Theme Of Prejudice In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn
There has been nothing as good since”. Throughout American history, many authors praised The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn for the embracement of how fictional the “American Dream” really was. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remains timeless in society because of its inclusion of relatable issues such as prejudice, internal conflict, and the humanization of characters as illustrated through the character, “Nigger Jim”.
During the 1800’s, the dialect in the South contrasts greatly from the language spoken by people today. Prejudice is a timeless issue addressed explicitly in The Adventures of Hucklberry Finn. Nigger, a word stated over 200 times in the novel, is now the reason behind schools across America banning this classic. “Many critics read Huckleberry Finn as a lesson in the way that identity is formed by social realities” (Telgen) instead of the character of a person. Mark Twain, however, spent his early years around slaves, which shaped his “generally sympathetic treatment” (Rasmussen) towards African Americans portrayed through his writings. Many people view the explicit language in the book to be offensive and harsh, which leads to one seeing Mark Twain as a racist and as a …show more content…
Being that Jim has been taking care of Huckleberry, treating him like his own, Huckleberry knew that turning him in would be the wrong choice. “I 'd see him standing my watch on top of his 'n, stead of calling me, so I could go on sleeping...and do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always was...and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he 's got now” (Twain 179). Although Huckleberry’s sound heart had good intentions, his deformed conscience gave him doubts. “The biggest challenge… is his realization that his assistance in Jim’s escape goes against established authority and his previously accepted moral code in which Jim is property that should be returned to its owner” (Burt). Growing up, Huckleberry was taught that doing the wrong thing would lead him to hell, while doing the right thing would gain him access to heaven. At this time, if a runaway slave was found, it was expected to be returned to its rightful owner. By returning Jim, theoretically, Huckleberry would go to heaven, but morally he knew in his sound heart that it was the wrong choice. Ultimately, Huckleberry decided to hide Jim from the rest of society, even though he knew others would disapprove. When Huckleberry Finn decides to do this, he says perhaps one of the most famous lines in