Essay, Research Paper: Required Reading: The Huck Finn Question

Required Reading: The Huckleberry Finn Question




Ever since it was written, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn has been a novel
which many people have apparently found quite infuriating. Complaints of "obscenity,
atheism, bad grammar, coarse manners, low moral tone, and antisouthernism." (Henry,
The Struggle For Tolerance: Race and Censorship in Huckleberry Finn) Others argue
that the novel is "the most grotesque example of racist trash ever written."(Wallace, The
Case Against Huck Finn) Are these complaints founded? Is there any truth behind them?
More to the point, how does one answer the question, Is Huckleberry Finn a classic
American novel, or is it racist trash? The careful examination of how the author portrays
the story's characters' values, the actions of those characters, and the consideration of the
time-period in which the story was written are the best criteria with which to judge the
book. After such an examination, it is clear that complaints against this book are
unfounded, and that Huckleberry Finn is a shining example of classic American literature.
The characters' values in Huckleberry Finn are what originally got this book on
the banned list. Huck, transformed into a sort of boyhood hero, is not "civilized" to the
standards of the society he lives in. He doesn't understand the reasons for prayer, he
doesn't believe that there is value in studying what people did in the past, especially as far
in the past as most biblical stories which the widow attempts to convey to him. Since
Twain was a satirist, we can only assume that Twain didn't agree with these ideas or was
pointing out the ineffectiveness of religion.. Two of the other main characters in the book
(the King and the Duke) are petty thieves who roam from town to town, exploiting who
they can. Other various characters such as the Grangerfords are locked into meaningless
feuding. This image of society seems to be extremely critical, but this can only be
expected as Twain is attempting to show society what is wrong with it. "...it unmasks the
violence, hypocrisy, and pretense of nineteenth-century America..." (Nichols, A True
Book - With Some Stretchers) Thus, the question must be asked, how does Twain treat
the Black characters in the book? The only major Black character in the book is Jim, a
runaway slave whom Huck has known for quite a while. Jim's dialogue portrays an
accent which the reader is lead to believe is how Jim normally talks. Some have
indicated that they believe this use of Jim's accent is degrading to his character and
Blacks in general. However, Twain may have simply been trying to give a more
complete description of Jim as the dialogue of other characters often reflects accents of
sorts, such as this exert: "Drot your pore broken heart... what are you heaving your pore
broken heart at us f'r? We haint done nothing." (p. 124) The use of an occasional
apostrophe and misspelling amplifies the level of detail in the novel; it adds an invaluable
element to the depth of the characters, not a racist overtone.
The actions of the characters in the book have created a controversy all of their
own. A great deal of insight into the characters and the author can be derived by a simple
examination of what the characters do in the book. Quite visibly, Jim acts better than
most if not all of the White characters in the book. Jim is loyal to Huck, he goes along
with him and protects him to his best capabilities. He also has a very clear plan: go to
Cairo, escape to a free state, and make enough money to buy his family or have the
Underground Railroad free them. His loyalties are to his family and friends. Huck is a
"good guy," but even he is running away from society and being a rebel. The King and
the Duke exploit, cheat, and steal from anyone they can find, having no moral
implications whatsoever. Sheapardson murders a man in cold blood. Whites together in
the book generally signify a lynch mob of sorts. Other White characters, such as the
orphans, are so thoughtless that they practically give away their money to their exploiters.
Twain paints a sad image of the morals of most White characters in the story. Again, we
are faced with a question: did Twain intend this novel to degrade Blacks, or did he
simply intend it to mock society? The answer is clearly the latter. If he had intended to
degrade Blacks, he certainly would have had a larger number of Blacks be main
characters in the book. Twain is attempting to show us the vast problems that society
has. One of those problems is slavery, so he gives the reader an idea of the runaway
slave's position. Regardless of whether his interpretation of the slave's position is correct
or not, it is not an attempt to degrade Blacks but rather an effort to show the reader that in
Twain's opinion, slavery is wrong.
A final point to consider when attempting to determine if Huckleberry Finn is a
classic piece of American literature or if it is simply racist trash is the timeframe in which
it was written. Casting judgment upon him and calling Twain a racist is not only unfair,
but also pointless. The values of Twain's time were different than the values of today.
The very existence of slavery proves this. Twain has no obligation to live up to today's
moral or ethical values and cannot be expected to because they didn't exist when he was
alive. Twain's novel was not intended to be a book about slavery, it was intended to be a
book which showed people fallacies in their religious and ethical beliefs, their extreme
hypocrisy, and the wide-spread idea which is the impediment of all progress: the way
things are is the way they ought to be. Twain not only shows the reader that there are
things which need to be changed, but also points out quite a few things which need
modification. His satire is not limited to these things, but also includes the position of the
African American. Twain's personal view of the Blacks may be better understood from
this exert:
He reads, writes, and speaks English, Italian, Spanish, and French, with
perfect facility... He dresses better than any of us, I think, and is daintily polite.
Negroes are deemed as good as white people, in Venice, and so this man feels
no desire to go back to his native land. His judgment is correct. (Subryan,
Mark Twain and the Black Challenge)
Twain did not have the typical view of the African American individual for his time
period. Huckleberry Finn is a satire whose scope includes this viewpoint.
Huckleberry Finn is without a doubt classic American Literature. A book which
includes Twain's views on hypocrisy to religion, its Black characters are not portrayed in
a degrading manner. The actions of the characters point to things being wrong with
society, not to point a finger at Blacks. At the time the story was written, nobody
considered race to be a major factor in the novel and Twain himself was more than likely
one of the least-racist United States citizens alive. No, Twain did not intend to mock the
African American culture or identity: he intended to mock his own society.
However, placing this book on the required reading list is not the way to go either.
People living in today's society can't seem to handle the idea that a book is just a book
and that this book wasn't about racism. Early complaints were based on the book being
"coarse, ungrammatical, and profane." (Nichols, A True Book- With Some Stretchers)
With such a large number of people complaining about their children being required to
read such a "grotesque" novel, it is simply easier to remove it. Not required, not banned,
perhaps "independent" reading would be the best place for this book, racist or not. With
such a large number of other "classics" available, it should be no problem for literature
teachers to find a more commonly accepted book to replace Huckleberry Finn in today's
classrooms.

- B i b l i o g r a p h y -

1. Peaches Henry, The Struggle for Tolerance: Race and Censorship in Huck Finn.
2. John H. Wallace, The Case Against Huck Finn.
3. Charles H. Nichols, "A True Book - With Some Stretchers" Huck Finn Today.
4. Carmen Subryan, Mark Twain and the Black Challenge.