Don't Ban The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay

Every word in a book brings out a different effect or emotion, if a sentence is missing this word the effectiveness of the sentence is weakened. In the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain uses the word nigger over 200 times in a book of 293, thats almost the work nigger on every page. But this word makes a strong statement in this story and is needed to tell the story with its full meaning. So why is it that people want to ban this book from schools? Is it really just because of this word? Well this word is not offensive unless taking in the offensive manor in which this book does not present. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain should not be banned from schools because many people hear this word quite often in rap music, it would take away the meaning of the story, and this would be a from of censorship.

The word nigger is used quite in the modern rap music. According to Michiko Kakutanis statement in Lights Out, Huck, They still want to sivilize you , Rappers use the word nigger all the time, students are exposed all the time. And this is very true, in many songs now a days the modern rapper uses nigger as an appealing word. Jim Netter, the former chairman of the Legal Redress Committee for the Western Wayne County chapter of the NAACP, said he doesnt think the book should be banned, either, as long as rappers toss racial slurs around in their lyrics. He also said, We say nothing whn its in rap songs, nut we want burn the books of history. The words in the music today is worst then the words used in books but yet we say nothing when it comes from the lips of a rapper but when it comes from the pages of a book it becomes a big controversy. If these words could be used so loosely then why should Huckleberry Finn be banned for this reason.

For this story to be as effective as the author Mark Twain intended, the word nigger is needed to fully express the culture and mind set of this time period. In the article Lights Out, Huck, The still want to sivilize you the author Michiko Kakutani implies that they should keep the nigger to show what Jim is running away from is clear. He also says, We shouldnt mold it to fit todays standards. The written words of an author should be kept sacred, unchanged, unmodified, and read with the authors intended meaning and not looking at how it has effect today. In the article New edition of Huckleberry Finn to lose the N-word by Kenith Staskiewicz he has a quote from Gibben saying Race matters in these books. Its a matter of how you express it in the 21st century. This is a strong and very important statement, it is only offensive according to how a person uses the word and or how the word is taken in. The time difference between when this book was written and takes place us very different to now, the culture and slang is very different as well, and there for this brings the history and story fully to life.

When trying to changed Huckleberry Finn or banning from the book shelves, is a form of censorship. Another quote from Lights Out, Huck, They still want to sivilize you Kakutani states, Removing Huckleberry Finn deprives students of classic literature. Changing Huck Finn takes away from the full meanings and denies history. And from new edition of Huckleberry Finn to lose the N-word Kenith states that changing the book would be a form of censorship, bowdlerization, and Comstockery. Censoring this book does no good to the readers or the people who are trying to have this book banned, it denies students the education that is promised to them and that is all. Kakutani says, Expurgating books then leads to the bible, then dictionaries, and then society. Life can not be censored, the bible talks about killing, lust, and sex, the dictionary defines all words from the sexual meanings to the more appropriate meanings, and finally society, people walk around the street using most of these words, it is not as if no one has heard or read these words before but yet it is still trying to be censored. Censorship on history doesnt help the present, all it does is hurt the education of the past for the people of today.

The only thing banning Huckleberry Finn does is showing censorship, destroy the authors hard work, and a get out of jail free card for rappers but not educational books. Banning this classic literature leads to thoughts of banning other great works or changing their works destroying the authors hard efforts and full meanings to their stories. They may think that they are just protecting their students but the truth behind it is that they are really hurting the students by depriving them of education. Banning Huck Finn for 1 overly used word that brings out a greater meaning of a book is no good, especially when the word is used and heard by many on a daily basis.