Huckleberry Finn - Racism Debate-

A detailed Summary of Huckleberry Finn - Racism Debate-

In recent years, there has been increasing discussion of the

seemingly racist ideas expressed by Mark Twain in Huckleberry Finn. In

some extreme cases the novel has even been banned by public school

systems and censored by public libraries. The basis for these

censorship campaigns has been the depiction of one of the main

characters in Huckleberry Finn, Jim, a black slave. Jim, is a

"typical" black slave who runs away from his "owner" Miss Watson. At

several points in the novel, Jim's character is described to the

reader, and some people have looked upon the characterization as

racist. However, before one begins to censor a novel it is important

to separate the ideas of the author from the ideas' of his characters.

It is also important not to take a novel at face value and to "read

between the lines" in order to capture the underlying themes of a

novel. If one were to do this in relation to Huckleberry Finn, one

would, without doubt, realize that it is not racist and is even

the color of his skin. In Chapter 15 the reader is told of an incident

important not to lose sight of who is giving this description and of

slave raised in the South during that time period. To say that Twain

The first time the reader meets Jim he is given a very negative

is racist because of his desire for historical accuracy is absurd.

of slavery and the importance of following one's personal conscience

quite saddening, was probably accurate. Jim and the millions of other

Despite the few incidences in which Jim's description might be

his subtle manner, he creates not an apology for slavery but a

subconsciously, ingrained some feelings of bigotry into his mind. It

this internal struggle, Twain expresses his opinions of the absurdity

wants the reader to see the absurdity in this statement. Huck's father

chapter 15 the reader is presented with a very caring and father-like

misconstrued as racist, there are many points in the novel where

racist and hateful contempt which existed at the time is at many times

Approximate Word count = 729
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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