The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be banned in public schools despite its use of racial slurs because it not only challenges the reader with such a controversial topic but shows the prevalence of racism in that era. The novel’s fictionalization of the south makes it more enriching as it brings a sense of realism to the novel. This novel is a beneficial teaching tool for students learning about racism in America so banning it would impair students’ learning of the south in this era. Many historical concepts of race are displayed throughout the novel, giving it more historical context than just slavery. The underlying reason for the push for the ban is because many parents are concerned about their child well-being while reading. …show more content…
People who state the novel within itself is racist as a reason to ban the book would be giving a misinformed opinion. The use of the word nigger in the novel is not used to offend the reader, but to show how casually it was used to describe a black person in the south in this time period, slave or not, “By-and-by they fetched the niggers in and had prayers, and then everybody was off to bed.” (Twain 7). This novel shows a mere glimpse of racism not showing the full account of how slaves were treated, which informs the reader but doesn’t show all of the gruesomeness. The teaching of racism in America doesn’t give students an in-depth retelling of the true horrors, but this novel gives the reader an inkling of the south in this era. This novel takes place at a time when a black person was nothing but property and when the death of a black person was seen more as property damage than the death of a human being. One of the most famous statements throughout the novel, “No’m killed a nigger”, showed off how little value a black person’s life means; it made Huck’s lie more believable to say he killed a black person than anything else he could’ve said (Twain 201). The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel that shows the true nature of racism in the south and that is why it should not be …show more content…
The wellbeing of their child is always a parent’s first thought and when their child complains of a book with racial slurs, it raises concerns. The book uses the racial slur, nigger, more than 200 times and references lynchings and runaway slaves throughout the novel (Twain 7-263). This novel is also surrounded around a runaway slave and in the times of slavery all a white person had to do was accuse a black man and have wanted poster, no matter legitimacy of it, to have a man locked into slavery or killed (Twain 122). This is an eerie thought that parents feel that the young students of today should not have to fathom. If the novel makes children of a more progressive time feel uncomfortable, then why should force the guile actions within the book upon