The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
“All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called
Huckleberry Finn,” according to Ernest Hemingway. Published serially in 1884 and in
book form in 1885, Huck Finn has been banned from public schools and public library as
much or more than any other American novel. Today this America masterpiece is
required reading in over seventy percent of American high schools and is among the most
taught works of American literature.
Upon its original publication in 1885, the book was removed from public library
shelves because Huck was a “liar who not only itched, but scratched, was dirty, used
terrible grammar, and said ‘sweat’ when he should have used ‘perspiration,’” and Huck
was a bad role model for young people. The novel has been declared unfit for children
for a number of reasons, but in the 1950s the NAACP charged that Huck Finn contained
“racial slurs” and “belittling racial designations.” Since then, the book has been called
racist for both its use of the N-word and its portrayal of black people as stereotypical and
demeaning.
Mark Twain was NOT a racist, and Huck Finn (which we will affectionately refer
to as Huck Funn in Mrs. Blakley’s classroom) is a satire, an attack on the hypocrisy and
prejudice of a society that pretends to honor virtue while condoning slavery. Today, the
NAACP national headquarters’ current position on the book has changed:
You don’t ban Mark Twain—you explain Mark Twain! To study an idea
is not necessarily to endorse the idea. Mark Twain’s satirical novel, Huck
Finn, accurately portrays a time in history—the nineteenth century—and
one of its evils, slavery (qtd. in Huck Finn in Context).
The novel takes place during the 1840s in the deep South, and Huck believes what he has
been taught by society—that black people are inferior to white people. However, as the
novel progresses and Huck is forced to spend time with Jim (a black slave), he begins to
view Jim as his best friend and even a father figure. The novel satirizes racism and
prejudices of all types. Mark Twain once quit a job with a newspaper when the paper
took a pro-slavery position. He also helped to send a young black man through college.
Before judging Huck Finn, people need to read the novel, and they will understand that it
is anything but a racist book.
The triumph of the novel is when Huck’s character, although raised with
prejudices, looks beyond them and reaches his own conclusions. Huck is always troubled
in the novel because his opinions differ from the accepted opinions of society. Huck
even thinks that he is going to Hell because he refuses to tell the authorities that Jim is a
runaway slave, and he cannot bring himself to betray his friend.
Mark Twain, America’s first stand-up comic, is a pen name. When Twain was a
riverboat pilot, Mark Twain was a river term meaning “two fathoms,” which told the
pilots that the water was deep enough for safe passage. Samuel Langhorne Clemens was
born in Missouri in 1835 as Halley’s Comet flashed across the sky. He died in 1910—
seventy-five years later when Halley’s Comet flashed across the sky the next time.
Questions over Intro Notes
1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the most banned books from public
schools. Name the TWO reasons that this novel has been banned:
A)
B)
2. From where did Mark Twain get his pen name?
3. What was Mark Twain’s real name?
4. Restate TWO pieces of evidence provided by the Intro Notes that show Mark Twain
was NOT a racist.
A)
B)
5. What is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s
(NAACP)’s position on the book today?
6. What is the setting of the novel?
7. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a satire on prejudices of all types—not merely
racial prejudice. Define the word following two words:
A) Prejudice –
B) Satire -