Preview

Racism In Huck Finn

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
253 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Racism In Huck Finn
Is or isn’t Huck Finn racist? Does reading Huck Finn help or harm race relations?
I believe Huck Finn isn’t racist but shows some race relations. Throughout the entire novel Huck repeatedly says the word,” nigger” but intentionally we cannot blame Huck, because that’s the way Huck was raised.
In chapter 8 on page 41, Huck and Jim seem to grow a bond, a bond that society wouldn’t accept, when Huck later finds out that Jim ran away and were wondering in the woods they seem to develop a close friendship. Huck could have told someone that Jim ran away but instead Huck accepted Jim and took part in an adventure along with Jim.
In chapter 15, Huck and Jim talked about how close they are to a free state. Later in the novel we realize that Jim talks
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Examples Of Racism In Huckleberry Finn
    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Examples Of Racism In Huckleberry Finn

    Racist: having or showing the belief that one race is superior to the other. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain the protagonist, Huckleberry Finn goes on an adventure down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave named Jim. During their time together we see Huck battle with his opinions of Jim due to the societal standards that Huck has lived with his whole life. Huck develops a positive relationship with Jim throughout the novel but still treats Jim with behaviors of racism. In the work Huck Finn; The Racist Protagonist by Laura Otten, she states that examples throughout the novel show that Huckleberry Finn is racist; which happens to be true.…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Huck Finn Racist?
    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Huck Finn Racist?

    was merely part of the vernacular of Southern culture during the 1800's not a cacophonous wordand not strictly a racist term. It further illustrates that twain recognized the evils of racism.As shown in the drunken charter of pap. Huck Finn was abused by his father allthroughout his childhood. He lived in constant fear of his surroundings (occasionally even beingincarcerated in a shed for days) and didn't lead an exactly normal life. When he finally decides toget out of his predicament and stages his own death, he meets up with Jim on Jackson's island.When Huck first meets Jim on the Island he makes a monumental decision, not to turn Jim in.Two opposing forces, the force of society and the force of his personal conscience confront him.He is forced to decide whether turning Jim in is the right thing to do. The law tells him that hemust betray his friend, but his conscience tells him to question this law. He chooses, as he doesmany other times in the book, to continue helping Jim to obtain his freedom despite the fact thatit seems immoral to him. Many times, throughout the novel, Huck comes very close torationalizing Jim's slavery. However, he is never able to see a reason why this man, who has become one of his only friends, should be a slave. Through this internal struggle, Twainexpresses his opinions of the absurdity of slavery and the importance of following one's personalconscience before the laws of society. By the end of the novel, Huck and the reader have come tounderstand that Jim is not someone's property and an inferior man, but an equal. Which is ironic because in the beginning of the book Huck thought blacks were almost stupid-like “(p. 6) Niggers is always talking about witches in the dark…Jim was ruined” But, in the end Huck realizes he could never betray his friend, Jim, who has risked his life for Huck and who has become the closest friend Huck ever had and will ever have.Another time Twain demonstrates the immorality of slavery is during…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Racism In Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn
    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Racism In Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn

    Huckleberry Finn is a racist. That’s what many people believe, but it’s simply not true. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck is not a racist because he helps Jim to freedom, befriends African Americans, and he generally respects Jim.…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Theme Of Racism In Huckleberry Finn
    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Theme Of Racism In Huckleberry Finn

    The first reason that or why Huckleberry Finn is a non-racist text has to do with what is considered acceptable during the period in which slavery is or was allowed. This is evidenced by the use of the “n” word throughout the book. Even though the “n” word is not appropriate language to use today due to the hurtful and offensive meaning of the word in modern-day society, it is a term that is or was commonly used in the mid-1800s. Depending on how the word is used, it can have either a positive or negative meaning. When Huck says,…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Should Huckleberry Finn Be Banned In Schools
    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Why Should Huckleberry Finn Be Banned In Schools

    The book is far from racist, it humanizes blacks in a way the people of the time could read without stating that Twain is a sympathizer. Huckleberry Finn follows the protagonist Huck, and his black friend Jim, who is introduced as “Miss Watsons's nigger [had] a hair-ball as big as your fist... he used to do magic with.” (Twain 17) To keep the people of the time with him, Twain had to start by talking about this…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Huck Finn Show Racism
    • 1177 Words
    • 5 Pages

    How Does Huck Finn Show Racism

    Huckleberry Finn is one of the most significant and remarkable novels published, representing pure American Culture, and the conflicts of civilization and living freely. Huck meets Jim when he was on the run looking for food. Jim was on the run away from Miss Watson because he was afraid that she was going to sell him to someone from New Orleans. At first, Huck thinks Jim is a ghost, although he is not.…

    • 1177 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Huckleberry Finn Argumentative Essay
    • 4981 Words
    • 20 Pages

    Huckleberry Finn Argumentative Essay

    Most of the development of their relationship to each other comes in the beginning of the book. During the second half of the book, the character of Jim takes somewhat of a back seat to the rest of the story. Jim is either left behind on the raft, or confined to a cell for most of the chapters after Chapter 19. Despite his infrequent appearances, it is in the last half of the book that the bond of trust is solidified in Huck’s heart. When Huck decides that he will free Jim and declares, "All right, then, I’ll go to hell," (pg. 206) he bases that decision on events that have brought the two closer during the trip, such as the foggy night and the time Huck saved Jim by saying he had smallpox. These are probably two of the key events in the story as it relates to the relationship between Huck and Jim. It is the first event, the foggy night, which brings about a major change in Huck. He risks his life trying to navigate the river in the fog in order to be reunited with Jim. When the raft first drifts off, Huck could have stayed on the shore and been safe, but he does not even think of not following Jim because he knows Jim would be caught if Huck was not with him because they were in the south and slavery was still going on and people would take Jim and put him back into slavery and undo what Huck was trying to do. When he…

