Huck Finn ban would be lesson in intolerance

By Siobhan Covill

With this comment by Manchester High School Senior Siobhan Covill, CFAR continues its Student Comment section. We invite students all over the state to submit comments, op-ed pieces and articles concerning various aspects of the First Amendment. Please include your name, class, school, school address and home address. We accept articles that have been previously published elsewhere provided that you send us the permission of the previous publisher. We will be delighted to hear from you. Send it to .

I am utterly amazed that "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain would even be questioned for banning in Manchester High School.

This novel has been observed as one of the greatest pieces of American literature -- or maybe even the No. 1.

I am a 17-year-old student at Manchester High School and "Huck Finn" was a part of my 11th grade American literature course last year. There is no doubt in my mind that there were some comfort issues with the mass use of the "n-word," but they were overcome quickly. This word should not interfere with education. We should absolutely try to avoid the use of the word in society, but does that mean we cannot inform the youth and future leaders of this generation about what this word truly means?

I recently read in an article in the Journal Inquirer that a complaint was made claiming the theme of the book was "racism and the degradation of the black man." This is a daft assertion at best.

In the novel, we see a 13-year-old white boy named Huck, escaping from the chains that bind him and taking with him a runaway slave named Jim. We see Huck's father as a drunken mess of a man, verbally and physically abusive toward his son, who cares only for Huck's fortune, not Huck for himself.

When Huck frees himself, he and Jim (who is headed North for liberation) bond greatly and the reader begins to view Jim as his new father figure. Here the reader gains a greater respect for a black man than that of the white figures in the novel. How is that racist?

Certainly there are points where Jim is fooled, but one must think of the setting of the book. He is not educated; he was a slave. It is only reasonable that his intelligence be questioned, along with that of Huck Finn.

This novel was written in such a time that it was viewed as extremely progressive thinking. We have a duty to inform our students about the past in hopes to avoid any future mistakes such as those Mark Twain points out so vividly in the text.

Another argument is that the "n-word" is used a grotesque amount of times in this novel. Once more we must look to the setting of the novel, a Mississippi town in the early 1800's. It is only reasonable that the dialect of the book match that of the setting. Mark Twain was not a racist and he was trying to convey the opposite of racism when he wrote this book. The people in the novel who use this degrading word are people who the reader looks down upon -- the antagonists. This is further proof that the novel is supportive of the desegregation of the races.

While reading about the question of banning this book in Manchester public schools, I came across a quotation stating the black race is "trying to hard to bury" the "n-word." I find this to be absolutely untrue. Step foot into Manchester High School, turn on your television, and you will hear the word "nigga" at least 20 times. Changing two letters does not make it a different word. If anything, this word is being used more today than it was ever, only in a slightly mutated form. No one reads this book and decides, "You know what, it's OK to say this word. I think I'll go out into society and do that." It's ridiculous to assume so.

Before banning any books one must question the educational value of the victimized novel. To turn the other cheek and never teach students the truth about the past would just promote ignorance. I this what we want in Manchester High School? Ignorance? I think not.

We've been teaching the lessons of free thinking, tolerance, and more through "Huck Finn" for years. I hope that when I become a teacher, as I sincerely wish to do, I will be granted the privilege of teaching my students the important lessons the novel presents to us as a people. What does it teach? It is anti-racism, anti-segregation, anti-abuse, and pro-free thought. Without these instructions, I assure you things will not get better.

Banning books is censorship; censorship is a violation of our right as Americans to freedom of speech, expression, and most of all, education.

The writer is a student at Manchester High School.

This article originally appeared in the December 27, 2007 Journal Inquirer and is reprinted here with the permission of the author and the Journal Inquirer.