenager, steals, uses offensive language, rebels against authority, and runs away from home. People did not want children to get these ideas so they thought it was best to censor the book from them.
It is my opinion that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be banned. During the 19th century, the time at which the plot was set up, there was a lot of racism towards blacks. Schools and other literary institutions should understand that the use of “nigger” and other racial acts were a part of that time, and it is a part of history. They should not try to protect students and black peoples integrity, because racial slurs and bigotry was part of the culture in the 19th century. Also, schools should have faith in their students that they will do the right thing, and trust that they will not take ideas from the novel and use it as a model in their real life. Students should be able to learn from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and see how far we have come since those times.