Huck Fin

As our society strives to become more and more politically correct, many important issues arise in our schools. Some of these issues deal with religious beliefs, some question if Darwin's theory of evolution should be taught in our science classrooms, and some believe that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be banned from our library shelves. When we begin to deprive students of a literary classic such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn everything this country stands for is negated.

The cover of the first edition of Adventures of Hu...

Illustration of Jim and Huckleberry Finn, by EW Ke...

mark twain Category:Mark Twain images

There are those who find The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn offensive because of he use of the word "nigger" and the racial ideas that are portrayed. Some people even believe Twain hints at a homosexual relationship between Jim and Huck, but no student is forced to read something that they find offensive, morally wrong, or against their religious beliefs. Teachers should give alternate assignments to students who do not wish to partake in the reading of such works as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Why deprive other students of reading this great novel? Mark Twain is the "George Washington" of American literature. His works range from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to Roughing It. These novels are symbols of what the beginning of America was like. Mark Twain is considered by many experts to be America's greatest writer. His use of irony and his depiction of the dialect of the south has not been better demonstrated to students than in this book. Twain was the first to cross the line from romanticism to realism and the first to put humor into a novel. I believe he proved that this is not only a great novel, but a valuable learning asset to a student's understanding of literature.

My seventh grade teacher, Dianne Hamulak, gave me an understanding of Mark Twain through his masterpiece, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. When I informed her of my essay, and the fact that so many people are considering removing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from their curriculum and libraries she was shocked. She stated, "If people would give the book a chance they would realize that Twain believed slavery was wrong." The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn give students like myself a better understanding of the time period in which it was written. If we take this book off the shelves of libraries and out of the student's curriculum, we will be turning our back on history, pretending that what happened didn't, and teaching children it is ok to shield minds from what is real. I believe that shallow people who do not give The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a chance are depriving themselves and others of a wonderful novel. I challenge these people to stop analyzing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and start analyzing themselves.

Drawing of Huckleberry finn with a rabbit and a gu...

Traditional raft, from 1884 edition of Adventures ...

A promotional flyer for Adventures of Huckleberry ...