by Natasa Shepherd

Created on: April 23, 2009   Last Updated: April 25, 2009

There are a lot of issues on whether Mark Twain's book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is racist or not. The book was banned and in some places it is either not being taught or they have separate classes for it. What seems to be a problem here is the word "nigger" and "if the readers can get past the word and consider what the novel says, they will see that it is no endorser of racism, but just the opposite" (Webb Salmon). While I respect the opinions of those who are offended by the words in Twain's book I don't think that the book should be banned because of it, they should just choose not to read it, simple as that.

In his books, Mr. Twain writes about life in 1800s. He makes his works interesting by writing about the lives of two boys, Tom and Huck. In order to portray the life back then, and make the stories seem realistic, he uses the language and scenes from that time. Now let's face it, there was racism back then, and sadly it's still around, and there were slaves that were adressed as "niggers". So what was he supposed to do? Call them something else and try to change the history? No, because half the book would lose its meaning, and you can't escape things which have already happened.

Twain only attempts to make his works realistic, not offensive. And while there are racist sayings, and events, in the book it is meant to educate people not hurt them. If you look at it, the book makes Jim look dumb at certain times; however, it is not especially fond of its white population either. He has plenty of white characters in his works who are portrayed badly. Huck's character in the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn wasn't exactly raised to fit the society of the day. He knew about the ranks and the slaves, but in spite of that Huck and Jim have a great friendship. This is mainly because Huck wasn't raised to have a slave wait on him all the time so he did not think of Jim much differently than the next person. Most importantly he respected Jim. He knew that rules were against everything he did regarding Jim, but he wasn't the one to follow the rules. Huck, also, went through so much trouble to set Jim free.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is in no way a racist book; instead it is a classic. A wonderful work of art which should be read and appreciated for what it represents, by everyone. People should stop and open their eyes, or they will miss out greatly.

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