I'm sure you've read the stories of Huck Finn being edited to remove the 'N' word and 'Injun'. I remember we read the book out loud in class in 8th grade and being very uncomfortable whenever that word came up, so I can certainly understand why they're doing it. Is it the right thing to do though? Are we scrubbing out an ugly part of American history, and doing both the author and the young readers a disservice in the process?
While it is a fictional story, I think to pretend the word was never used is to sugar coat history and guaranteeing it is repeated.
I agree. Huckleberry Finn is a historical novel that depicts the reality of that period of time in the history of the U.S.
For years, Mark Twain’s classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has been misinterpreted by many people and ultimately, banned in some schools because of its content, which seems very racist to some. However, by using the historical approach, that is, analyzing the time period in which the novel took place and considering it while reading, one can understand Huck Finn better because they have some background knowledge on the book and they can see the book for what it actually is instead of something offensive.Slavery is one of the many hot topics present in Huck Finn, as its portrayal has the most impact on the reader. One must realize, however, that during nineteenth-century America, slaves were often mistreated and looked down upon by the white society. When Huck lies to Aunt Sally telling her the steamboat was knocked out by a cylinder-head, she asks, “good gracious, anybody hurt?” His reply was, “no’m, killed a nigger.” (Page 221) She simply dismisses the death of the African-American and says everyone was lucky. It would be out of historical context for Twain to have his white characters treat his African-American ones as equals because they weren’t viewed that way.
Mark Twain illustrates the theme of friendship through the characters Huck and Jim. Their friendship was created when Huck and Jim were put together due to common circumstances that take place throughout the novel. The friendship that was formed was constantly undergoing changes. Towards the end of the book the relationship that once existed as a simple friendship grew in to a father and son relationship. Huck and Jim were tools that Twain used to show just how the theme of friendship developed. Huck and Jim were both running away from society for one reason or another. Huck was running in order to escape from the constraints of society and conformity, while Jim was trying to keep from being sold to another owner. At the time of their escape it was easy and convenient for the two of them to be together. "The nigger run off the very night Huck Finn was killed"...This quote explains what the two did in order to get away from society. The pair decided the best way was to run away from it all.
I'll also add that Huck was running away from his abusive father.
i agree with everything syngas said (and asked rhetorically) and everything joann quoted. i never had to actually read the book out loud in grade school (west virginia in early 70's) but i could imagine that my classmates might have even emphasized the offensive word/s with relish, while i may have felt uncomfortable, having been raised (already at that time, and by non-native west virginians, of course) to never, ever use that word.
thought experiment time: read everything joann quoted only replace each reference to huckleberry finn with "the bible".
how open minded are we, anyway, i'd like to know? i understand that huckleberry finn, terrific book that it is, hasn't had the influence (destructive or not) on the development of human, and specifically american society that the bible has had- but, as far as novels go, you gotta admit it's right up there.
there i go again, me and my damn worthless 2 cents. when are you guys going to get rid of the penny, already? :)
For years, the Bible, an ancient novel with multiple authors, has been misinterpreted by many people.
Indeed. I've often learned more about the person who interprets it for me than I did from the Bible itself. I may be giving the authors more credit than they deserve, but I think that was by design.
you are a wise (i mean smart) guy.
for pedantsareus: by "smart" i am using the american idiom, as in intelligent. i have no idea how syngas dresses. :)
I never read Huck Finn, but I had Tom Sawyer when I was a kid. I guess Spanish it's not that controversial. I was a Jules Verne kind of kid though (to the chagrin of my literature or "language" teacher), so I don't think I ever finished reading it, or read much of it.
Andyo, you're from Brazil, right? Isn't Portuguese the official language?
The closest I've come to reveal my birth country is to say South America, but it's not Brazil. Spanish-speaker here ;)
We did get a couple of Brazilian channels, and Portuguese is kind of understandable for a Spanish-speaker.
what the hell, it's Peru.
awww....you blew it Fez!
One of my roommates went to Machu Picchu some years ago. This remains one of my dream destinations should I ever get up the energy to travel to distant lands once again. But, I'm older and getting even older.
The mountains are a very beautiful region. Machu Picchu itself, I've been once, and if you like ruins, I guess it's one of the top world destinations if you wanna have some street-cred in the ruin people circles. Or, the UFO people!
I'm not much of a ruin guy though, but I still liked it when I was there. The whole experience of the trip, the mountains (I'm from the coastal part), scenery, taking the old train towards the ruins, and the small town vibe in general (in Cuzco, the actual city where you'd probably stay) was a nice experience for this city guy.
I guess I could say I'm a country gal, although I do enjoy cities, particularly Paris. I have no idea at all what ruin people circles are, but I do like ruins. I like anything that has some ancient history to it.
What do UFO's have to do with this? I think I can guess. I remember being out looking at petroglyphs one time with this guy who kept making up stories about how they were depicting visitors from another planet or some such thing..
Yeah, as with most well known ruins, there are always woo stories about them usually involving aliens. Perhaps in Peruvian land most popular with this stuff are the lines of Nazca.
Interesting. I was not aware that there was such a thing as geoglyphs. This got me to thinking about crop circles. And this led to learning yet another new word: cerealogists.
OK, that was funny. Now I know you're a son of the 90's like me