Huckleberry Finn Should Be Banned

Huckleberry Finn should be banned from schools. There are several issues in the novel that schools should not permit their students to learn about and study. These issues are extreme racism, Huck questioning the rules of society, and teaching bad morals. Huckleberry Finn contains several racist comments. In today’s society, there are people who will take these comments very offensively Huck says, “according to the old saying, ‘Give a nigger an inch and he’ll take an ell.’” Huck is stating that other people believe the African American slaves were to have strict rules to abide by because if you let them get away with something once, they will take advantage of that opportunity and try to get away with something else later on in the future. During the time that Huckleberry Finn was written, African Americans did not have the freedom that they do today. They were considered property, not citizens, which people would buy, trade, and own. Throughout Huckleberry Finn, Huck is constantly questioning the rules of his society. One example is when Huck says, “The widow rung a bell for supper, and you had to come to time. When you got to the table you couldn't go right to eating, but you had to wait for the widow to tuck down her head and grumble a little over the victuals, though there warn't really anything the matter with them.” When he is stating this, he believes that the rules in the society he lives in are petty and useless. If students are allowed to read this, they may begin to think that it is okay to question the rules that our government have set and possibly not follow them because they think they are petty or useless. The final reason that Huckleberry Finn should be banned from schools is that Huck teaches bad morals for the students who have to read this novel. Instead of following the rules of the society he has grown up with, he uses made up rules of Tom Sawyer and doesn’t question them. “So Tom got out a sheet of paper that he had wrote the oath on, and read it. It swore every boy to stick to the band, and never tell any of the secrets,” This quote gives an example of the rules that Tom Sawyer set that Huck began to adopt. This band was set up in a way that it seemed like a club or a gang. Students may read this and begin to think that because they do not believe what the rules of society are, that it is okay to join a club to rebel and have their own set of rules. Therefore, Huckleberry Finn should be banned from all schools. The issues that just have been discussed should be taken into consideration. With the extreme racism, the questioning of the society by Huck, and the teaching bad morals should be enough to ban this novel.