Slur In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain wrote Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1876, after the establishment of both the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments that abolished slavery, further defined African American citizenship, and then the protection of blacks by prohibiting violence against them. In the south, this was a time of recovery from the loss of the Civil War. With all of this in mind, Twain set his story in the years between 1835 and 1845, many decades before the Civil War where there was a mixture of free states and slave states. While some readers believe that Twain’s story holds some sort of “humanitarian power,” critic Jane Smiley argues in opposition that both Twain and Huck take advantage of Jim in the most inhumane way, his rights. She
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This extremely racist slur is often thrown about the dialogues of multiple characters and is, in my opinion, what normalizes the racism of that time. While Huck did live in the south where the use of that word was accepted, Twain’s inclusion of the word proves that his story aids in the objectification of slaves and blacks as human beings. African American critic, AnneMarie Hamlin concludes that “By page four and my first ‘nigger,’ I realized that maybe this is not what I signed up for; by page six and seven ‘niggers’ later, I realize that I am not happy.” Hamlin, who was originally excited to read a story with such regard in American literature as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, quickly realized how defacing Twain chose to be. In her critique, she criticizes Twain for his cowardice in “[hiding] his personal lack of humanity behind the eyes of a child precariously adrift on the river” instead of “[exploring] these dilemmas through an adult protagonist standing firmly on land” (Hamlin, 13). To textually prove the obvious disrespect, Twain uses a conversation between Huck and Aunt Sally discussing a death of a slave in a fake explosion on Huck’s boat. Aunt Sally asked, “Good gracious! anybody hurt?” Huck replied, “No’m. Killed a nigger.” In relief, Aunt Sally exclaims “Well, it’s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt” (Twain, 266). At this point in the story, if Twain hadn’t already
This extremely racist slur is often thrown about the dialogues of multiple characters and is, in my opinion, what normalizes the racism of that time. While Huck did live in the south where the use of that word was accepted, Twain’s inclusion of the word proves that his story aids in the objectification of slaves and blacks as human beings. African American critic, AnneMarie Hamlin concludes that “By page four and my first ‘nigger,’ I realized that maybe this is not what I signed up for; by page six and seven ‘niggers’ later, I realize that I am not happy.” Hamlin, who was originally excited to read a story with such regard in American literature as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, quickly realized how defacing Twain chose to be. In her critique, she criticizes Twain for his cowardice in “[hiding] his personal lack of humanity behind the eyes of a child precariously adrift on the river” instead of “[exploring] these dilemmas through an adult protagonist standing firmly on land” (Hamlin, 13). To textually prove the obvious disrespect, Twain uses a conversation between Huck and Aunt Sally discussing a death of a slave in a fake explosion on Huck’s boat. Aunt Sally asked, “Good gracious! anybody hurt?” Huck replied, “No’m. Killed a nigger.” In relief, Aunt Sally exclaims “Well, it’s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt” (Twain, 266). At this point in the story, if Twain hadn’t already