To Teach Or Not To Teach Huck Essay, Research Paper
To teach or not to teach? This is the question that is presently on many administrators’
minds about The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. For those who read the
book without grasping the important concepts that Mark Twain gets across “in between
the lines”, many problems arise. A reader may come away with the impression that the
novel is simply a negative view of the African-American race. Many scholars and
educators, like Marylee Hengsetbeck who said, “If Huck Finn is used solely as a part of a
unit on slavery or racism, we sell the book short.” (Hengstebeck 32) feel that there is
much to be learned about Blacks from this book and it should not be banned from the
classroom. This is only one of many themes and expressions that Mark Twain is describing
in his work. Another central theme is how the depiction of race relations and slavery is
used as insight into the nature of blacks and whites as people in general. Overall, the most
important thing to understand is that Mark Twain is illustrating his valuable ideas subtly
and not pushing them upon the reader directly.
Primarily, Huck Finn teaches readers two important lessons about the true nature of
people. Throughout the book, one of these main lessons is that Blacks can be just as
caring as whites. The white characters often view the blacks as property rather than as
individuals with feelings and aspirations of their own. Huck comes to realize that Jim is
much more than a simple slave when he discusses a painful experience with his daughter.
Jim describes how he once called her and she did not respond. He then takes this as a
sign of disobedience and beats her for it. Soon realizing that she is indeed deaf, he
comforts her and tries to make up for the act of beating. The feeling that Jim displays
shows Huck that Jim has a very human reaction and the fact Jim says, “Oh Huck, I bust out
crying….’Oh the po’ little thing!” (Twain 151), only further proves to Huck that Jim is as
caring as he is. Huck’s realization allows him to see that Jim is no longer the ordinary
slave. The point where Huck completely changes his attitudes towards blacks comes when
he is faced with the dilemma of turning in Jim. Huck fights with his conscience and also
reflects on the things that Jim has done for him. “I’d see him standing my watch on top of
his’n, stead of calling me, so I could go on sleeping; and see him how glad he was when I
come back out of the fog; and when I come to him again in the swamp, up there where
the feud was; and such likes the times: and would always call me honey, and pet me and
do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always was…” (Twain) These
two key scenes are among many that illustrate the idea that Blacks can be as caring and
emotional as Whites – one of the main lessons of the book.
The second main lesson that the book teaches is that the world is full of hypocrites. Huck
realizes that through his experiences with Jim that he and Blacks like him are not what he
has been told. People like Miss Watson, who represent the established belief system of
Huck’s society, tells him that blacks were nothing but property and should be treated as
such. Huck now knowing that this is not the case sees that people, like Miss Watson, made
up these laws to suit themselves. Furthermore, Huck sees that Miss Watson would often
make up a regulation for him but not abide by it herself. An example of this concerns the
subject of snuff. “And she took snuff too; of course that was alright, because she done it
herself.” (Twain ) Huck noticed this double standard even more now because he began to
see that not everything Miss Watson told him was true. With this, Huck not only sees Jim in
a new light, but begins to see that the people who supposedly know everything, didn’t
really know anything. Again other critiques of the novel state that as a whole the book is “a
masterpiece of irony.” (Kilpatrick) With this second main lesson, the book defends itself
against being banned.
People who would ban “Huckleberry Finn” simply for the on the surface racial content are
no better than the character of Miss Watson. The idea of banning a book and not teaching
it to others is selfish and subjective in itself. Those who are seeking to ban it would often
follow their own agendas, like Miss Watson in only trying to get their own view across and
not allowing the novel to be interpreted for what it really is. As Hengstebeck states in her
critique “Selective editing only masks the real problem.” (Hengstebeck 32), another main
reason arises about the recognition of slavery and racism. Racism is an ever present idea
in our society. To ban the book would be to deny students the insight that Twain brings to
the subject. Mark Twain brings a first hand account to the subject through the character of
Jim and how he reacts to his white neighbors. Jim, although he is shown to be a rational
and mature person, bows down to white authority when he says lines like, “Jim couldn’t
see no sense in the most of it but he allowed, we was white folks and knew better than
him” The perspective that Twain gives through the character of Jim is invaluable because
it takes the concepts of slavery and racism and gives them life. By making the concepts
more real and accessible to people, Twain shows the subject for what it really is. Having
this perspective would only help people to understand the concept better and deal with its
many implications. As Morton Fried states “The removal of such literary works from the
classroom, however, would be a strategy of defeat on the war against racism.” (Fried)
Racism is built on ignorance, therefore banning the book’s insights would only perpetuate
that ignorance and be a victory for racism and not a loss.
To consider banning this novel simply because it has situations and characters that are
considered racist is superficial. The novel does show the relationships between blacks and
whites in the nineteenth century and all its overtones. However, it shows these situations
not to promote racism against blacks, but to bring a better understanding of the subject.
The character of Jim is shown to be caring, considerate towards Huck and more mature
and human than the society allows him to be. Although he is shown to be this way, Twain
shows the irony and hypocrisy of treating a mature man like simple property. The novel
also shows how a boy, who is a product of this hypocritical society, comes to realize the
true nature of his friend Jim and how screwed up his white peers actually are. In showing
these ironic situations and the transformation that Huck goes through the reader sees
racism and its implications in a real life setting. People who want to ban the book miss the
idea entirely. Instead of getting rid of something that is supposedly racist, they only
perpetuate racism by denying others a good source of material on the subject. Overall,
banning the book would be doing more harm than good for society because of the denial
of ignorance-breaking insight on an everlasting conflict.