Is Huck Finn A Racist Book :: Essays Papers

Is Huck Finn A Racist BookControversial in death as he was in life, Mark Twain has been earnestly accused by some of being a racist writer, whose piece is offensive to black readers, perpetuates cheap slave-era stereotypes, and deserves no place on todays track recordshelves. To those of us who have drunk gratefully of Twains wisdom and humanity, such accusations are ludicrous. and for some mickle they clearly touch a raw nerve, and for that dry land they deserve a serious answer. Lets look at the book that is most(prenominal)(prenominal) commonly singled forbidden for this criticism, the novel that Ernest Hemingway identified as the source of each 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 nigger throughout. save since the action of the book takes place in the south twenty geezerhood before the Civil War, it would be amazing if they didnt u se that word. A at hand(predicate) reading also reveals Twains serious satiric intent. In one scene, for instance, aunty Sally hears of a steamboat explosion. Good gracious anybody hurt? she asks. Nom, comes the answer. Killed a nigger. hardly anyone who imagines that Mark Twain meant this literally is missing the point. Rather, Twain is using this nonchalant dialogue ironically, as a way to underscore the chilling verity about the old south, that it was a society where perfectly nice people didnt consider the death of a black person worth their notice. To bear on the point home, Twain has the lady 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 nothing less than exemption and the avocation 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 friend and helps him escape. Because of his upb ringing, the boy starts out believing that 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 ordain 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.