been a novel that many people have found disturbing. Although some

argue that the novel is extremely racist, careful reading will prove

just the opposite. In recent years especially, there has been an

increasing debate over what some will call the racist ideas in the

novel. In some cases the novel has even been banned by public school

systems and censored by public libraries. The basis for the debate

is how Jim, a black slave and one of the main characters, is

depicted. However, if one was to look at the underlying themes in

the novel, they would realize that it is not racist and could even be

considered an anti - slavery novel.

The most popular problem people have with this book is the use

of the word "nigger". It must be remebered that during this time

period it was not considered much of an insullt. You can also notice

in the book it was not meant offensively by Huck, or taken

offensively by Jim. This is what Stephan Shepard had to say about the

banning of the book and the use of the word "nigger":In addition to

removing Mark Twain's novel from the

include the King and the Duke who exploit, cheat, and steal from anyone they

problems is slavery, so he gives the reader an idea of the runaway slave's

broken heart at us f'r? We haint done nothing" (Twain 124). The use of an

been much worse and that we did not always enjoy the freedoms we take for

an accent and uses many misspellings in his dialogue. An example of this is

portraying a very realistic slave raised in the South during this time period, and to

white person, and Huck grows up debating that reality. It is a barrier at first

Some common words found in the essay are:
Huckleberry Finn, King Duke, Pap Huck's, Huck Jim, Jim Huck's, Mississippi Valley, Mark Twain's, Mark Twain, Jim Huck, South Blacks, huckleberry finn, mark twain, university press, description jim, york oxford university, throughout novel, oxford university, white characters, huck's father, mark twain's, twain reader, oxford university press, pore broken heart, cambridge university press, york cambridge university,
Approximate Word count = 2578
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)