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  • Essay / Use of the N-word: Controversy in 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'

    Over the centuries, attacks on minority groups and the tolerance that accompanies these hateful acts have been one of the greatest controversies faced we face in the world, and Huck Finn is no exception. It's not shocking to believe that 126 years after the publication of the American classic, the novel still sparks enormous controversy. Since the day Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn hit the shelves, it has caused tension between people of different beliefs and understandings of the racial correlation present in the novel, including the use of the word nigger. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Given that the novel is said to be one of the greatest works of American literature, it must seem vital to teach it in schools. A report in 1992 showed that 70 percent of all public school students and 76 percent of all religious school students studied the novel at school. And still today the book is assigned, but more often than it should, it is a modified version of the original text to make students feel "more comfortable." By removing the ghost, the novel loses a certain quality; his wildness and his nervousness, and part of the real message he is trying to convey. The strong language used in the novel definitely serves a purpose as it is meant to highlight Huck's lifestyle, and realistically, in Huck's world, "nigger" would not be censored. More recently than ever, there have been calls to censor the novel for schools and completely edit the text for people outside of schools. An Alabama publishing house says schools don't need to change their reading lists because they changed Huckleberry Finn. Their recently released edition removes the N-word and replaces it with “slave.” Randall Williams, co-owner and publisher of NewSouth Books, says, “I think this means that race continues to be a volatile and divisive topic. » "Slave is a condition. I mean, anyone can be a slave. And there's no reason to be ashamed of it. But 'Negro' has to do with calling someone 'one in any way that made slavery possible.' Others, however, argue something different. Author David Bradley, a professor at the University of Oregon, says the key to understanding Huckleberry Finn lies in Twain's language, as Huck and Jim's relationship develops. This novel takes place before the Civil War, when it was socially acceptable to say negro. , and that's the problem. People cannot escape our modern world and see this story from a different perspective. According to the story, a white man would not realistically replace a Negro with a slave. When you censor a ghostwriter, you lose him. the reality of this word replace it with “slave”. The language of the novel is that which was used at that time. We cannot, as a whole, deny this terrible past by pretending it did not exist. Throughout the novel, Twain uses the N-word 219 times. For some people, the word gets in the way of the story's message against slavery, but for others, Twain simply captures the way people spoke at the time; that's the direction most people thought he was going. As an author, he has a responsibility to make the audience feel a range of emotions when they read his work, and that is exactly what he does. He also had a responsibility to abandon some of his prejudices..