Huck Finn, Censorship and the N-Word Controversy

Personally I am a bit sick of the politically correct bull crap. If I had a shovel a mile wide I couldn't dig through all of it that being pc has caused.
Huckleberry Finn was a book that was supposed to be narrated by a young boy that grew up in the time when there were still slaves in the United States. It is a "first person" narrative. That means it is like the boy is talking to us, in words used in that time period and that part of the country by a boy his age.

As a mother of 5 very well rounded, nonracial children and a future English and History teacher, I find the thought of editting this classic appalling. I can think of at least a dozen ways I could explain this novel in its original form to school children in a logical way that made them understand what it was about and educate them about the way things were back then. Sanitizing history is not going to make it better. It happened and our children need to learn about it so that they will not let such things happen again.

Books such as this one, Tom Sawyer and many other period novels tell a story of how things were, how things in that time were perceived and how people acted and spoke. Mark Twain did a remarkable job in his writings, bringing the time period to life with lively narratives and believeable characters.

I do not like the "N" word nor do I overly agree with the term "Injun", but both were used in as part of our terminology during that time period. Both held derogatory meanings not only in that time period, but today as well. But in the book Huckleberry Finn, I believe it should stay, just as it is, simply because it was used in the way it was written in everyday life back during the time period the setting of teh book is supposed to be written.

I hope that if one day anybody during this time period writes a book similar to Huckleberry Finn about this day and age, that they will not later be edited later on because they used words that are derogatory or racial in what is supposed to be a first person narrative by someone in this time period. To me, that would give the future generations something to look on, learn from and move above.

The crux of the author's argument aside, the example of her purchasing an Eminem CD for her 10-year son piqued my interest. It seems in her attempt to limit her son's exposure to misogyny, she's ignoring or misses the fact it that she is sending money - voting with her pocketbook - to someone who plies his "trade" celebrating misogyny, thus unwittingly helping him, albeit in a very small way, to continue to make his way in the world as this type of rapper.

Racism and the use of derogatory epithets toward minority members of the society is as American as apple pie. Attempting to alter history by expunging words from classic text doesn't change the ugly facts. The language in Huckelberry Finn is reflective of the vernacular of the period. To change it is to distort history. I consider it dishonest to attempt to obfuscate what at the time were widely held values at the time of the writing of this great American classic. For those who are still confused by the use of the word in certain circles; social conditioning has led to what might be described as cultural self-loathing. If you're called something for generations eventually you'll come to see yourself as such. Evoking the slur yourself dilutes the impact of feeling viewed as such by the society at large. The continued implementation of such a term is indicative of the necessity to instill a sense of self-worth in those whom have been disenfranchised for the past 400 yrs.

Political Correctness is going to be the death of America as the Founding Fathers intended it to be and as we know it.

If every editor since the Council of Nicaea in the 4th Century could edit the Old and New Testaments so that the language would be understandable, and if the C of E could rewrite the WHOLE thing for its own purposes in the 17th Century (in honor of King James), then how is Mark Twain suddenly inviolable?

TAKING THE N WORD OUT OF THIS BOOK IS LIKE PUTTING CLOTHING ON THE STATUE "DAVID" CHANGING HISTORY IS WRONG! JUST BECAUSE IT MAY HURT SOMEONE FEELING. GROW UP!!!

Changing the text of literary classics won't change today's use of the term. Use of this term is a personal choice. Most have turned away from its use. But still, as with most of the posters to this site, still hear it being used, mostly by those who claim it offensive if someone else uses the term. But that same segment, to my knowledge, aren't clamoring to have the nasty term removed from another literary classic, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which is peppered with this word. Of course, that classic was penned by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and is probably granted the same clemency as rappers using offensive language in their music that I object to.

Huckleberry Finn was a fictional character used, not as a method of offending anyone. Twain was accurately recording the lifestyle at the time, including the terms. If anything, teachers should use it as an adjunct in teaching to say, "This is where our society was over a hundred years ago. We all accept that terms and ideas like these have changed. We've further to go. Where should we go next?"

CORRECTION IS IN THE PERSON WHO IS TRYING TO CORRECT OTHERS , LEARNING FROM OTHERS MISFORTUNE AND MISTAKES IS NOT GONNA HELP ANYONE BUILD THEIR OWN SELF CONFIDENCE,, THE WORLD IS CRUEL ,, SEEK JESUS KNOW LOVE AND KNOWING YOU ARE SO DEARLY LOVED IS THE ONLY WAY TO BEAT THE CRIMES OF THE PAST AND PUT FORTH AN OPTION OF MORALLY CORRECT CHANGE IN EACH OF US CAN BE REACHED BY LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING , JUST BECAUSE YOU CORRECT HIS OR ANYONE ELASE WRITINGS DOESNT DO ANYTHING AT ALL FOR THE ONES WHO MAY STILL BE AFFLICTED BY THE HATE IN THIS WORLD !!

As a former English teacher who has taught Huck Finn, I am appalled at the idea of sanitizing it. I spent at least two days prepping my students on the historical aspects of the novel so they understood the context. I explained that the term "******" meant something totally different back then. We discussed its usage and they understood the difference before we even began reading together.
After that discussion, I had several students that didn't want to utter the word when reading aloud. I respected their wishes and they used the word "slave" instead. But, this was only after the lesson & discussion we previously had.
Yes, the utter mistreatment of African Americans and Native Americans is part of our history. We need to acknowledge it and not run from it or try to change it. We are to blame and we need to take the responsibility for the actions of our forefathers. Sanitizing history because we can't take the blame is preposterous. I'm sure that Mark Twain is rolling over in his grave at the thought of his masterpiece being rewritten for a society that runs from the history that he chose to capture & keep in the innocent voice of Huck Finn. We truly should be ashamed of ourselves. History is just that. It is not to be rewritten to fit the present times. It is to be relished and learned from - good or bad.

How are children going to learn perspective and how to interpret content from this? Twain's comment on editing his books a hundred years after his death would probably be, "It's probably easier to read in polite company, but the gentry are going to miss the self reflection." What's next? Shall we put digital clothes on the piles of dead in the photos of Auschwitz? Life has ugly lessons to learn.