Delaney Mountford Op-Ed

            Should Huck Finn be read in Schools?

          A popular controversy sweeping over the schools of America is one that directly affects high school students: Should The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn be read in school? Parents and administrators everywhere are deciding whether or not to ban this story from entering the shelves of high schools and the fresh minds of young adults. Others argue that the story should be taught, but without the use of the ‘n word’ which makes an appearance 219 times. Many believe that this offensive word should instead be replaced with a less derogatory term, such as ‘slave.’ Doing so would be attempt to reject such a poor area of America’s history and respect those who may still be affected by such language.

I, however, take on the opposite viewpoint of these people. Censoring out the word won’t change anything about the history of what it was like during Huck’s era, and it takes away an opportunity for students to learn about such a time, despite the fact that it may have been full of incorrect beliefs. High school students are provided with the knowledge ahead of time that the ‘n word’ is a bad word and they are taught to never say it, but for the most part, it is something they have heard in their lives before. Replacement of the word or choosing to ban the story won’t do anything but take away from their education.

Despite the fact that this book is filled with improper grammar and racial slurs, it is a book that has been read for decades. Banning it from high school reading lists would be an impractical way to handle the problem. It would be a major literary loss for the educational system as well. Despite the way that it is written, Huck Finn tells a remarkable story that can teach so many things to young adults. It even brushes up on a number of moral concepts, if you choose to look past the derogatory words. For example, it does reveal the notion of friendship, especially between the characters of Huck and Jim. This is seen in several parts of the story but one in particular stuck out to me as I looked back. When Jim is afraid that Huck had died, and he sees that he is all right, he exclaims, “Goodness gracious, is dat you Huck? En you ain’ dead- you ain’ drownded- yous back agin? It’s too good for true, honey, it’s too good for true.” (p.53). This shows how he cared for Huck by reacting with the emotional composure of a mother or father to a son, showing that Huck Finn is not strictly about race, because it also reveals other concepts and themes.

While taking the book off of the shelves would obviously be the worst- case scenario, taking the ‘n word’ out is not much better. In her article, “Why is Slave Less Offensive?” Francine Pose argues, “Nigger” and “Slave” are not synonyms by any stretch of the imagination.” Huck didn’t look at Jim as a slave, and the ‘n word’ was a word so frequently used during this time that it allows a window of opportunity to teach students what this time period was like. In Toni Morrison’s “Intro to Huck Finn,” she directly references this controversy by saying, “It struck me as a purist yet elementary kind of censorship, designed to appease adults rather than educate children. Amputate the problem, band-aid the solution.” This statement is a perfect way of captioning the idea of cutting the ‘n word’ from the story. Taking out such a key word and replacing it with something else won’t have the same effect as opposed to leaving the word in the story and using as a learning opportunity.

Although in a controversy like this, it is important to bring forward the arguments from the other side. Many parents and some teachers are disgusted by the use of the ‘n word’ in the story and believe that the repetition of it alone should be enough to require its removal. While these people do have good intentions and mean well, they are simply overlooking the drastic things that would happen if this story were to become banned or altered. In her article regarding the dual life of literature, Jane Smiley makes the comment, “My natural sentiments would be in favor of talking it out, seeking the humanity behind the labels and helping students experience that.” This idea holds together the basis for how we can take this opportunity to have young adults read a book that gives a prime example of what history was like during this poor part of our nation’s history.  There are a number of times in the book when we see Huck treat Jim with dignity, despite the derogatory terms uses to refer to Jim. One example is when Huck decides to apologize to Jim for his prank, saying, “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn’t do him no more mean tricks, and wouldn’t done that one if I’d a knowed it would make him feel that way.” (p. 55). This quote shows how Huck overlooked the way that society saw Jim and treated him as somewhat of an equal. Even though Huck was still racist at the end of the story, he evolves into a person who discovers the dignity of all people.

What you, as a reader, can do to help spread your voice is to make your opinion known. Although you should voice your beliefs no matter which side you take, it is extremely important to keep Huck Finn uncensored and available for high school literature classes. Our nation’s teachers are perfectly capable of teaching this story in a way that will benefit the minds of young adults. Without it, the American educational system will lose a remarkable piece of work and several important teaching moments.

Citations:

Chadwick- Joshua, Jocelyn.  The Jim Dilemma: Reading Race in Huckleberry Finn. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1998.

Smiley, Jane. "Say It Ain't So, Huck: Second Thoughts on Mark Twain's ‘Masterpiece’." Harper's Magazine 292 (1996): 61-67.

Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Edited by Shelley Fisher Fiskin; introduction by Toni Morrison, afterword by Victor Doyno. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

            Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. N.p.: David Widger, n.d. Web.

            Prose, Francine. "Why Is 'Slave' Less Offensive?" The New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web.

            Smiley, Jane. "Literatures Dual Life." The New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web.