The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

In my opinion, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written to belittle discrimination against African Americans. Although some black people today may feel that his use of the word "nigger" is discriminatory in itself, Twain uses this word to accurately depict the language of the time period in which the story takes place. The mother of the girl who is suing to have the book taken off the mandatory reading list has valid concern, but if she could look beyond the word itself she would perhaps be able to see deeper meaning. For instance, the black scholar said that racism is already inherent in today's society and that Huck Finn is not the direct cause of these sentiments. Additionally, the journey Huck embarks on with Jim leads him to appreciate the black man as a human. The overly exaggerated racist sentiments expressed by some characters in the book are used to show Twain's disgust with racism. Additionally, it cannot be overlooked that other groups, like women and gays, are also discriminated against in literature. However, if the purpose of this depiction of reality is to educate the reader on the wrongs of their behaviors, the discriminatory slurs should be allowed in books read at high schools.