Is Huck Finn A Racist Book :: Essays Papers

Is Huck Finn A Racist BookControversial in death as he was in life, distinguish Twain has been seriously accused by some of being a racist writer, whose writing is offensive to black readers, perpetuates squalid slave-era stereotypes, and deserves no place on todays bookshelves. To those of us who have drunk gratefully of Twains wisdom and humanity, such accusations are ludicrous. But for some people they clearly gain a raw nerve, and for that reason they deserve a serious answer. Lets look at the book that is most commonly singled out for this criticism, the novel that Ernest Hemingway identified as the source of all American literature The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. For Twains critics, the novel is racist on the face of it, and for the most obvious reason many characters use the word coon throughout. But since the action of the book takes place in the south twenty years before the Civil War, it would be amazing if they didnt use that word. A encompassing(prenominal) readi ng also reveals Twains serious satiric intent. In one scene, for instance, Aunt Sally hears of a steamboat explosion. Good gracious anybody hurt? she asks. Nom, comes the answer. Killed a nigger. But anyone who imagines that Mark Twain meant this literally is missing the point. Rather, Twain is using this casual dialogue ironically, as a way to underscore the chilling truth about the experient south, that it was a society where perfectly nice people didnt consider the death of a black person worth their notice. To drive the point home, Twain has the bird continue Well, its lucky, because sometimes people do get hurt. Thats a small case in point. But what is the book really about? Its about zero point less than freedom and the quest for freedom. Its about a slave who breaks the law and risks his life to win his freedom and be reunited with his family, and a white boy who becomes his acquaintanceship and helps him escape. Because of his upbringing, the boy starts out believing tha t slavery is part of the natural order but as the story unfolds he wrestles with his conscience, and when the crucial moment comes he decides he will be damned to the flames of hell rather than betray his black friend. And Jim, as Twain presents him, is hardly a caricature. Rather, he is the moral center of the book, a man of courage and nobility, who risks his freedom -- risks his life -- for the sake of his friend Huck.