Huck Finn Controversy

            
             The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written in 1884. It takes place in a pre-civil war society when slavery was legal and the separation between black and white people was natural and socially acceptable. Over a hundred years later, Twain's masterpiece has found itself not only among the ranks of the American classics, but also on the taboo, banned lists. Upon its publication in 1885, Huckleberry Finn was quick to make its first enemy when the Concord, Massachusetts Library banned Mark Twain's book for being, "rough, coarse and inelegant .the whole book being more suited to the slums than to intelligent, respectable people."" (Boston Evening Transcript p. 6) It was banned from the Concord Public Library by a committee that found it crude and "more suited to the slums than to intelligent, respectable people." (Boston Evening Transcript p. 6) Twain's use of dialect and first person narration from an unschooled child's perspective were shocking to the cultural elite of the time. .
             Years later, the book has continued to attract controversy and criticism. Starting in the 1950's, an increased awareness of racial inequality in the United States was developed. The novel was beginning to be viewed from a different perspective. Many believed that the book was purposefully racist, forgetting the time period in which it was written. Critics felt that Twain's use of dialect for Jim, writing out sounds rather than words, portrays Jim as a stupid character. Jim's superstitions and his subservient role in many parts of the novel strengthen their belief that the book should be banned for what is now believed to be blatantly racial content. A reader must keep in mind the time period in which the book takes place. Out of context, many passages from the book may seem to be racist because of both its content and the language used, including the use of the word nigger. Twain's intention was not to be racist, but to create an almost satirical episode of the life of a thirteen year old boy and the journey he takes with an escaped slave named Jim.