The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

[SilentMute]

I agree with you up to a certain point, cacian. I was someone who was given a lot of freedom to read whatever I want. However, because of that, I also know the dangers of being exposed to something before having a mature enough mindset to understand it. This isn't about not respecting children. This is about protecting them. I was brought up in an age where people believed children should have freedom to information, and at 38 years old--I've seen the problems that resulted from that upbringing. My generation is suffering from adults who allowed us access to information but were never around to put it into context. The result was that my generation is a bunch of sophisticated idiots. Information without practical sense is a dangerous thing.

I admit it is difficult. Keeping children too sheltered is also a problem, but exposing them to things too early before they can understand them is also a problem. Sex is a part of our culture, but that doesn't mean you let your child watch pornography. I've enjoyed a good porno myself, but pornography hardly promotes good values. A child, though, if they don't understand the hypocrisy of our culture, may think that acting the way people do in pornos is a good thing.

Now, of course, Huck Finn isn't a porno. However, this book does frequently use a derogatory term. A child should be old enough, when they read this book, to know that this book was written a long time ago...and we no longer use that term. An adult should be there to explain that. Imagine the problems that could arise if a child used that word now. At the very least, it would make them unpopular. At worse, if they used it around the wrong person, it could result in an altercation.

[cacian]

I agree with you but I think freedom is overridden when there is too much of it. there is no limit to what one calls freedom because it means different things to different people.
the question is this:
would you agree that adults should take children into account in everything they do instead of doing 'inappropriate' and then setting a different stand to children to follow?
for example:
it would be wrong of me to behave badly and the suggests a child does not do it. where is the standard or the belief in what I am saying and the telling others not to?
it would be better if we did not 'inappropriate' as adults so that children do not grow taking the burden of adulthood behaving one way and saying another.
if I am to teach a child something right surely it is logical and plausible that I should apply to it myself first because I believe in it first. a child then will pick up on it without being told 24/7 that he can or can't have.
that is how I see it and that is how I do it at home.

[SilentMute]

Haha! The old, "Do as I say, not as I do" problem.

Yes, preferably we should set an example. On the other hand, sometimes setting a bad example is just as good. My mom takes pride in this approach. When I was growing up, she never gave me a bedtime, she allowed me to eat when I was hungry--I had a lot of freedom of choice, though she wouldn't let me go past the boundaries of the front yard. That was one area she was protective.

My mother prides herself on setting a bad example--and that is why she has a child that is very disciplined, ambitious, and moral.

I did actually learn watching her eff up her life. However, if I had my own child, I think I might have chosen to raise them differently. I wouldn't be the "cool" parent I always thought I would be. I probably would put more restrictions than what I grew up with. I don't think it was a good idea that I was reading the works of the Marquis de Sade at 9 years old, for example. When I was growing up, there were several close calls with danger...enough to make me shudder every time I hear about a missing child or a dead child. It is definitely a "if not by the Grace of God, that would be me" type of moment.

[cacian]

Haha! The old, "Do as I say, not as I do" problem.

Yes, preferably we should set an example. On the other hand, sometimes setting a bad example is just as good. My mom takes pride in this approach. When I was growing up, she never gave me a bedtime, she allowed me to eat when I was hungry--I had a lot of freedom of choice, though she wouldn't let me go past the boundaries of the front yard. That was one area she was protective.

My mother prides herself on setting a bad example--and that is why she has a child that is very disciplined, ambitious, and moral.

I did actually learn watching her eff up her life. However, if I had my own child, I think I might have chosen to raise them differently. I wouldn't be the "cool" parent I always thought I would be. I probably would put more restrictions than what I grew up with. I don't think it was a good idea that I was reading the works of the Marquis de Sade at 9 years old, for example. When I was growing up, there were several close calls with danger...enough to make me shudder every time I hear about a missing child or a dead child. It is definitely a "if not by the Grace of God, that would be me" type of moment.

You read Marquis de Sade at the age of 9? how did it that make you feel as you read on? did you like it for example?

[Bertilak]

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was one of those gems, and I have to say that I am surprised that it is overshadowed by The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

That I don't accept. There are many "best books" lists and almost all of them have The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I don't remember ever seeing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer on one of them.

EDIT: For example, see the top 100 list right here on this site: [Dang. Stupid site won't let me post link to the thread!]

In answer to some other posts in this thread:

• I know that many misguided folks try to suppress HF to show some deference to Blacks. That makes as much sense as suppressing books about the Holocaust as a favor to Jews.
  
  
• If any of Twain's works are for children it is Tom Sawyer, not Huck Finn.