The word "nigger" is used over 200 times throughout the novel. Many argue that Twain's novel is racist by using that word. However, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" needs to be read in the context of the time period and culture in which the novel is set. Although the word "nigger" is considered extremely offensive today, it was not so during the time period portrayed in the novel, and Twain's intentions are not to offend. Some characters use "nigger" in a derogatory manner, such as Huck's father complaining that the government must "set stock-still for six whole months before it can take a-hold of a prowling, thieving, infernal, white-shirted free nigger," (Twain 36). But other characters, who are kind and sympathetic to blacks, also use the word "nigger," such as Mary Jane, who was very attached to blacks. She was crying, and as she said "it was the niggers" that were causing her to cry, because they were being sold and their family was going to be separated. This event shows that Twain does intend for the word "nigger" to bring any offense as he is merely trying to describe the setting of "Huckleberry Finn." This also shows that Twain does recognize the evils of slavery by including events, like the family being separated, which caused great pain to slaves. .
The portrayal of the character Jim creates another controversy in Huck Finn. Starting in the 1950's and continuing today, many school districts have banned the book because they claim it is "demeaning to African Americans," because of what a lot claim to be negative stereotypical portrayal of Jim" (Karolides 398). To some, Jim "is nothing more than a minstrel show stereotype [] who lacks self-respect, dignity, and a sense of self separate from the one whites want him to have." (Telgen 14). Adding to this stereotype is the fact Huck is superior to Jim, because Jim is a slave, even though Jim is the adult figure between the two.
