Mark Twain’s book, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, has been one of the most debated books of all time due to the belief that it encourages racist ideas and should not be taught to young students of America. Although some people consider Mark Twain to be a racist, it is actually true that through his use of racist ideas, he is actually displaying the flaws and problems of racism in society.
Many people believe that Mark Twain was a racist man. It is true that the word “nigger” is repeated by the characters in the book, specifically Huck, to describe Jim and other black people. Another reason for this accusation is the treatment of Jim throughout the book. He is forced to hide and cower from white people throughout the book. One also cannot disregard that he is treated inhumanely at times, especially during the end when Huck and Tom use him as an object for their own fun while he is in jail and they try to free him. Instead of helping him to get free quickly, Tom and even Huck, his best friend, forced him to live with snakes and rats and write with his blood. These images are to show how wrong racism is and to show the foolishness of Huck and Tom. Twain depicts Jim as being illiterate and ignorant on many occasions but it is only to describe him not to depict the whole race as being the same. An example is when Jim actually thinks that the duke and the King are real dukes and kings when they actually aren’t (Twain 126) or when Jim believes that he was possessed by witches (Twain 16). Jim was just not educated to the same level that Huck and the other characters were because he was a slave. Since most slaves at the time were illiterate and unschooled, Twain was just trying to portray Jim’s character in a realistic light. Twain, later in the book, repeatedly describes Jim as a good person who cares for Huck, who describes Jim as one of his best friends (Twain 207) and his family greatly (Twain 154).
Twain is not trying to encourage racist ideas but he is...