"Is Huckleberry Finn a racist book?"/ "This book is racist"

I don't believe that the book is racist based on the era it was created. Twain was making a point and basically recording the historical ideals, values and beliefs of that time. It was a reflection of Mark Twains interpretations of the slavery era he was exposed to and the mind sets and opinions of those around him. Is it racist? To me: "no". Did this book create a spark, and inspire someone to give it thought and start this thread?? And then have all of us that have read it give it more thought and respond?? "Yes". The book did what it was suppose to do.

Therefore I also do not believe in the banning of any books. They are there to teach, to make us think, expand our horizons, entertain, inspire, inform.... Fiction or non fiction, new or old, a books publication era portrays that time and place that our society was at.

It’s all about interpretation. That’s what is so wonderful about having a site like this. We can read a book , or a poem, or any form of literature, and post how we read it. Then someone else can say, “Well I read it this way”, and can give a different insight and perspective on it. And then another entry, and another and another We’re never wrong on our opinions. (though a couple I’ve read on other threads strike me as ill-educated and narrow minded) It’s still a point of view. At least we get other views to consider, compare and possibly expand on our own.

I think it's an ugly symptom of the present era that this thread is dedicated to discussing whether these books are politically correct rather than whether they are works of art.

we were just having an argument about this in my american lit class after watching a film pro-ban on huckleberry finn. personally, i don't agree that any book at all should be censored in any sort of way, shape, or form. and please, let's consider a few things before going off about why this particular book should be taken off the shelves of schools, burned, or whatever else you may have in mind.

first, this was the first book published in north america that did not portray slaves as dim-witted people with a lack of speech. huck finn and jim were very much so close friends as the book went on. he was clever, smart, and cared for huck just as much as huck cared for him. let's not forget what huck said about jim, "i'd rather go to hell than betray a friend."

this is a book that's required for schools' students to read, at least in the state of colorado. mark twain was against slavery, he did not own any or condone it.

if you're going to fight to censor books, why so bent on Huckleberry Finn? in Dean Koontz's ealier books (an example would be From the Corner of His Eye), some of his characters think and use slanderizing terms towards african americans. why hasn't that even been considered of being taken off the shelves of public schools and libraries? it is more current, isn't it? or have my eyes betrayed me in reading the publishing date of the year 2000?

please, do your homework. take the book for the satire it is. in fact, when you open the book, there is a notice. i think i'll put it here. just as, you know, a reminder.

"Notice

Persons attemting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.

BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR
Per G. G., CHIEF OF ORDANCE."

come on, folks. you can't tell me that's not the least bit amusing. Mark Twain, Samuel L. Clemens, Sieur Louis de Conte, are all one and the same. and his works of literature were not supposed to be taken as racial slanderizing. they were satires! the fight to take this single book off shelves is getting so heated that it's beginning to sound rediculous!

but then again, #24 on the 2005 banned book list was The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. i suppose that was racist, too?

please understand i'm not trying to sound like a bigot. i'm very aware where the racism is supposed to shine through like a beacon to legal authorities. but it's sad, frightening, and appalling that works of literature can be viewed as such a waste of time, that it's a tosser, and should never be in the hands of kids and adults alike. how are we ever supposed to learn anything at all? which brings up an other thing; why are you reading this? why are you considering responding (admit it. you are.)? what are we supposed to do, tell epics like we're orators that really know nothing and distort stories so much that, in hundreds of years, there are ten thousand different copies and not a single one of them is written the way the original was? :(
honestly, can you tell me that your heart doesn't sink just a little bit even thinking about it? every week a book is banned somewhere in the united states. literature that will never reach the hands of anyone who wants to read it. how dare anybody say one should be prized over the other?

end rant.

Don’t be alarmed starrwriter but I have to agree wholeheartedly with you there – nothing is more terrifying than ideas, especially to those who only want us to have theirs. Political correctness is a tyranny because it will brook absolutely no opposition, will permit no challenge to its self-appointed status as ultimate truth.

projectXburnout, you are a dangerous individual – you are passionate and wish to be allowed to think. I wish I had more like you in my classes. The extent to which you are already half bludgeoned into submission is apparent in the fact that you find it necessary to issue disclaimers – “please understand i'm not trying to sound like a bigot.” You are not the bigot.

