Rebuttal 2.1

Ignorance is not bliss: The cons of censoring “Huckleberry Finn”

The analysis of Mark Twain’s novel, “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” first published in the United States in 1885, was met with controversy.  Authors such as Ernest Hemingway believed “Huck Finn” was the defining novel in American literature, while other parents, students and professionals, brought out the negative aspects in the late twentieth century.  These critics of “Huck Finn” displayed what they believed was blatant racism and unsuitable language for children to learn.  So what do these critics and the editorial written in the Lufkin Daily News come up with as their answer? Censorship: erasing every usage of the N-word and replacing it with “slave.”  Granted that there are over 200 N-words in the novel, censorship is the absolute wrong answer; it is inside the educational system, involving students and teachers together that the problem exists and where it must be addressed and resolved.

In a utopia, that derogatory word would not even enter one’s thoughts, but the world today is far from perfect, with this word along with every other curse word seen and heard in movies, music, television and schools.  The author of the editorial states that “If you prefer the unpolitically correct version of “Huckleberry Finn,” for the historical value or another reason, the original will always be there” (Huck, par. 4).  However, the author is completely missing the point that it is essential to humanity that we learn about past wrongdoings and learn from our mistakes.  During the mid-1800’s, when the novel “Huck Finn” was taking place, America was a different place.  It was a different social world with different social norms, making the present a completely different situation all together.  The novel should not be censored because it would taint the precise language Twain so sensitively and carefully wanted to emphasize.

The authorless editorial from the east side of Texas uses none of the rhetorical appeals to influence the reader to follow his interpretation of this controversy.  All that is left is this author’s opinion, and since the reader knows nothing of him or her, there is no ethos or credibility to back up the opinions.  There are no facts or logos appeals that show why censorship would be the best solution.  Emotion and the use of pathos are not even touched in this article.  Despite all of these faults, the editorial in the Lufkin Daily News has a valid point that must be addressed.  The author states the problem with the controversy over “Huck Finn” is that it “…causes an outrage of its own [and schools] are simply not assigning them to students anymore.  And that’s a shame” (Huck, par. 2).  This author rightly acknowledges the significance of the novel but wrongly assumes that censorship will fix everything.  In fact, censorship of “Huck Finn” will cause more problems.  Twain wrote this novel as a satire towards the Southern way of living, and all use of language was intended for a specific purpose, including the N-word.  Alan Gribben of Auburn University “… thinks that “Huckleberry Finn” is a book about social relationships.  And so to remove the language in which those relationships are couched is both historically inaccurate and distorts the meaning of the text” (Lloyd, par. 3).  The original text should not be changed because the novel, and the text within the novel, is part of history.  There is a fine line between learning from history and repeating it.  Lloyd continues to argue that: “ … the only way to get Americans to deal openly and honestly with prejudice is to force students to be uncomfortable with terms that -- unpleasant though they may be -- are part and parcel of our country's blatantly racist past (par 4).  Every other major problem in the world, like the Holocaust for example, was taught to future generations as to understand what happened, who let it happen, and how it could have been prevented.  If there is no evidence to teach these students, how will they learn not to act similarly?  The case of “Huck Finn” is not as extreme, but the basic principle is still valid.  In 1998, Judge Stephen Reinhardt fought to remove “Huck Finn” from the reading list in Phoenix, Arizona: “Words can hurt, particularly racist epithets, but a necessary component of any education is learning to think critically about offensive ideas. Without that ability, one can do little to respond to them” (Jones).  If “Huck Finn” is censored and students are not exposed to the use, incorrectly, but still the use of the N-word, they the students will have no sense of right or wrong when it comes to using it later on in their lives.

            The real question that should be addressed is what grade level the students are reading “Huck Finn” and is that the appropriate age and/or maturity level.  Dr. Peaches Henry, an African American professor in the writing department at Baylor University, wrote “The Struggle for Tolerance: Race and Censorship in Huckleberry Finn” in 1992.  Henry explains the study conducted in 1983 at Pennsylvania State University titled The Effects of Reading “Huckleberry Finn” on the Racial Attitudes of Ninth Grade Students as the:

… contention that junior high school students lack the critical perception to successfully negotiate the satire present in the novel … left the committee convinced ‘that many students are not yet ready to understand the novel on its more complex levels.’  Therefore, although not advising expulsion of the novel, the panel recommended its removal from the ninth ­grade curriculum and placement in the eleventh­ or twelfth­ grade syllabus: Given the degree and instances of irony and satire in the book, the difficult dialects and general reading level of the book, and the tendency of many students to read the book at the level of an adventure story, the committee believes, the novel requires more literary sophistication than can reasonably be expected from an average ninth grade student. (Henry)

The level of immaturity in these ninth grade students renders them incapable of grasping the significance and horrible background of the N-word as used in the novel.  Also, the critical reading skills of these ninth graders are not to par with the advanced upperclassmen and are powerless to understand the sophisticated concepts of moral statements presented in Twain’s “Huck Finn.”

If “Huck Finn” is to be taught in schools to these students, the teachers must also be aware of how sensitive this subject is to so many people.  Dr. Henry states that: “The volatile combination of satire, irony, and questions of race underscores an additional important facet of the controversy: teacher ability and attitude … students not only look to teachers as intellectual mentors, but turn to them for emotional and social guidance as well” (Henry).  She is explaining here that the role of the teacher is vital to the successful teaching of the novel and an emotionally unstable teacher could prove disastrous to her pupils.  Dr. Henry has the answer for other ways to help teachers cope with this difficult task of teaching “Huck Finn.” She explains that the teacher must clearly discuss the usage of the N-word before beginning to read the novel, so reach a common ground with all students.  She also advises noting the racial dynamics in the classroom to better access his/her teaching process.  Another idea is to bring in other novels written about slavery and intertwine them in the learning of “Huck Finn” (Henry).  Being upfront with students early on in the process can have extremely positive results.  If your teacher/parent lets you watch a movie that is above your legal rating (ex. PG-13 for 6th graders; R for 9^th graders), your maturity increases, as does your respect for that teacher/parent, and potentially can work with the students more in depth without it becoming a problem.

            In the last paragraph of the editorial, the author tries to make the censorship seem better by relating it to the Bible and how publishers release new versions with new language, with the overall meaning remaining the same. (Huck, par. 5).  This is an ill-conceived attempt as the publishers are only updating words that are not of this time and would not be understood by today’s readers.  The question that comes to my mind when trying to solve this controversy is where does it end? At what point do we stop cutting swear words and phrases out of text to make it more ‘reader friendly’ to the general public?  There is no answer as of now, and if we continue to ban and censor classic novels such as “Huck Finn,” America as a whole will lose an essential part of its history forever.

Works Cited

“Huck Finn: Censorship? Sure, it is, but changes to ‘Huckleberry Finn’ are warranted.” Lufkin Daily News. 6 Jan 2011. Web. 21 Feb 2011.

Henry, Peaches. “The struggle for Tolerance: Race and Censorship in Huckleberry Finn.” Teaching Huck Finn: The Controversy and the Challenge 1.1 (1992):1. 1992. Web. 28 Feb 2011.

Lloyd, Delia. Huck Finn, Censorship and the N-Word Controversy. Politics Daily. February 2011. Web. 28 Feb 2011.

Jones, Baudelaire. Racism and the Enduring Controversy of Huckleberry Finn. Go Articles. 12 Sept 2007. Web. 28 Feb 2001.