Twain and the N Word

Although Mark Twain is one of my favorite American authors, it's difficult for me to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn without being a little offended. Today's society recognizes that the n word is extremely racist and, having been brought up the way I was, it's always a little shocking to see it in things that were printed in the past. Although Twain was probably just a product of his environment and meant no serious racist offense by his frequent use of the word in his writing, I think that for his purposes at the time it may have served to help his audience identify with his writing. Twain wrote the novel during the reconstruction at a period where racism against African Americans was frequent, and so was the use of the n word. In writing the same way that many of his readers talked, Twain was able to facilitate the acceptance of his book. This is important since it is full of critique of American society. Jim's character is particularly lovable in the novel and as it progresses the reader more easily identifies with him. In the beginning, as mentioned in class on Wednesday, Jim seems to be stereotypically uneducated and superstitious. As the novel progresses, however, many more layers to Jim's character show up as he clearly becomes one of America's most admirable fictional heroes. I think this is a clever way for Twain to trick his readers. In the beginning they think he's catering to their prejudiced views about African Americans, but then he slowly contradicts them. While extremely offensive, the n word's prominence in the novel helped its popularity in a racist society. It exposed prejudiced people to a character who defied their stereotypes. While I'm not saying Twain's novel had a huge impact on making the reconstruction and reconciliation between the races any easier, the use of the n word did increase the chances of his political and social critiques being seen by the society he wished to change.