To: projectXburnout.

Well said. (You sound wise beyond your years.)

Cheers.

Yes, I agree with Doctor Boogaloo and The Unnamable. Well said. You aren't a bigot if you have an opinion, you're a bigot if you think your opinion is the only one that exists. But thankyou for your post, it's refreshing to see people still know to think for themselves.

If the time is taken to read the book and fully understand and interpret it, then it would be obvious that Twain is satarizing all of the controversial aspects of the novel: religion, racism, etc. It's pretty simple.

<333

anybody that would read huck finn and deem it as racist obviously has serious problems with comprehension. the word nigger is used.... so what? huck was an illiterate, uneducated, naughty boy that did not know better. people are taught how to hate. why are people racist? because of fear and ignorance and what they are taught growing up. throughout the entire book, huck is unlearning the hatred and racism he has been taught his entire life. the climax of the novel comes when huck "has to decide betwixt two things", whether or not he should tear up the letter he had written to the widow douglas turning jim in or not. on that page you hear huck unlearning everything he was taught about black people, and how he is coming to his decision. ultimately, he decides he will go to hell, and tears up the letter. twain was the greatest writer to have ever lived. what a remarkable way to speak out against racism. through the eyes and mind of a child. brilliant! huck finn is a hymn against racism. twain uses the innocence and beliefs of a child to bring racism to the forefront. huck really believes he will go to hell for helping his friend. that is the ultimate moral awakening. you get to hear huck unlearn, and hear how hard it is for him to do, but he does it. is'nt that beautiful? huck finn shows that there is yet hope for the human race. that you can unlearn hatred that you are taught. it deeply troubles me that someone could read huck finn and not see that. it is the greatest anti-racism novel to have ever been written.what a bad *** twain was for having the balls to speak up the way he did.
now, for anyone who needs more proof that twain was not racist, study him. read his essays and speeches. read about him. look into his later writings. he was a powerful force for the good of civil liberties, freedom, and humanity. twain actually paid the tuition for several black yale law students. this was not even found out till after his death. he wrote to the dean of yale that he wanted to do so becacuse of the horrible atroscity of slavery. he thought it was the least he could do. twain was friends with many black people, and wrote fondly of them. twain spoke to congress about womens rights, human rights, black peoples rights. twains writings should be mandatory for all to read. please, do not stop with huck. there is a vast supply of twains works out there. i encourage all to read as much as possible. he is an immensly important figure, and so much that he wrote is still relevant today.

No- it is not racist. You have to think of the time period it was written in. But in the end, when Huck realized Jim was a man and not someone to be owned. It was implying slavery was wrong. Mark Twain grew up in a place and time when such thoughts were considered wrong. There for he was making a stance on the issue of slavery like "Uncle Tom's Cabin". I'm sure Mark Twain did not gain many friends for writing these things.

Why do you think Twain chose a child to be the novel's voice? Answer that, and you will understand not just the novel, but Twain's own position on these questions.
Out of the mouths of babes....

I wrote the following in a different thread but since it is relevant to this thread, I decided to copy and paste it in:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Virgil

As to Huck Finn, I had a black english professor way back in undergrad (Prof. Brown) who I had great respect for, consider this topic in class. He didn't have a problem with the use of the N- word in Twain's novel. But he still had a problem with the novel. He felt that Jim was too simple a person, being afraid of ghosts and superstitions. He felt it questioned black people's intelligence. At the time I felt that how much intelligence could a person raised as slave and without education have, and so I disagreed with Prof Brown on the basis of realism. Since then, I've thought about it further, and I still disagree with Prof Brown, but for a different reason. Jim, is what I call the moral center of the novel, that is right and wrong eminates from his character. Twain's point is that such a simple fellow is more moral than all the other sophisticated characters. Morality in Huck Finn is linked to the natural man, he who has not been distorted by society. Is the fact that the natural man, Jim, is black racist? I don't know; Huck himself is almost as natural, and yet he's not black. Frankly, except for that subtle implication I I think Twain's heart is in the right place.

