What's the Big Deal with the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Alecia Aylward
What is the big deal about "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"?
In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain envisioned a book that was to be taken as a satire (Hearn on Twain 355). Huckleberry Finn was not intended to be judged by its grammatical content but instead stir up unjust social norms of the post-civil war era (Arac 1). The novel itself serves to inform the reader of a small account of what slavery was like prior to the Civil War and how the treatment of the freed slaves did not change after it was published in 1884 (Chwast 1). When it was published Huckleberry Finn was so poorly accepted, that even the public library in Concord, Ma banned the novel due to its immorality, and vulgar use of the English language (Idol-Kaplan 11). Another vulgarity was felt in 1999, when the NAACP Pennsylvania chapter filed a motion demanding that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn be eliminated from the required reading in the local school districts (Hentoff 1). The chapter also stated that tax money should not be used to perpetuate a negative African American stereotype as it does with Jim the slave (Hentoff 1). Huckleberry Finn continues to be a beacon for white society to use the “N” word because Finn has been projected to an idol status over the past one hundred years (Arac 1). Many have said that Huck Finn encourage young adults as young as fourteen (the same age as Huck was in the book) to think critically about the abolitionist undertones that Mark Twain conceptualized while writing the novel (Hentoff 1).
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel about a young boy 's adventure with the prejudices of the time. With the help of a slave named Jim, both attempt to float to on the Mississippi River that ran south to freedom in the northern states. With murders, abuse, and civilization; Huck must overcome inner turmoil he feels about helping a runaway slave, and the bigger idea that slavery itself is wrong.
Mark Twain has put
What is the big deal about "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"?
In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain envisioned a book that was to be taken as a satire (Hearn on Twain 355). Huckleberry Finn was not intended to be judged by its grammatical content but instead stir up unjust social norms of the post-civil war era (Arac 1). The novel itself serves to inform the reader of a small account of what slavery was like prior to the Civil War and how the treatment of the freed slaves did not change after it was published in 1884 (Chwast 1). When it was published Huckleberry Finn was so poorly accepted, that even the public library in Concord, Ma banned the novel due to its immorality, and vulgar use of the English language (Idol-Kaplan 11). Another vulgarity was felt in 1999, when the NAACP Pennsylvania chapter filed a motion demanding that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn be eliminated from the required reading in the local school districts (Hentoff 1). The chapter also stated that tax money should not be used to perpetuate a negative African American stereotype as it does with Jim the slave (Hentoff 1). Huckleberry Finn continues to be a beacon for white society to use the “N” word because Finn has been projected to an idol status over the past one hundred years (Arac 1). Many have said that Huck Finn encourage young adults as young as fourteen (the same age as Huck was in the book) to think critically about the abolitionist undertones that Mark Twain conceptualized while writing the novel (Hentoff 1).
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel about a young boy 's adventure with the prejudices of the time. With the help of a slave named Jim, both attempt to float to on the Mississippi River that ran south to freedom in the northern states. With murders, abuse, and civilization; Huck must overcome inner turmoil he feels about helping a runaway slave, and the bigger idea that slavery itself is wrong.
Mark Twain has put
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