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Texas ISD School Guide
Texas ISD School Guide







Short Stories for Teachers

Huckleberry Finn- An American Boy
By:Katie Criss

The novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was written over 100 years ago, and yet I still felt like I had been dramatically affected by it in many ways. I felt like I was living through a time period that holds its place in history. I found that it was incredibly humorous, while teaching very important moral lessons in a most interesting way. Throughout my essay I would like to discuss these lessons by addressing the question of why “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was banned in many libraries, homes, and schools, when in fact Huck Finn seems to be but none other than just another American boy.

“Directly I could just barely here a ‘me-yow! me-yow!’ down there. That was good! Says I, ‘me-yow! me-yow!’ as soft as I could, and then I put out the light and scrambled out of the window onto the shed. Then I slipped down to the ground and crawled in amongst the trees, and sure enough there was Tom Sawyer waiting for me. We went tip-toeing along a path amongst the trees...” ” (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, p.4)

As illustrated above Huck Finn is nothing more than your typical teenager sneaking out to meet his friends in the middle of the night. I believe that this is a point that parents try to make when attempting to show that this novel is a bad influence on the youth. They fear that their children will imitate Huck’s actions in the book. This was reason for children long ago not being permitted to read this novel, and for children today not being permitted to read this novel. At this point I am going to show you how the condemnation in the 19th century over the character Huck Finn is like the 20th century’s condemnation of rock/rap music as being harmful to the youth. Society today is not accepting of music, just like society in the 19th century was not very accepting of certain material that books contained. One major argument that children and parents have relentlessly is over the music that they are permitted to listen to. One known artist that parents unquestionable put on the “No” list is rapper Eminem. In one of his songs he addresses this issue by making the comment...

“ They say music can alter moods and talk to you,

well can it load a gun up for you , and cock it too?

Well if it can, then the next time you assault a dude,

just tell the judge it was my fault and I'll get sued”

How funny this example is, Eminem in relation to the novel Huckleberry Finn. I simply wanted to illustrate that society always needs something or someone to blame for delinquency. Back then they choose books, today they choose music and movies. I personally believe that if you guide your child to be open-minded and teach them to make good decisions that they can read whatever book they wish, and listen to whatever music they want to, because it is the child that makes the decision not the book or lyrics. Your child needs to be exposed to different things to become well rounded. If they are not then when a situation arises that addresses issues that they do not understand or have never been exposed to, how will they know how to react?

Another debated issue when discussing the novel is the issue of racism. One of the most prominent issues is the use of the word nigger. Yes, throughout this novel it is used quite repetitively, but I feel that it is not used to glorify the word. I believe that it is much like swearing in today’s society. If you know someone that swears often, when they do cuss, you think nothing of it. However, when someone that does not swear very often does, it’s use is much more dramatic. This is because when someone swears often, the swear words become like ordinary language for them and essentially lose their meaning. I feel that the use of the word “nigger” and its overuse in this novel causes the reader to actually think less of the word, and rather accept it as just being part of the language of the book.

Now I do understand that it is difficult to deal with some issues in the educational atmosphere, but I want to point out that these issues are dealt with regardless of if the students or faculty are uncomfortable. Issues of sexuality, race, politics, and religion are all examples of topics that make students feel uneasy, however they are quite abundant in the literature that the school permits to be read. These issues can be found in many sources such as Shakespeare, Twain, or the King James Bible. Regardless of if they cause uncomfortable situations we cannot shy away from them only on the reason that it may hurt a student. Ignoring a problem because it hurts does not make it go away. If a person were to ignore a chest pain, it may go away for a small time period, but in the end the problem will magnify into a heart attack. Exactly the reason that racism cannot be ignored. If you do not teach a child while they are young, then once they are older and have children of their own and consequently their ignorance of racism will be passed along to future generations. Instead this issue has to be confronted and dealt with in a responsible informed manner. The novel Huckleberry Finn simply provides some background and a story line to teach the children this very valuable lesson. It is easy to tell a child that racism is bad, but it is hard to get them to listen. However, if you put them in the situation that they see racism and sympathize with the person that is experiencing the problem, then they learn themselves to believe that racism is unacceptable. The novel Huckleberry Finn provides them with a great story line that allows them to sympathize with Jim, while making the transition of ignorant to informed and mature along with Huck. This novel provides both historical and literary background that enables it to be a fantastic source to a racism solution.

