Peter Han Op-ed

Meaning Behind the Language           

            When I was in grade school, my English teachers censored all of the bad words and the “n” word in the books that we read. At the time I saw good reason in this and still do today, but as I progressed into high school, I began to be introduced to these words. At some point in our lives, we need to be introduced to these words. One of the most controversial books in American Literature, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, uses the “n” word frequently throughout the novel. This book has been continually debated over whether to leave it in the school system or censor it. Some people believe that this book should be taken out of the school system because of its constant use of the “n” word. They believe that this word is offensive and should not be read in school. However, the use of the “n” word in this novel gives greater meaning to the novel and brings us closer to our history and what it was actually like when we did have slaves in America.

            Some people believe that the “n” word should be replaced with the word slave. If this word were to be replaced, we would lose the meaning and true definition that Twain was trying to get across. He wrote this book when the society was different and therefore it should not be changed to accommodate the people in our society today. When he used the “n” word, he did it with the understanding that this was how the society was back then. He wanted to show his readers what the society was actually like. If Jim were just called a “slave” in the novel, he would lose all of his characteristics that come along with being a stereotypical nigger. If he were called a slave, he would only have the characteristics of a stereotypical slave. Throughout the novel “Jim must maintain his mask” (Chadwick-Joshua 122) and when talking to Tom Sawyer he constantly “shifts his language” (Chadwick-Joshua 123). When Jim does this, he is showing how the white race or Tom Sawyer is superior to him. He must wear a mask when he faces society so that he is not punished. When Jim dumbs down his language, he is acting like a “nigger” instead of an educated white man. Although we may see Jim as a real person, Huck cannot fully accept Jim as his equal. When he says, “he knowed he was white inside, and I reckoned he’d say what he did – so it was all right now” (Twain 301). When Huck says this, he is showing the way his morals have changed throughout the novel. However he is still not able to see Jim as equal because he is still black on the inside. The meaning of this quote would be completely changed if slave were to replace the word nigger because it is only because of his race that Huck views Jim as lower and not his slave status. If the word slave were to replace nigger, it would change the way in which Jim is supposed to be seen in the novel.

            Many African Americans in our society see the use of the n word as offensive and unacceptable in our society. They believe that it is not worth reading this book even though we learn many lessons from it. Some people believe that removing the “n” word will solve this problem, but we would lose many morals that we are supposed to get from this book. The issue of the language the Twain uses is much deeper then just the n word. In an article written in the New York Times, Francine Prose says, “Jim’s problem is not that he is called a “nigger” but that he is chattel who can be freed or returned to his master” (Prose). This shows that Jim does not care that he is called a nigger, but that he is a slave and is not seen as a person. Removing the word “nigger” does not remove all of the pain African American students feel when reading this novel. They may see this as offensive, but in reality, the morals of the characters and the plot in the novel cause the most pain for these students. The novel shows us the horrors of our history and cannot be changed.

            The moral lessons that we learn in this novel need to be preserved and therefore, we should not replace the “n” word and continue reading this novel. I believe that you cannot get rid of this word and lighten the meaning of the novel and at the same time clearly depict how the society at that time was. A sugarcoated version of this novel would not give us the same meaning and understand that we are supposed to gain from it. Waiting until high school to introduce this book is an appropriate action to take, but by that time, you should be able to understand the deeper meaning in this novel. If it takes censoring through grade school, so be it, but at some point we need to be introduced to this and shown what are history truly looked like. 

Works Cited

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

Prose, Francine. “Why is Slave Less Offensive?” nytimes.com New York Times, 5 Jan. 2011. Web. 10 Jan. 2014

Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York, Charles L Webster and Co., 1884. Project Gutenburg. Web. 15 Nov. 2013