Arguments on banning of "Huckleberry Finn" in school

Essay by JFLUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, April 2006

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Misunderstood

"If your library is not 'unsafe', it probably isn't doing its job. (John Berry)" A Library, full of books is a place where one's mind can explore many different theories and ideas. Despite the fact that some people believe Mark Twain's novel, "Huckleberry Finn" is racist and should be banned from school reading lists, I disagree. Mark Twain's writing style revolutionized literature as we know it today. Without it literary works such as "The Sun Also Rises" by Earnest Hemingway and "The Luck of Roaring Camp" Francis Bret Harte would not exist for their authors were inspired by Clemens (Mark Twain). The novel breaks down traditional racial borders by showing how deep of a relationship can develop between people of the opposite race. Reading the novel educates students on the multiple voices of America. By being exposed to a novel with dialect, children become better readers.

The children are our main priority, and we do want to protect and instill the correct values in them.

If this is so then how is it expected when they are able to read corruptive material such as Huckleberry Finn? The novel not only corrupts people, but it undermines the foundation that our nation was built on. The constitution states that all men (people) of the United States of America have the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Twain's writing about the restriction of freedom is opposite to what the forefathers of the United States fought for. Racism in Huckleberry Finn is clearly shown when Huck in an argument with Jim over how animals speak said, "You can't learn a nigger to argue." (Twain 77). This book clearly dehumanizes African Americans by portraying their intelligence level as that of a child. The statement clearly goes against the melting pot theory...