There are also other very important themes that are addressed in this book that children of any age would benefit from. One important moral lesson is that of friendship, this is shown between Huck and Jim. . During the second night of the their attempt to reach Cairo, a dense fog sets in and Jim and Huck become separated. Huck paddles away in the canoe and Jim tries to find him by calling out his name in the murky darkness. When Huck finally returns to the raft, Jim is asleep. When Jim wakes up, Huck lies about the events that transpired during the night and tries to blame them on Jim's hallucinations. Huck assumes that he has fooled Jim, when in reality Jim knows very well that Huck is lying to him.

Huck learns a moral lesson from Jim on many levels. First he learns what a friend is. Jim is very true to Huck and treats him very well. Through this Huck get’s the experience of actually having a true friend. Through Jim he is taught how to treat a friend. He learns that it is wrong to lie to a friend and from Jim he also learns a lesson on people, and that is that black people have the same emotions and feelings as whites. Huck "humbles himself to a nigger" and says that he "warn't ever sorry for it afterwards, neither." (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn p.81) Huck goes on to talk about how sorry he is. The manner in which Huck is lead to believe that people of both races have the same feelings and emotions. This book is filled with messages like this. This novel suggests that a black man could conceivably be a suitable or even desirable moral mentor for a white boy and also a good friend.

Another thing that I found to be significant to the teaching of children in this novel is that one should be independent. Children often admire other children to the point that they will do anything to fit in with them or be exactly like them. This was shown in Huck’s admiration for Tom Sawyer. Throughout his adventure down the river he is constantly comparing himself to Tom Sawyer, the captain of their gang.

However I think that throughout the book Huck becomes more independent, and eventually looks at Tom Sawyer’s ideas as being ridiculous. He begins to make remarks such as “Confound it, it’s foolish, Tom” , which seem to go against Tom Sawyer and show the true Huck Finn. However, he always ends up going along with Tom’s ideas, because indeed he is helping him rescue a runaway slave. I believe that the chapters that address Tom’s ridiculous ideas and schemes to rescuing a prisoner and Huck’s challenging ways towards Tom, teaches the reader to be more independent. It shows the end result of Tom getting shot, to show the reader that if it were just done the simpler way, that Huck had originally thought of, that there would have been no trouble. But because he was more dependent on Tom and his adventurous ideas instead of disagreeing with him and doing it his way, that it ended up coming back to haunt them and cause them much trouble. Therefore it is illustrated to a child to be more independent, to challenge other’s ideas, and to be confident in yourself and in your own ideas. I believe that this is very important issue that is constructed quite perfectly into this novel.

In conclusion, I find that the novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is quite a beneficial asset to the educational world. It tackles many important moral lessons, historical lessons, and life lessons. It illustrates the Zeitgeist of the time so that you are able to almost feel like you are there and understand what was accepted and what was not. It shows many depictions of slavery. It helps a reader to understand the important issues of this historical time period. It was shown that rivers and slaves were a large part of the culture. I think that this book helps teach these historical lessons by letting you become Jim and see through his eyes. In this novel, Jim is perceived as an individual, and not just as a slave. Through this you are able to see his reaction to the white man’s inhumanity, enabling the reader to sympathize with him, recognize slavery, and learn not only the historical value of a slave, but also to denounce slavery in today’s society. It helps a person to recognize the effects of racism and helps them to confront their ignorance. This novel also teaches the value of friendship, and what it means to be a friend.

In the end I believe that this is an excellent source for teaching many valuable lessons to children. So before you sign your name to the “ban it” list reconsider what I have tried to address to you, and that is, if you teach your children to make the right decisions in life, then you will not be forced to look for ulterior reasons to blame delinquency on, and then your child can listen to Eminem, watch Elvis swing his hips, and read the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Works Cited

Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Eds. Gerald Graff and James Phelan. A

Case Study in Critical Controversy. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1995.

Katie Criss is a graduate with a dual degree in Early Childhood Elementary Education, who enjoys writing and wants it to be seen! Also enjoys doing research and saving money!
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