essay#4

The use of the N word in the book “the adventures of Huckleberry Finn” has been a discussion of conflict and debate for many years. The word, which I will admit is very much offensive and insulting, is still very much necessary for this book. HF gives a look at the rural south in the time before the civil war and should not be altered so That it stays historical accurate. This book criticizes many of the problems with the south and America at the time and if it offends then I believe it is meant to do so.
HF looks at the many problems of the south, crime, racism, thievery, and murder. This is not a book meant to merely amuse but to show the bleaker side of a part of American at a time of transition and change, which the book itself has help with. The book has many other offensive aspects murder theft and large amounts of deception. The book is trying to show a negative side of things and if we take out things that are negative what’s left is a water down jumble of words that would be a waste to read even to kill time.
The N word is offensive now and is viewed as being highly negative, but at the time that the book was published it didn’t have the same meaning. The word comes from the word Negro which was the politically correct term of the time. It was use as a way of addressing African Americans people, mostly slaves at that time. The word itself was not negative but rather the various believe misconceptions about African Americans were. African Americans of the time where uneducated, poorly treated and thought to be natural inferior. This is where the negative power of the N word comes from. The word at time was the common way to address African Americans, but became negative over time because of the negative views of African Americans that exist at that time.
Taking the word out of the book would change the level of impact that the book has. By changing the word you don’t change the story, plot or characters, what you change is how people will respond to the book. By reading that word over and over again people are forced to think about it, about racism then and now and about their own racial views. Regardless of it original purpose when people read HF and that word now or here it out load it makes them uneasy and makes them think. A good book will hold your interests, a great book will make you think and wonder, but the best books are the ones that for you to question things and really challenge your ideals. Without this word, even if nothing but that word was change HF wouldn’t be considered one of the best books of American literature, because it is the very discomfort that that word provokes that challenges people to ask the big questions on race and prejudices.
This word is something that is difficult to deal with. It puts people on edge and makes them more alert. I know I haven’t used the word in this essay, not because I think anyone who reads it would think that I was racist but because I have been raised to think of the word as a taboo. I’ve noticed that other in the class don’t want to say it out load and I don’t think anyone in the class has used the word in a relaxed tone. This word is treated with great caution. The only thing we can do is try to be use it carefully in discussion and go with what where comfortable with.