---

Going back to the "why Twain wrote from Huck's perspective" idea ... Some of my favorite authors often approach mundane or daily rituals through new eyes and force the reader to look at them differently. Saying grace at the beginning of the book, for example, is mocked. Similarly, slavery is satirized through the eyes of a child. Huck is able to look at things with a new perspective and doesn't have the philisophical wrongs imposed on him.

Sure, he says the "n" word, but in pre-civil war america, it would be surprising if he didn't. He didn't grow up in our "pc obsessed" times where even the word "tolerance" has become unacceptable. (Honestly! Pretty soon our working vocabulary will be widdled down to 200 words!)

Huck is an open cup who fills himself up with his own experiences. He draws his own conclusions about religion and slavery: Jim is a person, not someone to be owned.

In the end, Huck rejects racism in those beautiful last few lines.



Sarah.

Huck has many conflicts between what is socially "right" and what is ethically "right." There is subtle irony in the book. Huck thinks he will go to hell for helping Jim, but he decides that he'd rather save Jim than go to heaven. Even though Huck thinks he will go to hell, helping Jim is a good deed. If you think about it, the most level-headed people in the book are kind to Jim. I also feel that Huck was never rascist. He just hears what other people tell him. He only decides not to help Jim when he feels people with think poorly of him. Call it weakness of character, but it isn't rascist.

hey i need some help

Oh wow. I agree with everyone, cassi and mono and dear rachel and virgil and whoever else...

I don't think Huckleberry Finn could be considered racist. He lived in a racist society.

I do find book bannings rather ridiculous, for usually there is no good reason for it. I heard a while back they are banning C.S.Lewis's The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe in U.S. schools.... I see no reason to be banning good books. It seems people should read books that present different ideas. If they want to ban racist or religious books, they are going to have to ban almost all the books written before the last century. And then what is going to be left? Someone's siggy I've been looking at the last few days reads: If you kill a book, you kill an idea

[INDENT] The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain possesses terms and situations that attract a racist stereotype to the novel. However, from the journeys that Huck Finn and Jim have they mature morally and emotionally.
Although Jim is often referred to as “Nigger Jim”, the term nigger is not used in a harsh, or arrogant way. In the 1800’s around the time Twain published the novel, slavery was widely accepted in the south (where the novel takes place). Therefore referring to Jim as a nigger was not an insult as in the early 1800’s as most southerners dubbed their slaves as niggers. Huck says, “Well, if ever I struck anything like it, I’m a nigger. It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race.” From this, Huck realizes that human beings are the same regardless of skin color, which is why he is not a racist.
[INDENT]Huck takes Jim from trials of tribulations to triumph as he endures risky adventures so his African American friend can obtain liberty. Huck stands on watch countless times for Jim to make sure that all is safe and no one catches Jim and returns him to slavery. Not only a matter of guarding his friend, Huck was willing to dress as a girl and risk being humiliated in a popular town to seek information on his and his partner in crime’s missing. From numerous practical jokes to sarcastic insults, Huck always regrets hurting Jim. For example, when Huck hides the dead snake in Jim’s bed, the snake’s mate attacked Jim. The fact that he hurt someone so close to him upset him and apologized countless times. Huck explains, “I struck the time I saved him by telling the men we had smallpox, and he was so grateful, and said I was a best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he’s got now.” From these words one can infer how attached Huck was to Jim and thought of him not as a black man but a regular man. Huck conscience sways back and forth debating to give up Jim because he feels he is wrong for assisting a slave runaway. He clarifies that it may hurt Miss Watson, that he is committing this action but turning in Jim may hurt him more. At this point in the novel, it is coherent that Huck recognizes that he is saving a life, and a life is a life no matter black or white.
[INDENT]Huck uses Jim to express southern white’s hostile attitudes towards slaves and to show that there is humanity in slaves. Not only do the two consider each other as friends but continue to teach each other throughout the novel. Jim uses a superstitious method to teach Huck about lessons in life while Huck uses the fortunate knowledge he obtained from school. Although, the dialect may not sound politically correct, the amount of respect for each other’s goes far past skin color. When Tom Sawyer and Huck drew up the plan to rescue Jim from prison they risk their lives and reputation in order to save Jim from being sold back into slavery. However, the two did not think twice about attempting to free Jim. From this example one can infer that society was wrong back then and that these two boys are heroes for standing up and being proactive to make sure that their friend a perfectly, warm-hearted black slave, got his chance to be a free person.

