Banned Books Week - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
September 27 - October 4 2008 is the ALA's Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the fight against literary censorship.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn follows the eponymous character on an exciting journey down the Mississippi River with his friend Jim, an escaped slave. Huck has come into money thanks to the events of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and is living with the Widow Douglas who is attempting to civilize him. When his drunkard father kidnaps him in an attempt to steal Huck's fortune, Huck takes off down the river on a raft. He meets up with Jim, the escaped slave of Miss Watson, Widow Douglas' friend, and the two decide to escape together. They get themselves involved in a series of hilarious mishaps and survive through many trials, ultimately ending up backed into a corner when Jim is sold back into slavery by a couple of con men. Huck, with the help of the newly arrived Tom, manage to help him escape, and after Tom is shot in the leg, it's revealed that Miss Watson has recently died and a provision in her will makes Jim a free man,
Twain was a noted satirist and Huck Finn was initially intended as a satire of Southern Antebellum life. Situations and characters were purposely blown completely out of proportion to demonstrate how ludicrous they were. Despite this, the novel has been controversial from the start, drawing criticism for its coarse, vernacular language, as it was one of the first American novels written in first person vernacular. It went on to become one of the most well-known and well-loved novels in American history and is taught in high schools across the country. It consistently comes under fire, however, for perceived racism, specifically use of the word "nigger." It's one of the most challenged/banned books of all time, inspiring the PBS documentary Born to Trouble. It's the fifth most challenged book of 2008 on the basis of racism.
For more information about Banned Books Week, check out the ALA's BBW website or BannedBooksWeek.org.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn follows the eponymous character on an exciting journey down the Mississippi River with his friend Jim, an escaped slave. Huck has come into money thanks to the events of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and is living with the Widow Douglas who is attempting to civilize him. When his drunkard father kidnaps him in an attempt to steal Huck's fortune, Huck takes off down the river on a raft. He meets up with Jim, the escaped slave of Miss Watson, Widow Douglas' friend, and the two decide to escape together. They get themselves involved in a series of hilarious mishaps and survive through many trials, ultimately ending up backed into a corner when Jim is sold back into slavery by a couple of con men. Huck, with the help of the newly arrived Tom, manage to help him escape, and after Tom is shot in the leg, it's revealed that Miss Watson has recently died and a provision in her will makes Jim a free man,
Twain was a noted satirist and Huck Finn was initially intended as a satire of Southern Antebellum life. Situations and characters were purposely blown completely out of proportion to demonstrate how ludicrous they were. Despite this, the novel has been controversial from the start, drawing criticism for its coarse, vernacular language, as it was one of the first American novels written in first person vernacular. It went on to become one of the most well-known and well-loved novels in American history and is taught in high schools across the country. It consistently comes under fire, however, for perceived racism, specifically use of the word "nigger." It's one of the most challenged/banned books of all time, inspiring the PBS documentary Born to Trouble. It's the fifth most challenged book of 2008 on the basis of racism.
For more information about Banned Books Week, check out the ALA's BBW website or BannedBooksWeek.org.