Racism in the Adventure of Huckleberry Finn Essay

Introduction huckleberry Finn is a winderful take hold that holds the heart of the reader in its brilliance and innocence. disdain m few(prenominal) critics throw attacked its racialist perspectivethe piece merely represents a reality that occurred during antebellum America,the setting of the novel. straddles literary devices in capturing the focal of excitement,ad peril,and humankind sympathy is a wonderful novel that should be recognized, non for bigotry, but that it is the candid viewpoint of a boy that grew up in that era.And even then,the protagonist does overcome about social prejudices of slaveholding beca drill he is concerned with the well- being of his runaway slave friend Jim. That the mockery of the slave race in the end aloneowed by Huck is more more or less fulfilling the awes of Huck towards Tom. The novel is a success because it does not fail to capture the one singular point of growing up for Huckboyhood. chequer twain definitely characterizes the prot agonist,the intelligent and sympathetic Huckleberry Finn,by the direct candid demeanor of writing as though through the actual voice of Huck.every word,thought, and speech by Huck is so precise it reflects even the racial discrimination and black stereotypes typical of the era. And this has lead to many conflicting battles by unhomogeneous readers since the first print of the novel,though inspiring around. Says John H. Wallace,outraged by duettes constant use of the degrading and bloodless supremacist word common racoon,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn isthe some grotesque example of racist trash ever written( find match Journal by Thadious Davis,Fall 1984 and Spring 1985).Yet,again to counter that is a quote by the great American writer Ernest Hemingway,All modern American literary works comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finnits the take up book weve hadThere has been nothing as good since(The Green Hills of Africa Scribners. 195322). The parameter b ehind the novel has been and lead always remain the crux of any readers is still truly racism. Twain surely does use the wordniggeroften,both as a referral to the slave Jim and any African-American that Huck comes crosswise and as the epitome of insult and inferiority.However,the reader must also not fail to recognize that this style of racism,this malicious treatment of African- Americans,this degrading posture towards them is all stylized of the pre- Civil War tradition. Racism is nevertheless mentioned in the novel as an object of natural course and a preciseness to the actual views of the setting then. Huckleberry Finn still stands as a powerful act of experience through the newfound eyes of an innocent boy. Huck only theorizes and treats the African-American culture accordingly with the society that he was raised in. To say anything different would truly be out of place and setting of the era.Twains literary style in capturing the novel,Hucks casual spot and candid positio n,and Jims undoubted acceptance of the oppression by the names all signifies this. The thesis has three chapters. Chapter one is introduction of the whole work. Chapter both apply some information well-nigh the criticism lit. Chapter three give a deep look at the interrogation somewhat the racial problems in the book Huck Finn. Chapter quartette is the conclusion part. 1 Literature brushup Literary criticism is an attempt to evaluate and understand the creative writing,the literature of an author.Literature includes plays, essays,novels,poetry,and short stories. Literary criticism is a description,analysis,evaluation,or interpretation of a particular literary work or an authors belles-lettres as a whole. Literary criticism is usually expressed in the form of a critical essay. In-depth book reviews are also sometimes viewed as literary criticism. Controversial in death as he was in life,Mark Twain has been seriously accused by some of being aracist writer,whose writing is offen sive to black readers,perpetuates cheap slave-era stereotypes,and bes no place on todays bookshelves.To those of us who bring on inebriate gratefully of Twains wisdom and humanity,such accusations are ludicrous. But for some people they clearly touch a raw nerve,and for that reason they deserve a serious answer. Lets look at the book that is most commonly singled out for this criticism,the novel that Ernest Hemingway identified as the writer of all American literatureThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. For Twains critics,the novel is racist on the face of it,and for the most obvious reasonmany characters use the wordniggerthroughout.But since the action of the book takes place in the south twenty years before the Civil War,it would be abominable if they didnt use that word. A closer reading also reveals Twains serious satiric intent. In one scene,for instance,Aunt Sally hears of a steamboat explosion. Good gracious anybody hurt? she asks. Nom,comes the answer. Killed a nigger. But anyone who imagines that Mark Twain meant this literally is 580 SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION2010 5? missing the point.Rather,Twain is victimisation this casual dialogue ironically, as a way to underscore the chill truth about the old south,that it was a society where perfectly square-toedpeople didnt consider the death of a black individual worth their notice. To drive the point home,Twain has the lady continue Well,its lucky,because sometimes people do get hurt. Thats a small eluding in point. But what is the book really about? Its about nothing less than freedom and the quest for freedom. Its about a slave who breaks the law and risks his life to win his freedom and be reunited with his family,and a white boy who becomes his friend and