TO TEACH OR NOT TO TEACH HUCK

A detailed Summary of TO TEACH OR NOT TO TEACH HUCK

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

reason arises about the recognition of slavery and racism. Racism is an ever present idea

Jim describes how he once called her and she did not respond. He then takes this as a

many implications. As Morton Fried states "The removal of such literary works from the

Primarily, Huck Finn teaches readers two important lessons about the true nature of

critique "Selective editing only masks the real problem." (Hengstebeck 32), another main

racism and its implications in a real life setting. People who want to ban the book miss the

him" The perspective that Twain gives through the character of Jim is invaluable because

sign of disobedience and beats her for it. Soon realizing that she is indeed deaf, he

Approximate Word count = 2482
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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