The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay
Hello and my name is Abhishek Karmakar and I am 16 years old. I live in Shanghai and study in Shanghai American School. I am writing this letter to you about the banning of the book "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain.
I have found out that the school board has banned the study of this book. I am not happy with this because I think this a wonderful book and should be encouraged to read all over the world. It is a book about American literature written in the late 1800’s. The book takes place during the mid 1800’s and it is widely discouraged by some people due to the racial content it exposes. Mark Twain himself worked around the Mississippi river. He probably wrote this book during his experience in the river, so probably everything in the book is what he reflected on. Lots of African-American people have been offended by this book. They have not understood the book or they have not read the whole book. The novel is about a boy named Huckleberry Finn who runs away from his father and travels down the Mississippi river. He meets a runaway black slave, Jim, on the way and they both travel together.
I have found out that the school board has banned the study of this book. I am not happy with this because I think this a wonderful book and should be encouraged to read all over the world. It is a book about American literature written in the late 1800’s. The book takes place during the mid 1800’s and it is widely discouraged by some people due to the racial content it exposes. Mark Twain himself worked around the Mississippi river. He probably wrote this book during his experience in the river, so probably everything in the book is what he reflected on. Lots of African-American people have been offended by this book. They have not understood the book or they have not read the whole book. The novel is about a boy named Huckleberry Finn who runs away from his father and travels down the Mississippi river. He meets a runaway black slave, Jim, on the way and they both travel together.
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In my opinion I think that this book is quite a good book. People say they are offended by the word “nigger” in this book. African-Americans read the first few chapters and then stop reading it. What these people don’t understand is that Mark Twain had written this book a century ago.
In that time it was normal for white people to call black people “niggers.” Some critics also say that Mark Twain includes in this book some very rude and informal language. I think that this helps us students to really feel what life was like in those days, how people communicated, so in fact this is kind of a learning experience for me. It really shows me the way people communicated with each other and how the language has developed till today. I don’t see why the school board or other people do not see this. A reporter states that “Eighth graders at New Haven’s West Hills Middle School will not finish reading a great American novel this year.” I think the school has done the right thing. I think we should study the novel but I don’t think the school should teach the students as early as from grade eight. This is because I don’t think the students are mature enough to read it at that time as a class. I think the novel should be taught at around grade ten and upwards. By this time the students will be mature enough and will be able to understand the book properly and not take it as a joke.
Shalon Bradford, an African-American junior studying in Decatur High School says she was “excited” to read “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” She stopped reading it after the first two chapters. Her reaction was, “it’s filled with the N-word and other racist remarks.” I totally agree with her, but she is looking at it at a different view. She said that “several students in her English class at Decatur High School snickered and laughed at the word.” In this situation it is totally unacceptable for mature students to be laughing at these kinds of issues. They should be punished and taught lessons, because laughing at the word it just being very racist and they are showing it to the class as well. If the teacher doesn’t take any action against it then the school board should consider talking to the teacher. Dave Matthews, Bradford’s English teacher says that “he acknowledges that the book has a ‘raw edge’ and that some of the language is offensive, but he said the positive value far outweighs the negative,” which is quite true and I support his view.
So I think the school board should definitely not ban the book, and instead maybe give a presentation about the positive parts of the book and how the olden days are different from nowadays. It is definitely a good book and should encourage every student to read and learn something new from it. The school board should also only allow grade 10 students or higher to read these books, because then the students will have some maturity towards the book and understand it, rather than letting grade 8’s read it. If students laugh or make any bad comments about the book they should be punished or maybe even expelled because racism is a big issue these days and it shouldn’t be taken lightly. I ask the school board to reconsider and allow the students to study the novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain.
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