Smiley missed the point of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and depressed the book to a fraction of its ideas. She views the book as a failed social commentary on racism that allows the reader to avoid responsibility. A myopic sentiment on Mrs. Smiley's part, but Mark Twain has a light aimed elsewhere. It illuminates the territory of social improvements by forcing the reader to see it from different points of view. Huckleberry Finn deals with the issue of racism. But racism is only a scourge of society. The book suggests social change in whatever form it can take (and it takes several). Racism is just one easily accessible example that people had already noticed, an easy choice for Mr. Twain. An example of social change that Huck achieves by leaps and bounds. In today's society, befriending Jim would seem ordinary and unimpressive, but to Huck, he had already come to the conclusion of eternal damnation because of his actions. The idea of ​​befriending a “negro” was completely foreign and avant-garde. It was shocking, it wasn't him...