[INDENT]The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain possesses terms and situations that attract a racist stereotype to the novel. However, from the journeys that Huck Finn and Jim have they mature morally and emotionally.

[INDENT]Although Jim is often referred to as “Nigger Jim”, the term nigger is not used in a harsh, or arrogant way. In the 1800’s around the time Twain published the novel, slavery was widely accepted in the south (where the novel takes place). Therefore referring to Jim as a nigger was not an insult as in the early 1800’s as most southerners dubbed their slaves as niggers. Huck says, “Well, if ever I struck anything like it, I’m a nigger. It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race.” From this, Huck realizes that human beings are the same regardless of skin color, which is why he is not a racist.

[INDENT] Huck takes Jim from trials of tribulations to triumph as he endures risky adventures so his African American friend can obtain liberty. Huck stands on watch countless times for Jim to make sure that all is safe and no one catches Jim and returns him to slavery. Not only a matter of guarding his friend, Huck was willing to dress as a girl and risk being humiliated in a popular town to seek information on his and his partner in crime’s missing. From numerous practical jokes to sarcastic insults, Huck always regrets hurting Jim. For example, when Huck hides the dead snake in Jim’s bed, the snake’s mate attacked Jim. The fact that he hurt someone so close to him upset him and apologized countless times. Huck explains, “I struck the time I saved him by telling the men we had smallpox, and he was so grateful, and said I was a best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he’s got now.” From these words one can infer how attached Huck was to Jim and thought of him not as a black man but a regular man. Huck conscience sways back and forth debating to give up Jim because he feels he is wrong for assisting a slave runaway. He clarifies that it may hurt Miss Watson, that he is committing this action but turning in Jim may hurt him more. At this point in the novel, it is coherent that Huck recognizes that he is saving a life, and a life is a life no matter black or white.
[INDENT]Huck uses Jim to express southern white’s hostile attitudes towards slaves and to show that there is humanity in slaves. Not only do the two consider each other as friends but continue to teach each other throughout the novel. Jim uses a superstitious method to teach Huck about lessons in life while Huck uses the fortunate knowledge he obtained from school. Although, the dialect may not sound politically correct, the amount of respect for each other’s goes far past skin color. When Tom Sawyer and Huck drew up the plan to rescue Jim from prison they risk their lives and reputation in order to save Jim from being sold back into slavery. However, the two did not think twice about attempting to free Jim. From this example one can infer that society was wrong back then and that these two boys are heroes for standing up and being proactive to make sure that their friend a perfectly, warm-hearted black slave, got his chance to be a free person.

In my opinon, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is not a racist novel. It all depends on how the reader interprets the situations at hand. Myself as a reader believe that anyone could easily sterotype this novel as being racist. The fact that Jim was a black slave living in a white town probably makes readers assume that this novel is another one of those racist books. But in fact it's really not.

Mark Twain expresses his opinons through the satires he makes. He pokes fun of the Southern Society making slavery such an important issue back then. Well in fact, it wasn't. Twain wants to point out to the readers that his intention was not to be racist against African Americans, but try to get the readers to believe that whether your black,white,orange,red,or blue there is always someone there to help you. Like in the book, Huck was always there for Jim as Jim was always there for Huck. Even though sometimes Huck did try to pull some practical jokes on Jim, he assured that no matter what happens Huck will be there for Jim.

All Huck & Jim wanted to do was to have freedom. Freedom from being controlled. I give them lots of credit for doing all those things they did to insure that they would soon have it. Especially for Huck who almost sacrificed his own life for Jim when Huck and Tom Sawyer saved Jim from jail. Even if Huck had lots of opportunity to sell out Jim in return for money, he choose the friendship over the money.

