In 1865 Mark Twain wrote what would become one of the most controversial books in America, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” The reasons for the controversy can be summed up shortly, the use of racial slurs and issue of slavery create tension in our society. However, it was written by one of the most prominent authors in America and not allowing it is practicing the dreaded censorship that we all condemn. Therefore Huckleberry Finn should be taught in schools.
Mark Twain, one of the most frequently spoken name of all classic authors in America, wrote the book not to create controversy but just write about the South. Wiping out this book from schools would be taking away the opportunity to learn about what Twain teaches in his books like attitudes in the south, new perspectives, satire, and even some Shakespeare. Twain was a phenomenal author, which is the precise reason that his works should be taught in schools.
None of Twain’s books were not written to make people feel good, they were meant to speak the truth. But sometimes the truth is painful for people and they don’t want to hear it. His book wasn’t intended to create bad feelings either but he didn’t exactly write fairy tales. People say that Twain’s book degrades people and shouldn’t be taught but people need to hear about it, yes our racial past is touchy but we need to learn about it and learn to live with it so that we know what mistakes not to make in the future. Another solution would be to have teachers who can teach about the book and explain both sides and the conflict. A lot of people don’t enjoy this book but there are a lot of other books that are disliked as well. There has to be opposition, so there is no reason to remove it from those who want to and should read it.
Removing this book from schools would be tragic. In doing this, we practice the censorship that we abhor. Are we really all so querulous that we can’t withstand anything that we may not especially like? If we removed every book from schools that offended someone we would not have anymore books. It is disappointing to ponder the fact that people are so perturb-able that they want to throw out a classic. Our country is so petrified of censorship yet we encourage idea when we dislike a certain entity. In this way we contradict our beliefs with another and make ourselves hypocrites. We shouldn’t remove this book and portray ourselves that way, that would be kind of like self-destruction.
A fraction of our nation is in turmoil over this book, some arguing in favor and some against. This conflict should not even be happening because we all know we don’t want to be a censored society. If this one book is removed it will lead the way for others as well and pretty soon we will be censored in all we do. Huckleberry Finn should not be taken away, it is a great book by a great author and teaches many things. We must fight the idea of censoring our lives and strive to keep Huckleberry Finn taught in schools.