Huck Finn: The Twisting Tides Of Portrayal - Racism Essay -- essays re

In novel years, there has been increasing discussion of the seemingly racist ideas expressed by Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In some cases, the novel has been tabu by customary school systems and even censored by public libraries. Along with the excessive use of the word, nigger, the basis for this blatant censorship has been the portrait of unity of the main characters in Huck Finn, Jim, a black knuckle down who runs away from his owner, Miss Watson. At several points in the novel, Jims character is exposit to the reader, and some people have looked upon the presented characterization as racist. However, before one begins to censor a novel it important to distinguish the ideas of the author from the ideas of his characters. It is overly important to read carefully to sufficiently capture the underlying themes of a novel. If one were to do this in relation to Huck Finn, one would, without a doubt, realize that it is not racist and is, in fact, anti-sla v ery. On an superficial direct The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn might appear to be racist. The first time we meet Jim he is given a very negative translation. The reader is told that Jim is illiterate, childlike, not very bright, and extremely superstitious. However, it is important not to lose sight of who is giving this description and who it is being given to. Although Huck is not a racist child, he has been raised by extremely racist individuals w...