I bet the biggest issue was the type of language Twain wrote about Jim. Calling him "Nigger" or making him illiterate. But back then, life wasn't as easy as it is today. The language was totally different, the opinons were very strong about black people, and learning wasn't a privilege for black people. So I hope other readers understand Twains way of writing the story out.

i can understand why the adventures of huckleberry finn could be considered racist. it does use harsh racial slurs and make black people out to not be so intelligent. however, if you take the time period the book was written in you would see that it is more anti-racism than anything else. yes the book uses the word "nigger" quite often, but back then that was a common term for a black person. and yes it often portays black people as a non-intellectual but for the time period that was a common stereotype. if you get past all that though and accept it for what it is you see that the book is in fact an adventure, not a novel about slavery.

in the book huck treats jim as an equal. for example, when the duke and the king come into the story and join jim and huck on the raft they both together act as the servants, catering to the duke and the king. also, although he thought about it on occasion, huck never turned jim in. he stuck with him going against what he thought was right. huck considered jim a friend, when he offended jim he apologized. like when he told jim that the storm they had been in was just a dream he had he apologized to jim when jim got so upset that huck was playing a practical joke on him. "it was fifteen minutes before i could work myself up to go humble myself to a nigger---but i done it, and i warn't ever sorry for it afterwards neither". that shows that he considered jim human not just a slave.

In my opinion, I believe "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", written by Mark Twain has a lot of racism within it, but I do not believe the book is racist. The author demonstrates the typical way many Caucasians used to think and act towards African Americans, but he then shows how their perspective of African Americans weren't right through the character Jim.

For example, in chapter 15, Huck says, "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 I wouldn't done that one if I'd a knowed it would make him feel that way." This first demonstrates how back then, Caucasians thought it was shameful to admit they were ever wrongful towards an African American, but it then shows how Huck didn't regret it at all and in fact decided to never play tricks on Jim again.

Also, within chapter 23, Huck sees Jim mourning for his lost family and thinks, "I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their'n." Although this statement clearly reflects the racist thought that African Americans can't care the same as Caucasians, it also proves that thought incorrect by demonstrating Jim could and does in fact care, loves and misses his family.

When first reading this book, I was surprised by the racist names used in the book. After reading the novel for a while I realized that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is not a racist book. I don’t think that Mr. Twain was trying to make his novel racist; I believe he was only using the racist names to capture the setting of the novel. He wrote his novel in the setting of a time period when African Americans were slaves.

In my opinion I don’t think Mr. Mark Twain is racist, I think he is against racism. Usually back then when there was a man and his slave there would be no friendship between them, the slave owner would only think of him as his property. On the other hand, Mr. Mark Twain shows a connection between Huck and Jim, Huck begins to get over the racial barrier between them.

For example, in chapter 15, Huck said, " It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and 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." In this example from the book, you can tell that Mr. Mark Twain is against racism because he is having a white man become a friend to an African American, if he was racist, why would he have let this be in his novel?

Mark Twain's, "The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn," is a contriversial satire that exposed racism in America. Dialogue that appears blatantly racist in this book is actually a back-handed slap to southern culture at the time. When Huck runs into Aunt Sally and tells her his steamboat was late because they blew a cylinder-head and only a "nigger was dead she replied,"Well it's lucky;because sometimes people do get hurt." Twain is satirizing the aspect of southern culture which regared slaves as property and not human beings.
"I thought them poor girls and them niggers would break their hearts for grief; they cried around each other and took on so it most made me down sick to see it." When the duke and king sell the three girls' slaves twain uses situational irony; the girls are holding this family in bondage but are miserable when the family gets auctioned off.

We are all racist ,by definition of existance .

If literature copies life,then let it be racist .

Please ,let us be free to discriminate or be scarred.

Just remember to be well mannered about it .

"The Adventures of H.F." is a typical case of the message of a book being totally ignored because of how it is presented. Huck Finn refers to Jim by "the N-word" simply because that is how he has been taught to refer to slaves. Throughout the book he learns that Jim is just as human as he, even though he has been taught otherwise. That is what the book is about, essentially; through Huck's realization that Jim's race makes him no different, Twain is actually making an anti-racist point, not a racist one. The book in itself is not racist simply because the society about which it is written is inherently so.

