Censorship of Huckleberry Finn

Censorship of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the most well known books in American literature. This book gives the reader insight into what the South was like during the days of slavery. One man claimed this book was one of America's, "first indigenous literary masterpiece." (Walter Dean Howells) However many people wish to censor this book or remove it from schools entirely. Censoring this book doesn't allow the reader to have a full comprehension of how slaves and free black people were treated during that time period. In some versions of Huck Finn all instances of the "N" word have been taken out. In place of that word, which appears around 200 times in the book, they have put in the word, "slave." The word "Injun," which is a derogatory word for Native American had also been replaced with the word "Indian." One scholar says, "how can we expect children to learn real history if we sanitize it for them?" (Wired's Matt Bloom) Students are unable to get a full grasp on Twain's use of satire and his mocking of people's racism and ignorance during that time period if his book is censored. Another scholar says about the harsh terms in the book, "unpleasant though they may be...they are part and parcel of our country's blatantly racist past." He goes on to say, "because of the mistreatment of everyone who wasn't white, straight, and male, America is constantly defending itself instead of dealing head-on with the wrongs that it willingly played a role in." (Elon James White) White is saying that Americans want to censor the book because they want to forget about that ugly part of our past. However, students can't be expected to understand the depth of that time period if words in the book are censored. In addition, issues of the book that aren't censored are oftentimes outright banned in schools. Despite the amazing literature in Huckleberry Finn it has become the fourth most banned book in American schools. Schools claim to ban this book for its crudeness, racial stereotypes, and use of the "N" word. After Huckleberry Finn was published in 1885 for around 17 years it was for the most part accepted and was available in libraries throughout the nation. Then in 1902, the Denver Public Library banned the book for readers under 18 and debate over the book arose. Twain wrote a letter in response to the library and not long after they had the ban lifted. However, this library's ban on the book led to more libraries and schools banning the book. One teacher says, "Twain wrote his novel from the real life experiences of his youth, that was the reality of his experience. Was it right? Probably not. Was it real? You bet it was, and if we forget that as a people, we know nothing." (Enotes, dbello) That teacher is trying to say that Twain didn't mean for the book to be racist he just wanted people to understand how people felt towards black people in those days. To summarize, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book that is adored by people nationwide. Many are in favor of keeping the book the way it is and see banning or censoring the book as removing it's powerful message. By banning Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, we are depriving our students of an amazing literary piece that was meant to educate and remember our past, not to offend African Americans.