Essay 2.1 Huck Finn: And why I think the N-word should remain in the novel. Rebutting: “Huck Fin: Censorship? Sure, it is, but changes to ‘Huckleberry Fin’ are warranted”

Huck Finn: And why I think the N-word should remain in the novel. Rebutting: “Huck Fin: Censorship? Sure, it is, but changes to ‘Huckleberry Fin’ are warranted”

            Mark Twain was a scholar who wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. When Mark Twain was writing these two pieces of work he used the N-word to reveal the dirty culture of the South at the time of the story. He did not use the N-word to offend anyone and he used the word in the proper manner. Many people today dislike the word because it is used so often and taken advantage of, where as most people do not know the actual meaning of the word.

Although the book does say the N-word over two-hundred times and it is the fourth most banned book in the United States is what Delia Lloyd explains (N-Word Controversy. Par.5). Lloyd wrote an essay for “Politics Daily” on the Web which explains that when you censor famous pieces of work for the General education it loses all sense of history behind it. There was also an editor of the 19^th century that created a family version of “Shakespeare” that removed all sex scenes so it did not offend the Victorian wives and children (N-Word Controversy. Par.7). If you have to change the vocabulary to make the language more appropriate for the reader then maybe the reader should wait until they are at an age where they are mature enough to read the work and understand it in the correct terms. The editorial that I am refuting the author says “We don’t blame elementary school educators for holding back the original versions of “Huckleberry Finn” and “Tom Sawyer” based on the language” (Editorial. Par. 3) If they are changing the language for elementary schools that ridiculous because they are already to young to be reading this book to understand what actually is happening. People do not understand racism and discrimination until they are at an older age, such as when they are in high school. Thomas Quirk an English professor stated that if he were a middle school teacher he would not assign the sanitized or un-sanitized piece of literature because of the difficulty to comprehend (Fin Revision. Par.16). The editorial also states that they new version of the literary works is for lower- level grades in the school. If the new novels are for lower levels, why could they not wait until they are perhaps a junior or senior in high school?
            If you prefer the historical value of the book it will always be there for the reader to find (Editorial. Par.4). That is not the point that I am trying to make though. It does not matter if someone else likes the historical piece over the new piece it is what the younger generation will think after reading the censored piece of literature. When reading Mark Twain, he wanted people to know what was happening in the south and the harsh punishments that people went through. When changing words people could then misinterpret what Twain was actually trying to say and it could change the whole perspective of the novel. “Changing Twain’s work ‘still does damage to the authorial voice and the historical reality’ of the text” says Peggy Placier (Fin Revision. Par.13). Placier is an associate professor in MU’s College of Education and she had stated that for the Missourian which is the Missouri University newspaper.  Quirk also states that the book is not for boys, it is for adults who used to be boys (Fin Revision. Par.17). That is because the book should not be read until you are at the age where you can fully comprehend what is actually going on in the novel and you can relate to the racism of the novel and why the N-word is actually used. If we all listened to Quirk and did not read this novel until the last couple years of high-school or even into college then there would be no need to revise the book. The revision of the N-word is just of that for younger adults who now will not know how a famous scholar like Mark Twain actually wrote.

The N-word will be changed in with the word “slave” I find that to be heart wrenching because now when the N-word should have been used it will say the word “slave” and that could be completely out of context. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary both of these terms have completely different meanings. The word nigger is defined as a member of a socially disadvantaged class of persons, one who may feel completely out of the political process. While slave is defined as ‘a person held in servitude as the chattel of another’. Whenever I hear the word slave I automatically think of an African- American person working for someone else because that is how I was raised and what was taught in school. I do not ever hear the word slave without it meaning to work for someone else. When I hear the N-word it hits me a lot differently then the word slave because I have grown up in a household where that word was inappropriate to use.  I represent the N-word with poor African- Americans that most likely live in a ghetto. When the N-word gets replaced with slave I would begin to misinterpret  what the text is telling me because now I am thinking that this black individual is working for someone and is not actually a poor man, but just has to work hard to live. That is way different from the N-word because that could mean they are actually poor and do live on the streets where everyday is a struggle. John Hudson who wrote a small essay on this issue stated "Race matters in these books. It's a matter of how you express that in the 21st century” (Censors the N-word.). You have to be able to relate to the past and the issues that we did have in this country, and changing a word is taking the easy way out and not teaching the younger generation what time was actually like.

The N-Word should not be changed with the word “slave” because it leads to misinterpretation of the novel and the Context of how the word is being used. Mark Twain wrote literary works such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The adventures of Huckleberry Finn to reveal the dirty culture of the South and what people every day had to live with. When you remove a word that defines those hard times it is scary to think of what the new context will sound like and how much it will actually change the novel.

Works Cited

Lloyd, Delia. "Huck Finn, Censorship and the N-Word Controversy." Politics Daily Feb,1 2011:  Web. 1 Mar 2011.

Hudson, John. "New Edition of 'Huck Finn' Censors the 'N Word'." the Atlantic Wire, Jan, 24 2011. Web. 1 Mar 2011.

Davis, Michael. "MU scholar defends Huckleberry Finn revision." Missourian,             Feb, 8 2011. Web. 1 Mar 2011.

The Lufkin Daily News. “Editorial: Huck Finn: Censorship? Sure, it is, but changes to ‘Huckleberry Finn’ are Warranted”. The Lufkin Daily News, Jan, 6 2011.

Web. 1 Mar 2011