Huckleberry Finn - Racism Debate
Huckleberry Finn - Racism DebateIn recent years, there has been increasing discussion of the seemingly racist ideas expressed by Mark Twain in Huckleberry Finn. In
some extreme cases the novel has even been banned by public school
systems and censored by public libraries. The basis for these
censorship campaigns has been the depiction of one of the main
characters in Huckleberry Finn, Jim, a black slave. Jim, is a
"typical" black slave who runs away from his "owner" Miss Watson. At
several points in the novel, Jim's character is described to the
reader, and some people have looked upon the characterization as
racist. However, before one begins to censor a novel it is important
to separate the ideas of the author from the ideas' of his characters.
It is also important not to take a novel at face value and to "read
between the lines" in order to capture the underlying themes of a
novel. If one were to do this in relation to Huckleberry Finn, one
would, without doubt, realize that it is not racist and is even
anti-slavery.
On a superficial level Huckleberry Finn might appear to be racist.
The first time the reader meets Jim he is given a very negative
description of Jim. 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 of
whom it is being given. Although Huck is not a racist child, he has
been raised by extremely racist individuals who have, even if only
subconsciously, ingrained some feelings of bigotry into his mind. It
is also important to remember that this description, although it is
quite saddening, was probably accurate. Jim and the millions of other
slaves in the South were not permitted any formal education, were
never allowed any independent thought and were constantly maltreated
and abused. Twain is merely portraying by way of Jim, a very realistic
slave raised in the South during that time period. To say that Twain
is racist because of his desire for historical accuracy is absurd.
Despite the...
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