Remembering
History
Throughout
my life, I have learned that I make up my mind from what I experience. I am not
one to just listen to what someone says and accept it. I prefer to have an
experience and then decide for myself what I think of it. When I read
Huckleberry Finn, I realized that the use of the “N” word can be very
offensive. However, I also learned it was very common in American history and
the use of this word can be learned from today.
Clearly,
the “N” word is a derogatory term used to belittle a human being. History and
stories help us decide what we think of the “N” word. History is a great tool
in that we can learn from it. We can see our ancestor’s mistakes and decide
that what they thought was right may be wrong today. Thomas Glave said in his
article, “Substituting one word in a novel cannot possibly redress the
centuries of harm and viciousness visited upon black people by white people.” However,
the only way we can know this is through the reading of history.
Huckleberry
Finn presents a great opportunity for young people to learn from history’s
mistakes. The use of the “N” word is the most controversial topic in the tale
of Huck Finn and Jim. Many believe that the story is much too offensive with
the use of the “N” word. They have tried to take it out and replace it with the
word “slave”. Does the word “slave” make a person feel emotional about what
they are reading? Does it help readers to learn about the hard truth of a
troubled society? NO. It masks the gruesome truth of a slave’s life. In The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Huck says, It was fifteen minutes before I
could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it.” (55)
When Huck uses the word “nigger” it makes the reader feel what life was like
for the slaves. By just using the word “slave” the meaning would not be the
same.
If
we run from our fears, what can be learned? How can someone make up their mind
and be their own person? Life is full of experiences good and bad. The only way
to learn from these experiences is to have them. We must be willing to fall
sometimes to be able to get back up. Forgetting the “N” word is like forgetting
the slaves. We cannot truly know and learn from their hardships if we censor
what truly happened.
Works Cited
Glave, Thomas. “Obscuring the Past”. Nytimes.com. New York
Times, 18 Oct 2011. Web. 10 Jan.
2014
Twain. Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York,
Charles L. Webster and Co., 1884.
Project Gutenburg. Web. 15 Nov. 2013
I completely agree with you. You make good points about how we can learn from the past. Literature is a great way for peoplet to experience what it was like back in different times. We cannot ignore the past and by censoring the story we do. People should look the word "nigger" head on and not ignore it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your arguments about the imperativeness of the "n" word in Huck Finn. I feel that we (especially Twain) should be offended by people trying to substitute the "n" word for something less demeaning because it seems as though we are trying to hide the gruesomeness of our mistakes in our history. Twain precisely put each word in Huck Finn with the intention of it having a specific meaning and if we change his original publicized work, then we are changing the story that Twain worked so hard for us to read.
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