I'm going to have to disagree with you Penolopa. We are not all racist by nature. We may be prejudice by nature but that does not intell that we are prejudice against different or in some cases our own races. Humans have the mental capacity to understand and to comprehend that racism is wrong, immoral, and a choice, not a natural, inevitable or adamant process which we all live by.
I must disagree, however, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is most definatly not racist. One could argue and it is a very legitimate arguement that Mark Twain was only providing readers with a horribly accurate example of how men and women of African orgins were treated and misjudged. The accessive use of the word "nigger" was not a racist comment but a swing on the dialect of the individuals in which Twain wrote of. It was in no way derogitory or displaying of his thoughts of any African American.
In addition he creates a bond between a black man, Tom, and a white child, Huck. This can also support that he was in no way creating a racist enviornment for the readers. The people that would have read this book in the time that it was written would have been used to the language used and the assumptions presented. Mark Twain in essence was no presenting the world with a book of racism and judgement but a reason to overcome that. While everyone in the book distrusts Tom, they should really be looking at the brothers, whom they take into their homes and accept as good people. They base the assumption on color. Twain was forworning us that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. He was in no way showing us racism to spread it, but to prevent it.

this book is clearly not racist! in the time period Huck Finn was written, these words were not considered to be derogatory or racist. it was considered natural to look down on blacks and consider them to not be of the same class of human as whites. Throughout the story, Huck befriends the slave, Jim. He helps free this man, and begins to see him for more than just a black slave. Huck begins the process of accepting all people, regardless of color. This book is amost anti-racism. If someone thinks it's racist simply because it uses the word "nigger", they have not read the book and gotten the true meaning out of it. :idea:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by louise26

If someone thinks it's racist simply because it uses the word "nigger", they have not read the book and gotten the true meaning out of it. :idea:

---

I agree completely. :thumbs_up

Welcome to the forums, Louise! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by louise26

this book is clearly not racist! in the time period Huck Finn was written, these words were not considered to be derogatory or racist.

---

Well, that's not true. The word was derogatory and it was racist. You say so yourself in your next sentence:

Quote:

---

it was considered natural to look down on blacks and consider them to not be of the same class of human as whites.

---

Natural or not it's still racism.

Quote:

---

Throughout the story, Huck befriends the slave, Jim. He helps free this man, and begins to see him for more than just a black slave. Huck begins the process of accepting all people, regardless of color. This book is amost anti-racism. If someone thinks it's racist simply because it uses the word "nigger", they have not read the book and gotten the true meaning out of it. :idea:

---

Now I agree with you that Twain is not racist. Jim is the moral center of the novel and a character with nobility. People who interpret the novel as racist are wrong.

When it comes to books like Huck Finn, the key is not in the language but the presentation of character. According to what characters say in the book, the charge of "racism" may seem viable; however, when you examine the characters Twain populated his fictional world with you see a different story. With the exception of Huck, and brief appearances of Judge Thatcher and the Widow Douglas, there is hardly an admirable white character in the book. If anybody should be offended by this book it should be white southerners - who often came off in the book as bloodthirsty, gullible and dishonest. Jim (as Virgil correctly said) is the moral center of the book - and, in a comparison of Huck's two "fathers" he clearly comes out better than the abusive pap. That Huck was willing to risk his eternal soul (whether of not he fully understood the full implications of his choice to "go to hell") for his friend speaks volumes more than any amount of derogatory language the novel can muster.

I weary of "surface" readers. These are persons who, because of a deficiency in comprehension or insufficient schooling or a need to crank out essays for tests on short order, must come up with the ANSWER to questions on complex ideas like Twain's. It isn't really their fault, but they can do something to change: they can listen to/read the book all the way to the end and refrain from making "snap" judgments. Twain, for numerous reasons, deserves to be heard until he's done and commented upon afterwards.

By reading the beginning of the book and skimming the rest, such a judgment of racism might make sense to a light reader. Although the first few chapters of the book make the satire much gentler (these chapters were written before Twain realized what a great monster of a novel he was actually writing), they, too, brim with satire.

