One of the great novels of all time is about to be neutered. Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, both classics, are about to be modernized for today’s politically correct, racially sensitive culture. A 69 year old English professor has an idea for an N’word free Huck Finn and a publisher is taking him up on it, contracting him to write it.
The N’word appears over 200 times in the novel and will soon be replaced with the word slave. No one denies that the use of the n’word is degrading and an insult to people of color. But Mark Twain didn’t use the word in the novel to degrade anyone. It was used as a matter of illustrating the mindset of people living in that time period.
Removing the n’word from Huckleberry Finn will instantly remove much of what makes the novel so great. It may remove the very essence of the story. Huck Finn learns throughout the book that most of what he’s been taught about blacks is not correct. He also learns that Jim, his friend and companion who happens to be black, is a man worthy of respect and admiration. He learns he’s not at all like those with prejudices towards blacks have made him out to be.
The publisher, New South, says that they wanted to fix the novel so that today’s students could learn and study the novel. For some time now, Huck Finn has been taboo. Most teachers are afraid to discuss the book because of it’s use of the n’word and it’s use of a slang term for Native Americans. That word will be removed as well.
The new version of Huck Finn, minus the n’word will inevitably lead us down a politically correct slippery slope. My question is this. If Huckleberry Finn is considered a classic, and most do consider it just that, why was it considered one if it contained the n’word over 200 times? If Huck Finn is a classic just as it was written by Mark Twain , why must it be changed to satisfy the politically correct whims of a few?