Huck Finn Essay - Not a Racist Book
One hundred and twenty years ago, a person of African descent that was
free rarely existed in the southern states of the United States. Slaves ran
off into the North in hopes of freedom, escaping their lives of cruel
treatment from masters, the lack of rights, and of racial prejudice. In the
time period of the novel, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,"
written by
Mark Twain, racism played a dominant role in American society. Because of
the
history of racism during that time, many critics label the novel as racist,
taking in account the usage of language and behaviors of whites toward
blacks; however, the novel reflects the happenings in society and depicts
racism as a mold in which Huck tries not to associate with. "The Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn" shows the relationship between Huck and Jim and
the
rare, yet existent, crack in the mold.
The mold begins to form and take shape in Huck's mind in the beginning
of the narrative. While living with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, Huck
interacts with Tom Sawyer, his best friend. Tom, the prankster of the town,
plays a trick on Jim, Widow Douglas' slave (pg. 3-4). The joke never intended
to hurt anyone's feeling or cause commotion, but only to spook Jim for the
moment. Huck takes this incident as an example of how to act towards blacks.
Even though Tom influenced Huck, he was not the only one. Another person that
impacted him was his father; when Pap Finn came into Huck's life and takes
him away from his "civilized" life, Pap, in his drunkeness, rambles
about
how a mulatto man taught as a professor in college, and how the government
gave him the right to vote. Pap complained of how the government could let
this man be free for even six months. "Here's a govment that calls itself
a
govment, and lets on to be a govment, and thinks it is a govment, and yet's
got to set stockstill for six whole months before it can take ahold of a
prowling, thieving, infernal, white-shirted free n*****, and -" (pg.
21)
Pap's resentment of the existence of free blacks in the country makes another
piece of society's mold.
Although the influences of people in his life and of culture created a
view for Huck on black people, he never goes beyond what he knew. Huck does
not add on to the mold by himself; he does not act harsher to blacks than
what he learns from other people. After a few tricks played from experience
with Tom and the question of turning in Jim to the government with Pap's
position on slavery, Huck begins to form his own opinions on blacks. He
befriends Jim and begins to not fully support slavery of blacks. For example,
when Huck lived with the Grangerfords, he did not give his slave a hard time
with running errands and doing work. His inexperience with slaves played a
role in his treatment towards his slave. "Each person had their own n*****
to
wait on them - Buck, too. My n***** had a monstrous easy time, because I
warn't used to having anybody do anything for me, but Buck's was on the jump
most of the time." (pg. 80) Huck's independence gave him no knowledge
of how
to treat a slave, giving him a chance to formulate his own opinions about
the
treatment of blacks. In another light, Huck's slave led him to Jim, whom was
sleeping in the swamp. Reuniting with Jim brought happiness to both of them.
If Huck was a racist, he would not have cared for seeing Jim again; but, he
did care.
His caring for Jim plays the largest role in his life towards the end of
the novel. Jim is a part of Huck's life, almost as a brother, putting aside
race and color, in his journeys. Afterward, Jim becomes enslaved; and,
instead of leaving Jim in slavery, Huck plans and attempts to help him escape
from Tom's Aunt Sally. (pg. 176) Huck, to people's bewilderment, helped Jim
escape, not because he did not belong there, but because they were friends.
Society's mold does not exist in Huck's mind anymore. To furthur Jim's
freedom, Aunt Polly informs Huck and Tom that the Widow Douglas passed away,
leaving Jim free in her will. (pg. 218) Jim finally tells Huck the truth
about his Pap because Jim can trust Huck, as a friend, with this knowledge;
for all that Huck had done for Jim, he was finally giving him good news.
The novel, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is not a racist
book.
It only shows how society makes people close-minded; but, Huck gradually
broke the mold that tried to confine him and prevent him from becoming close
friends with Jim. Critics argue that this book portrays racism. In fact, it
uses the n-word as only a common word , such as today's "cool,"
used in the
dialect of the time and area to depict accurately America's history. Students
in Oakland today should not be deprived of the historical experience the book
provides, even with its presently inappropriate language. Finding and
applying the underlying message of taking the path less taken can make
history not be repeated. Society creates a mold, and students must break them.
12-01 TF