The situation described when the two men who won't go on the raft because Jim is masquerading as Huck's sick father is a clear case in point. Remember that Twain, like a real actor, stays in Huck's character. We MUST see things as this young boy, trained up in the ways of casual racism sees things. Huck tricks the men into leaving and into giving him two 20-dollar gold pieces. "Why do right when it's troublesome to do right?" asks the boy. Huck knows that he ought to turn Jim over to the slave hunters, because that's what he has been taught. He has also learned how easy it is to lie, and his loyalty to the MAN, Jim, is stronger than his loyalty to a code of slavery, and he lies to save Jim. "And the wages is jis' the same."

It is wrong to think that the author, speaking through Huck, agrees with the slave hunters or their code of ethics.:flare:

Even if it is a text that is careless in its use of certain words it strikes me as being supremely unimportant. There is a ridiculous political correctness crawling through the climate of opinion in some chattering class corners that nothing, but nothing is as bad as using some terms of racial abuse so much so that a murder committed in silence is unlikely to get the murderer a prison term or excoriation as bad as an angry exchange in which some tender soul is wounded by a term of tenuously religio/ethnic/racial denigration.
Twain wrote a terrific book. I read it many times as a child and would recommend it to anyone.

Though I'm white, growing up in the segregated and racist south (Mississippi) of the '50s and '60 certainly instilled in me the intuitive ability to discern quite readily the difference between some superficial appearance of racism and actual heartfelt racism.

As most have averred on this thread, "Huck Finn" is an anti-racist book, not straight forward but round about and satirical, as has been explained. I read it at age 12 and it was one of many influences around that time - and on into my adolescense - that brought me to the understanding that an entire society could be unjust and plain out wrong in its basic understanding of the facts of common human decency - in this case, that all humans should be treated as equals under the law.

So, I think the proof is in the pudding. So, are there any people who would claim that reading H.F. affected them in an opposite direction, i.e., actually encouraged them in their racism? Gee - I would have to severely doubt that.

I never thought about it really!

*laughing hard here*
Huck Fin was on my compulsory reading list at school, year 11 Unit3 advanced English
When I was told I had to read it I moaned and groaned about having to read some kids book, .
I loved it and until this day it remains “that book”, the one that aroused my love for classical literature.

is it racist.! lol, no way not ever, ever, there was nothing racist what so ever in it, if someone is black they are black, that’s not racist, it was a sign of the times, never at all did it intend spite anyone black red or white
I’m not being mean but that “racist” word has been thrown around so carelessly the true meaning and strength of it has been turned into a joke. Which is the real shame because real racism does exist and its very disturbing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by baddad

Rascist Huck? Maybe. After all, his character is raised in the southern U.S.A during a time when rascism was rampant. But is the book meant to perpetuate rascism? IMHO...the story highlights rascism so as to remark upon its awful and enduring practice. The rascism in this story is not condoned, but instead is glaringly portrayed so as to encourage its eradication. As far as I know, slavery is not something M. Twain championed, but abhorred. As should we all......

---

If by southern U.S.A. you mean illinois and missouri then yes. but i usually view those as north. simply bc of the whole civivl war rthing, and cardinal directions. so yea. the rest of ur post is now invalid.

To me, the moment in the story that reveals that it is beyond a shadow of a doubt a satire is when Tom's aunt asks Huck if anyone was hurt in the boat accident and he says, "No'm. Killed a nigger," to which she replies, "That's good, because sometimes people do get hurt."

I've been reading this to my kids and I find that I have to change the wording a lot. I think it's a picture of how things were, but not all of it is something I want my younger kids to know just yet.

i dont think it is racist...it was written during the time of slavery, and set in that same timeframe...so in order to be told properly, it needs the proper wording... therefore... not racist...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by katie9trent

I never thought about it really!

---

Ha ha ha ha!

This is an amazingly long thread, considering virtually everyone posting in it is in agreement.

I am doing a project for english class about this book and need a few reasons to why it would be considerd "racist". personally i do not see this book as racist, but for the purpose of the project i need to come up with a few and i'm having a hard time doing so.. many thanks :rolleyes5: