To teach or not to teach? This is the question that is presently on many
administrators' minds about The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. For those
who read the book without grasping the important concepts that Mark Twain gets across "in
between the lines", many problems arise. A reader may come away with the impression that
the novel is simply a negative view of the African-American race. Many scholars and
educators, like Marylee Hengsetbeck who said, "If Huck Finn is used solely as a part of
a unit on slavery or racism, we sell the book short." (Hengstebeck 32) feel that there
is much to be learned about Blacks from this book and it should not be banned from the
classroom. This is only one of many themes and expressions that Mark Twain is describing
in his work. Another central theme is how the depiction of race relations and slavery is
used as insight into the nature of blacks and whites as people in general. Overall, the
most important thing to understand is that Mark Twain is illustrating his valuable ideas
subtly and not pushing them upon the reader directly.
Primarily, Huck Finn teaches readers two important lessons about the true nature of
people. Throughout the book, one of these main lessons is that Blacks can be just as
caring as whites. The white characters often view the blacks as property rather than as
individuals with feelings and aspirations of their own. Huck comes to realize that Jim
is much more than a simple slave when he discusses a painful experience with his
daughter. Jim describes how he once called her and she did not respond. He then takes
this as a sign of disobedience and beats her for it. Soon realizing that she is indeed
deaf, he comforts her and tries to make up for the act of beating. The feeling that Jim
displays shows Huck that Jim has a very human reaction and the fact Jim says, "Oh Huck,
I bust out crying....'Oh the po' little thing!" (Twain 151), only further proves to Huck
that Jim is as caring as he is. Huck's realization allows him to see that Jim is no
longer the ordinary slave. The point where Huck completely changes his attitudes towards
blacks comes when he is faced with the dilemma of turning in Jim. Huck fights with his
conscience and also reflects on the things that Jim has done for him. "I'd see him
standing my watch on top of his'n, stead of calling me, so I could go on sleeping; and
see him how glad he was when I come back out of the fog; and when I come to him again in
the swamp, up there where the feud was; and such likes the times: and would always call
me honey, and pet me and do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always
was..." (Twain) These two key scenes are among many that illustrate the idea that
Blacks can be as caring and emotional as Whites - one of the main lessons of the book.
The second main lesson that the book teaches is that the world is full of hypocrites.
Huck realizes that through his experiences with Jim that he and Blacks like him are not
what he has been told. People like Miss Watson, who represent the established belief
system of Huck's society, tells him that blacks were nothing but property and should be
treated as such. Huck now knowing that this is not the case sees that people, like Miss
Watson, made up these laws to suit themselves. Furthermore, Huck sees that Miss Watson
would often make up a regulation for him but not abide by it herself. An example of this
concerns the subject of snuff. "And she took snuff too; of course that was alright,
because she done it herself." (Twain ) Huck noticed this double standard even more now
because he began to see that not everything Miss Watson told him was true. With this,
Huck not only sees Jim in a new light, but begins to see that the people who supposedly
know everything, didn't really know anything. Again other critiques of the novel state
that as a whole the book is "a masterpiece of irony." (Kilpatrick) With this second main
lesson, the book defends itself against being banned.
People who would ban "Huckleberry Finn" simply for the on the surface racial content are
no better than the character of Miss Watson. The idea of banning a book and not teaching
it to others is selfish and subjective in itself. Those who are seeking to ban it would
often follow their own agendas, like Miss Watson in only trying to get their own view
across and not allowing the novel to be interpreted for what it really is. As
Hengstebeck states in her critique "Selective editing only masks the real problem."
(Hengstebeck 32), another main reason arises about the recognition of slavery and
racism. Racism is an ever present idea in our society. To ban the book would be to deny
students the insight that Twain brings to the subject. Mark Twain brings a first hand
account to the subject through the character of Jim and how he reacts to his white
neighbors. Jim, although he is shown to be a rational and mature person, bows down to
white authority when he says lines like, "Jim couldn't see no sense in the most of it
but he allowed, we was white folks and knew better than him" The perspective that Twain
gives through the character of Jim is invaluable because it takes the concepts of slavery
and racism and gives them life. By making the concepts more real and accessible to
people, Twain shows the subject for what it really is. Having this perspective would
only help people to understand the concept better and deal with its many implications.
As Morton Fried states "The removal of such literary works from the classroom, however,
would be a strategy of defeat on the war against racism." (Fried) Racism is built on
ignorance, therefore banning the book's insights would only perpetuate that ignorance and
be a victory for racism and not a loss.
To consider banning this novel simply because it has situations and characters that are
considered racist is superficial. The novel does show the relationships between blacks
and whites in the nineteenth century and all its overtones. However, it shows these
situations not to promote racism against blacks, but to bring a better understanding of
the subject. The character of Jim is shown to be caring, considerate towards Huck and
more mature and human than the society allows him to be. Although he is shown to be this
way, Twain shows the irony and hypocrisy of treating a mature man like simple property.
The novel also shows how a boy, who is a product of this hypocritical society, comes to
realize the true nature of his friend Jim and how screwed up his white peers actually
are. In showing these ironic situations and the transformation that Huck goes through
the reader sees racism and its implications in a real life setting. People who want to
ban the book miss the idea entirely. Instead of getting rid of something that is
supposedly racist, they only perpetuate racism by denying others a good source of
material on the subject. Overall, banning the book would be doing more harm than good
for society because of the denial of ignorance-breaking insight on an everlasting
conflict.
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