Published December 31, 2007
I have a battered old copy of 'The adventures of Huckleberry Finn' from 1969, and I think it's been owned by about 5 schools, judging by all the stamps and 'This is the property of...' notes in the front.
I've been using the book to improve my writing; the margins are full of my scribbles. I think it does help...that was kind of a mini-ramble.
Anyways. I've read all of his children's books, and 'The adventures of Huckleberry Finn' is my favourite out of them. It's a very good book.
Granted, there are some things that I don't like about Twain's style (he tends to kind of rush through some events and then take his time on others) but he has these patches of really great description.
Another thing that I disliked was that he was incredibly racist. Anyone who's read the book will know what I mean; blacks were constantly referred to by the N word and the dialogue for Jim was barely coherent. I understand that he wrote this in a time when there was much more tolerance for racism but when I was reading it I was like, 'OMG!'
So, has anyone else read anything by Mark Twain?
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He actually was NOT racist. The n-word was common, and Jim's speech was how black people talked in Missouri at that time. Also, notice that Jim is a good person? An intelligent person? A "father figure" for Huck? Jim is a MUCH better person than, say, Huck's dad, or a lot of the white people you meet throughout the novel.
You know what's funny, when it first came out it was banned for not being racist enough--because Jim was portrayed in a good light. Then, later, it was banned again because it was TOO racist... because (like you) people were shocked that the n-word would be used in literature.
One of his books that is VERY un-racist is Puddn' Head Wilson. I haven't read it yet (I plan to soon) but I've read about it. It's basically that a white baby and a black baby (the latter something like 1/16th black... so only black by heritage, not looks) get switched at birth and nobody knows. So the black baby grows up in the house of the slave-owner and the white one in the house of the slaves.
Mark Twain actually was racist, but not against black people--against Native Americans. It's surprising, considering he was very un-racist (against blacks) for the time, but it's true. He even knew he was unreasonably racist--and hated himself for it--but he was. If you read some of his pieces, he'll call people Indians as an insult; to say that they're dumb. For example, in Connecticut Yankee, he refers to the people as (something like) "No better than white Indians." When he's commenting on how stupid they are.
Anyway, I've read Adventures of Tom Sawyer (<--didn't like it as much as Huck Finn, but it was a fun read) Connecticut Yankee in King Author's Court (<--This one was funny--a little boring at times and sometimes I found myself skimming a little, but quite witty) Prince and the Pauper (<--I really liked that one and can understand why it's one of his more famous works.). I've also read a bunch of his short stories, like Tom Sawyer Abroad, Tom Sawyer Detective, (<--I loved both of those, they were really funny.) The Diaries of Adam and Eve (<--that one was hilarious!) A True Story (<--this was really sad, especially because it was... well... a true story) The £1000000 Bank-Note (<--this was really absurd and funny) and a bunch of others I don't remember.
Well... I can keep going on and on about Mark Twain (I learned so much about him at the workshop in Hannibal) but I'm afraid it would get pretty off-topic.
I'll end here. ^_^
~Azila~
I've read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn and both were great books. Twain's writing in Huck Finn is a little strange at times and can be very random but overall he is a great author. I don't believe that Huck Finn was racist at all though. He was just writing an accurate depiction of the language at the time and if you were having a hard time reading what Jim was saying, try saying it out loud, it helps most people figure it out.
RS
I've read Tom Sawyer, which was hilarious, and we're reading Huck Finn right now. I understand why you'd think he was racist, but at the time I'm sure Twain would have been referred to almost as a radical. The lessons Huck learns about respecting Jim and the love and friendship the two feel for each other would have been scandalous in Mark Twain's era. I think it's practically the opposite of racist. The N word was not a swear word at the time; it was just what they called them.
I read Tom Sawyer, and I loved it.
As for the racism, that wasn't really racism. He was writing about what the town was really like. If a town is filled with racist people, then he writes about them and they are still racist; he can't change it so that it's all politically correct.
I read "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" two years ago for school. I liked it. I enjoyed the moral lessons in it, and it amused me. I really enjoyed Twain's use of dialogue and how he was able to write out southern dialects. I totally agree with Cade--Twain wasn't racist; he just wrote for his time.
I think he's a good author.
I liked Tom Sawyer but I haven't tried reading Huckleberry Finn yet--will let you know my thoughts on it afterwards.
I think he is an extremely perceptive writer, and I believe that saying his books are racist is very near sighted. At that time the n word was not really a derogatory word, so we should view it in that light, and look at the storyline of Huckleberry Finn his 'best' friend is a black man, so I think people are being a little bit uptight when reading his books.
Yeah, you're probably right about that. ^_~
BUt all the same, I couldnn't help but feel a little shocked.
So, has anyone else read anything of Twain's?
I read Tom Sawyer when I was nine...I don't remember much of it...
I think the perception of the book as racist actually comes out of ignorance...when Mark Twain was writing, the n-word was not considered vulgar, and Huck is representative of the time. He was trying to be realistic, not racist, when he wrote out Jim's speech.