Huckleberry Finn
In 2000, The American Library Association published a list of the 100 most often challenged novels of the 1990’s, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain ranked number five. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is frequently seen as a ‘racist’ novel because of the continuous usage of the racial slur, ‘nigger.’ Due to its status some high schools will ban the novel from their literature curriculum, believing it will rid of the racial slur. However, by banning Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, high schools are actually causing students to miss out on not only the literary revolution the novel began, but the history behind the south during the mid 1800’s as well as the historical value it holds connecting to the slavery period. American Literature
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Adventures of Huckleberry Finn introduces students to what the United States was like during the 1800’s in a creative literary format. In the novel Twain uses specific dialect to reflect on the setting, 1800’s Southern America. Twain emphasizes certain slang from the Southern times. A word used often in the novel’s dialogue is ‘reckon’ or ‘reck’n.’ Each character tends to use it at least once in the novel, some more than others. When sharing a conversation with Huck, Jim says, “Huck, does you reck’n we gwyne to run acrost any mo’ kings on dis trip?” (Twain, page 134.) In this line of dialogue, Jim uses multiple other examples of Southern slang such as; ‘dis,’ ‘gwyne,’ ‘acrost,’ and ‘mo’.’ A large section of Chapter Five is dedicated to Twain delivering the message that education was seldom to lower class families during the 1800’s in the Southern part of America. In this chapter Huck’s father is outraged by the fact that Huck goes to school to improve his education. He speaks that Huck’s mother, nor was he himself, educated. This part of the novel really gives students an insight into the Education System during the 1800’s. History and Literature combine in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when Twain’s dialect tells lessons of the Southern United States. Another history lesson taught in the novel is the history of the slavery era in the United
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn introduces students to what the United States was like during the 1800’s in a creative literary format. In the novel Twain uses specific dialect to reflect on the setting, 1800’s Southern America. Twain emphasizes certain slang from the Southern times. A word used often in the novel’s dialogue is ‘reckon’ or ‘reck’n.’ Each character tends to use it at least once in the novel, some more than others. When sharing a conversation with Huck, Jim says, “Huck, does you reck’n we gwyne to run acrost any mo’ kings on dis trip?” (Twain, page 134.) In this line of dialogue, Jim uses multiple other examples of Southern slang such as; ‘dis,’ ‘gwyne,’ ‘acrost,’ and ‘mo’.’ A large section of Chapter Five is dedicated to Twain delivering the message that education was seldom to lower class families during the 1800’s in the Southern part of America. In this chapter Huck’s father is outraged by the fact that Huck goes to school to improve his education. He speaks that Huck’s mother, nor was he himself, educated. This part of the novel really gives students an insight into the Education System during the 1800’s. History and Literature combine in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when Twain’s dialect tells lessons of the Southern United States. Another history lesson taught in the novel is the history of the slavery era in the United