On Huck Finn

It seems absolutely ridiculous to me that publishers are now editing out the 'N' word from Huck Finn.

I understand that it's controversial, but it's not like the word doesn't have some historical context for the book. I could see if they were looking at something modern, say Pulp Fiction, where Tarantino continuously uses the word to try and evoke a reaction from people.

But Twain is not doing that. He is simply reflecting the time period via the dialogue he crafted.

Are we going to edit out the 'N' word from To Kill a Mockingbird next? Are we going to edit out the Nazis from Night or Sophie's Choice? Or maybe even the snake from Genesis?

Who knows if they're even done with Huck Finn? Maybe they'll edit out his drunk and abusive father.

I read a reaction from a college professor who believed the book should only be read at a university level where the professors could explore the historical implications of the word with their students.

What elitist b.s.

I taught Mockingbird with an African American in my class two years ago. He was open and honest about the use of the 'N' word, and he had no problem with it. It was also a great chance for us to discuss the implications of that word (and also why some - such as Tarantino in his films - and numerous rappers (black and white) can get away with uttering it every other word, but when a book does it, it's a call for censorship) and the power of language in general (this, of course, led us right into thinking about the next novel we'd be reading, Fahrenheit 451).

I think for a bunch of high school juniors, they did quite well exploring and discussing the historical context of the word without being racist or disrespectful.

What is brilliant about novels like Huck Finn or To Kill a Mockingbird is that one can read them at different parts of one's life and get totally different books.

At the age of 12, one can read Huck Finn as a boy's grand adventure on the way to adulthood. As a high school student, one can begin to explore the complex themes of hypocrisy, adulthood, and racism. As an adult, one can read it and again get an entirely different experience out of Huck Finn.

Editing Huck Finn is just scary as hell. It is exactly what Bradbury predicts will happen in 451. Books will stop being printed because they upset and offend (and isn't that the point of books. I mean real books, not slick and (mostly) brainless entertainment ala Koontz, Steele, and other best sellers). Once people stop being upset and offended, they stop thinking critically. When that happens, they just want to be entertained. And while they are kept craving entertainment, the governments are free to manipulate them as they wish.

What's wrong with being upset or offended? Deal with it. Or better yet, have a conversation about it. Think about it. Learn from it.

I think this passage from Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles (and who's to say the censorship gods won't decide to visit old Mr. Holmes. I just finished a part where he smoked the better part of two pounds of tobacco. That's not right! Better tweak that part right on out of there) makes an excellent point regarding the historical usage of the 'N' word, which we find so controversial now. Holmes is talking with Watson and a guest, Dr. Mortimer, who is about to share with the detectives the history of the Baskerville family curse, namely how a particularly nefarious ancestor met a grissly demise at the hands of a demon hound (and how every Baskerville after that has met a grissly demise as well). As Mortimer begins to read the history, the document contains this line concerning why the Baskerville ancestors should not fear the gruesome tale: "And I would have you believe, my sons, that the same Justice which punishes sin may also most graciously forgive it, and that no ban is so heavy but that by prayer and repentance it may be removed. Learn then from this story not to fear the fruits of the past, but rather to be circumspect in the future, that those foul passions whereby our family has suffered so grievously may not again be loosed to our undoing."

Learn from the past. What a novel idea. Why not learn from past cultures . . . but in learning about them, let's not be so hasty to apply our modern morals and ideals upon them. Let's not judge them from our current perspective. Rather let's try and step into their shoes (ahhhh, there's a good old lesson from To Kill a Mockingbird! I can almost hear Atticus saying those words) and try to see what their world looked like. It seems to me that the censors are simply trying to step into Twain's world just in order to see what our world looks like.

That's just backwards to me.

Just like censorship.