Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Huckleberrrrrrrrrrrry Finnnn

Although I recognize the detriment and anguish associated with the use of the "n word" and also know that I don't know the full extent of the pain behind the word, I personally think it's a tad ludacris to ban Huck Finn because of it. When Huck Finn was first written, it was banned places in the south because of it's antislavery elements and the powerful ideas surrounding blacks, and now it's the opposite; it's being banned because it is "racist". Huck Finn is not in any way shape or form a "racist" book, nor is it meant to demean. Just because something incorporates race into the book, does not make it racist. As far as the use of the "n word", it was the common language in the south during this time period, and would have subtracted from he realism of the book if any other word was used. Just because the powerful connotation surrounding the "n word" nowadays, doesn't make Mark Twain a racist in any sense. As in the increased use of the "n word" in schools because of Huck Finn, I believe it's somewhat ridiculous that the book is being pinpointed for that. Why don't we look at our entertainment industry as a more logical outlet to point the finger at? Doesn't the entertainment industry glamorize the use of the word, racial steriotyping, etc.? How many times have you turned on a movie and heard the "n word" said? How many times have you put on a cd, only to hear a rapper belting out the "n word" in rhythm? Is school supposed to be that utopian and idealistic to believe that we wouldn't hear these things outside of school? It would be like the teaching of abstinence only sex education, when ignoring the fact that everyone at the school is sexually active. It just isn't realistic. Ergo, instead of banning a classic american novel, school should reinforce the idea that the use of the "n word" is not right and explain the extensive pain caused by the use of the world and take a realistic approach to fighting the ideas of bigotry in modern society.

1 comment:

Jennifer said...

Should Huck Finn be Taught in Public School?



I think that Huck Finn should be taught in schools, because this book was written a long time ago when African American were slaves and they were called a certain "word", that would offended a lot of people. Tom Sawyer wanted some money and during his timethe "word" was used a lot, but that was in the past and now it's the future now and African- Americans also use the "word" and those people are fine with "word" for jokes.Most African Americans just don't care about the "word" because they hear the word all the time and it doesn't bug them at all.

People also need to realize that there are people out in the world who hate this book and think it is racist which it's not because it has nothing to do with racism. There are people who've hated this book, but after they read it they just got used to the "word" and I fell that people should try to read this, because they might feel different if they read it. This book is mainly about a boy who is trying to get away from his abusing father and he meets up with a slave he knows named Jim. Jim and Huck go on an adventure so that Jim can be a free man and to do that, Huck must lie to help Jim out. It has nothing to do with racism it's just a book that has an African American in it with a certain word that was used along time ago, and if anybody else wrote a book back then I am sure that they would have used the "word " also.

People also think that religion is in the book, because when you pray you pray for someone to get better, not for somethig that you what to have,but it's just telling you thats how people think. That is the reason why I think that this book should be taugt in school.