Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Essay by yanksrule679High School, 11th gradeA+, April 2004

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Huckleberry Finn has received censorship because of its possibility of threatening young people's morals, offensive stereotypes, dialect, and blacks seeming uneducated. I'm against the censorship of Huckleberry Finn because the criticism had nothing really supporting it; the censors didn't get the underlying message; and they didn't give the novel a chance.

First, I'm against the criticism of Huckleberry Finn because it didn't have much evidence supporting it. Some people called it a racist novel because Twain used the word nigger. They don't realize the term nigger at the time was used to describe a slave or a person of color. Using the word nigger contributes to the Realism and local color of the novel, and without this word the novel wouldn't be the same. Also, others said Huckleberry Finn was written for people in slums because the narrator is uneducated. These people don't realize that Twain wanted the novel to be written from the eyes of an uneducated child to show clearly his inner growth and development.

When people say that it's for the slums just because of the language used, then they are jumping to conclusions, and they must not see the importance of the dialect that Twain used. Along with, parents are complaining, such as Mrs. Monterio, saying that this novel is damaging her child's self-esteem. She has nothing supporting her opinion except that it uses the word nigger, and this is not a real reason. Instead, the novel should boost her child's self-esteem because of the way Jim was developed.

Those who criticize Huckleberry Finn don't get the underlying messages, morals, or themes. Some criticized Huckleberry Finn for threatening young people's morals. Instead, shouldn't Huckleberry Finn enhance individual's morals? Throughout the novel, Huck made several important moral decisions, which give the reader higher values. Also, people condemned...