    • 4981 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Development of Huck Finn
    • 652 Words
    • 19 Pages

    The Development of Huck Finn

    Hucks realization that everyone is equal even if there color is different from him or her is a huge change in a person’s character and out look on life. Jim in shock and excitement finally found Huck after thinking he was dead saying “Goodness gracious, is dat you, Huck? En you ain’ dead- you ain’ drowned you’s back again? It’s too good for true, honey, its too good for true” (pg.84). This proves that Huck and Jim have a strong relationship caring for each other just like family. It’s the moment Huck realizes the color of Jim doesn’t effect Hucks feelings for Jim. Huck cries out of love for Jim wanting his forgiveness more then anything “It made me feel so mean I could almost kissed his foot to get him to take it back” (pg.87). This shows that Huck doesn’t want to loose Jim he’s family to Huck. This is a big change to Hucks life because he was scolded from his tricks and childish behavior. Learning lessons…

    • 652 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Huck Finn and Racism
    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Huck Finn and Racism

    Huck has had positive interactions with blacks, and has taken a liking to the slave Jim, who he helped to free, to go with him on his wild adventure. Huck never had very much schooling. This is one of the reasons he is so smart. It may sound odd, but the school system in Huck’s time had an agenda to make little racists out of little kids’ fresh new minds. The famed philosopher, John Locke, believed in an idea he called “Tabula Rasa”. This theory stated that humans were born with a clean slate, and we would only learn through our experiences. The society at Huck’s time didn’t believe in this theory. They didn’t want kids to have positive interactions with ‘niggers’. Huck was lucky that he was not subjected to such mind…

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Huck Finn Racism Quotes
    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Huck Finn Racism Quotes

    When Jim is sold by one of the con artists, Huck decides to go against societies orders, as he shouts, “Alright then, I’ll go to hell” as he goes out to find Jim and free him. Going against societies orders, proves that Huck’s compassion and care for Jim is genuine, and he is willing to risk his own life for a black person. Ironically though, when Huck and Tom manage to find Jim, Tom forgets to mention to Huck that Jim was free the entire time, and they were the ones keeping Jim enslaved. This comes to a shock for Huck because he actually believed Tom would risk his own life as well to help “free” Jim, but Huck still struggles with the idea that he thinks all “good people” obey to societal values, and that he himself thinks is bad because he does not obey to those…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Huck Finn Racism
    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Huck Finn Racism

    Considering that Mark Twain is a revolutionary writer and must use detail from an era to make the story unique he shouldn’t be considered racist. Their time period is set around the Civil War which was fought for abolishment of slavery. Huck to some people would be the argument for Twain’s racism, but Huck was raised from a boy by people with extreme hatred towards blacks such like Pap and Miss Watson. Even if bigotry was part of Huck’s attitude towards blacks it should be excused. Towards the end of the novel Huck encounters Aunt Sally who makes a remark towards blacks. She remarked that thank god no one was hurt but it was okay if a black person was. This is just a fine example of the extremities that Huck was raised under and the society’s views towards blacks. Twain is merely revealing the harsh truth of society in a subtle tone. It is also important to remember that Mark Twain’s description of Jim was not being racist but honest. Back in their era majority of black slaves were non-educated, ignorant, never allowed independence, and were maltreated. Twain was merely using the historical accuracy to his advantage in the novel for a heightened impact.…

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Huck Finn Racist
    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Huck Finn Racist

    While all this is happening, while Huck is playing these tricks on Jim, we have to remember Huck is still a kid. He’s only around 13 years old, and that’s what kids do. They don’t think before they do things, and they like to play pranks and tricks on people. Huck was just trying to have fun with Jim, not be mean to him and be racist to him. In the novel Huck and Jim have a good relationship, they become friends and Huck starts seeing him as a person rather than a slave. They form a bond, a friendship.…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Racism In Huckleberry Finn
    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Racism In Huckleberry Finn

    Ultimately, Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is not a racist novel. Through his recurring use of the n-word as well as the relationships and stereotypes he spotlights, Twain wishes to show his readers the faults in a racist society, as well as push them to find their own moral truths. If society is to progress beyond unjust prejudices and mistreatment due to race then, like Huck, everyone must venture out into the world and formulate their own views and opinions rather than blindly follow outdated traditions such as…

    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Importance Of Huckleberry Finn In Schools
    • 959 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Importance Of Huckleberry Finn In Schools

    Many critics believe that Huckleberry Finn should not be taught in school because of the racism, language, and the influence the book has on the younger audience. According to John H. Wallace: The Case against Huck Finn, “is the most grotesque example of racist trash written and is not good for our children” (Wallace 309). While others believe Huckleberry Finn should be taught in school and that it portrays a time in history of racism and speaks volumes of a friendship forged when the country was at odds. Huckleberry Finn is just that a part of American History and American Literature. Huckleberry Finn is one of the very first works of American Literature. Huckleberry Finn represents the effects…

    • 959 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Huck Finn Racism
    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Huck Finn Racism

    In conclusion the fictional character Huck Finn in Mark Twain’s novel is a racist. Huck Finn was shown to be a racist because of his belief that African-Americans are somehow inferior to white people, his use of offensive racial slang, and him stating he has a guilty conscience for helping Jim. Huck is shown as a morally bound character and as somebody that cares about Jim more than the average person would, but this doesn’t mean he is immune to…

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics