Should Huckleberry Finn Be Taught In Schools

Many believe that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain should not be taught in schools because of the primarily known use of the “n-word” regarding Jim who was a runaway slave as well as others slaves mentioned in the novel. The thought of saying that the utilization of the “n-word” is the sole reason why this book should not be read in school is absurd because like the Earth society and the words used in that society change with each new time period. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written in the past and could be seen as outdated and unnecessary for the students of today's society. But, many readers of this book fail to realize the importance that this book has in American History.
During the 1800’s the idea of slavery was something that was socially and economically acceptable. Without slaves, in the South, you would not be able to have a farm and or money to support your family. What is trying to be said here is that times change, and so did Huck. “Huck Finn is about American civilization and about what it means to be civilized in a vast, experimental, provisional and morally unsettled territory”(Morrow). In other words, Huck was a more civilized character than the reader may think. Huck does not think like many other characters in the book who believe in slavery and the idea of degrading a slave
is “socially acceptable”. Huck becomes the character to care for Jim, a slave who does not fail to see him as an equal. “At last, Huck decides he cannot turn in his friend Jim. In one of the greatest moments of American literature”(Marrow). Given that, even the author of this excerpt on Huckleberry Finn saw that the book is not racist at all. They saw that Twain was ahead of his time by seeing that slavery was not humane. By getting to write about this Twain was allowed to spread his message that if a mere “white boy” can change so can a society as a whole can as well.
The reason why you would believe that this book should not be taught in school is not because of the use of the “n-word” or the idea that this book did not treat slaves as regular people, but it is the author who forgets that Huck has a social responsibility towards Jim. “It is with the feud that the novel begins to fail, because from here on the episodes are mere distractions from the true subject of the work: Huck’s affection for and responsibility to Jim”(Smiley). Given that, the author of this article is saying that the reason why this book should not be taught is because of writing, not the content. After the whole incident with the raft being destroyed Jim barely becomes the focal point of the book and the fault lies with Twain himself. “On the raft, he was an individual, man enough to denounce Huck when Huck made him the victim of a practical joke...and the last twelve chapters are boring, a sure sign that an author has lost the battle between plot and theme and is just filling in the blanks”(Smiley). With this in mind, this reader saw that the Twain had given up on the book. By doing this, he ruined the book by making the story drag on and go in circles and lost the audience's attention.
Even though the book loses its battle of becoming a great novel it is nonetheless still a good book. It shows a real image on how people can change even if society says to do the complete opposite. “He starts to see that, even if Jim is a slave, he is a person and he has emotions just like Huck does”(Teenink). With regards to this, Twain allows himself to write about how a "country white boy" in the South could learn to be friends with a slave. A person who has been seen below Caucasian as well as being at the bottom of the totem pole could still be seen as an equal no matter the circumstances. Because of this Twain breaks a rudimentary barrier between racial differences.
Overall the majority readers of The Adventures Huckleberry Finn would say that this book gives a positive message towards ethnic diversity.
You could see that Mark Twain did not mean to insult anyone when putting the “n-word”. It was just the language that was used in the 1800’s so the idea that Twain was a racist is false because you can not fault him for the language that he knew when growing into adulthood. Twain even gave Jim human qualities to enhance his character for that the readers could see that he is a human being like everyone else. If you ask me that is far from racist because it allows the reader to give empathy and sympathy towards
Jim.