helps him escape.Because of his upbringing,the boy starts out believing that slavery is part of the natural orderbut as the baloney unfolds he wrestles with his conscience,and when the crucial moment comes he decides he testament be im precate to the flames of hell rather than betray his black friend. And Jim,as Twain presents him,is hardly a caricature. Rather,he is the moral center of the book,a man of courage and nobility,who risks his freedomrisks his lifefor the rice beer of his friend Huck. Note,too,that it is not just white critics who make this point.Booker T. upper-case letter noted how Twainsucceeded in making hisreaders feel a honest respect forJim,and pointed out that Twain,in creating Jims character,hadexhibited his sympathy and interest in the rabble of the negro people. The great black novelist Ralph Ellison,too,noted how Twain allows Jimsdignity and human capacityto emerge in the novel. Huckleberry Finn knew,as did Mark TwainEllison wrote,that Jim was not only a slave but a human beinganda symbol of humanity and in freeing Jim,Huck makes a bid to free himself of the conventionalized evil interpreted for civilization by the townin other words,of the abomination of slavery itself.In fact,you can search through all of Twains writings,not just the thirty-plus volumes of novels,stories,essays,and letters,but also his private correspondence,his posthumous autobiography and his intimate journals,and youll be hard put to find a derogatory remark about the black raceand this at a time when crude racial stereotypes were the basic coin of popular fiction,stage comedy,and popular songs. What you find in Twain is the oppositea lively affection and admiration for black Americans that began when he was still a boy and grew steadily through the years.In a widely praised post-Civil War sketch titledA True Story,for example,he wrenchingly evoked the pain of an ex-slave as she recalls being separated from her young son on the auction block, and her joy at discovering him in a black regiment at wars end. And on those occasions when Twain does venture to compare blacks and whites,the comparison is not conspicuously flattering to the whites. Things like ? bingle of my theories is that the hear ts of men are about alike,all over the cosmea,whatever their skin-complexions may be. ? just about all black and brown skins are beautiful,but a beautiful white skin is rare. ?There are many humorous things in the worldamong them is the white mans notion that he is less woman chaser than all the other savages. 2 Methods/Research role The null opening for this research is that half of the university students study literature entrust think that in that location are racial discrimination in the book Huck Finn and others wont. 1000 students in their third and forth years of university will be the subject. They must never see the book or the movie of Huck Finn. They come from both big cities and rural area. They are divided into four groups.The first two groups(each has 250 students)include the students from big cities,part of them students from rural areas. First,all of them will hear the story of Huck Finn. Then they wi answer relevant questions about the images of Huck Finn in th questionnaires and during the call into questions. The questions are about th using method of language,the spell design and the thinking of Huck,et Finally,the movie of Huck Finn will be shown. Students will describe th image of Huck and their views about racial problems in this book According to their answers,different answers will be divided into differen groups.After these works,comes the analyses of the statistics and digital audiotape After comparing the answers of the four groups,gives the conclusio whether literary students from big cities and from rural areas have th surface-to-air missilee opinion of the racial discrimination in this book. As expected,half o them will have the same opinion and half of them wont. 3 Anticipated Results 3. 1 Time-Table My studies will last more than two years. I decide to pass by about 5 hours per month on my studies. I plan to spend the first six month develop my proposal and methodology and completing the literatur review.During this period,I will also attend some relevant courses abou readers response theory. Then I will spend about six months i questionnaires and interviews. After that,I plan to spend eight months i analyzing the statistics and data. Finally,four month will be used mainl on the thesis. February 2008Aug. 2008 *Develop proposal and methodology and complete the literatur review *Attend some relevant courses about readers response theory Aug. 2008Feb. 2009 *Design the questionnaires Collection of official and unofficia statistic Feb. 2009-October 2009.*INTERVIEWS October 2009Feb. 2008 *Analysis the statistics and data *Mainly work on the thesis 3. 2 Anticipated result University students from different countries will have differen opinion on the same thing. As expected,half of them will have the sam opinion and half of them wont. However,if the result doesnt suppo my anticipate result,I will try to find the weakness of my researc design,and improve it. Then do the research again and again. If I als can not get the anticipated result,I will accept the result with a scientifi attitude. 1David E.E. Sloane. Mark Twains HumorCritical Essays. New York an LondonGarland Publishing,Inc. ,1993. 2Harold Bloom. Mark Twain(Blooms Modern Critical Views)(Hardcover Chelsea House PublicationsLibrary Binding edition. July 1986. 3... ,2001. 4http//42explore. com/litcrit. htm. 5http//www. dreamkidland. cn/cpgs/hkbl/001. htm. 6www. classicreader. com/author. php/aut. 7www. ucpress. edu/books/MTW. ser. html. ? ? Group crook Students from big cities Students from rural areas questionnaire No. 1 No. 3 interview No. 2 No. 4 0 0