Is Huckleberry Finn Relevant Today Essay Example

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel told from a young, barely literate boy named Huck. He adventures through the Mississippi river with a new uncommon friend named Jim. The idea of Jim, a runaway African American slave, being friends with a white boy was unheard of during this time period Huck Finn significantly succeeded in presenting the moral and racial aspects of the world for its time period. The theme that revolves around travel and adventure helps give a characteric of America. However the controversies surrounding the book serve significance to the novel as they have evolved into the present day. Therefore, the novel Huck Finn is important for the culture of America due to its eye-opening of racial discrepancies and its well learned lessons once the novel comes to the end. Ultimately changing our view towards the national American character. 

The Novel took place between the 1830s and 1840s in Missouri with most of the story revolving around the Mississippi river. During this time period slavery was at its peak and African American rights were unheard of. Huckleberry Finn opened America to a new idea that African Americans are more than slaves and whites need to accept the fact all races live in the same world and can all be treated equally. The idea of anyone possibly becoming friends or even peers with the slaves was a cuture shock for Americans.  Racial tensions begin to fade away in the book once Huck reaches the island and joins Jim. Jim was surprised by Hucks curious generosity towards him.  The coming together of Huck and Jim happened on Jackson's Island. Huck was thrilled to see Jim though Jim was scared, when he first saw Huck he said “Doan’ hurt me.” At this point a feeling of pity is laid over the reader because Huck wasn't going to or trying to hurt him, but Jim was so used to that he expected it to happen. During this time as JIm says  “You mustn’t count the things you are going to cook for dinner, because that would bring bad luck” (Twain 61). This quote from the book just easily shows Jims innocence that follows throughout the novel. Huck grew up with a bad father figure and was forced to live with window-douglass, she would try to “civilize” Huck, making him something he's not.  Pap, Huck's father in the book, was not much of a dad and as the story progresses Huck begins to see Jim as a father figure. Jim took care of Huck and looked out for him when no one else was there to do so. When Huck and Jim aboard the abandoned boat in chapter 10, Jim hides innocent Huck from seeing a dead body. We find out later that the dead body was his father, so Jim was protecting Huck from grief (67). The purpose of these events in this journey shows how racial despricapncies are useless, that black and white can work together, be friends, and have a life filled with no controversy. 

Throughout the adventure on the river Huck grows as a character learning many lessons on the way. Huck learned the values of friendship, something that even in today's day and age people can't seem to comprehend. This novel provides the reader with insight to a world where people of all ages, backgrounds, and races can be friends. Huck finds a care for Jim as his heart realizes they truly are friends. After joking with Jim so much, Huck saw the hurt Jim had in his heart when he really believed they had lost each other in the river (112). Huck and the reader learned a lesson here to take jokes to a certain extent but when it begins to hurt someone else, you should stop. The businest that tends to control our lives is the world off the raft, the world outside of the river. Huck Finn shows us how to live away from societies demanding rules.  Huck and Jim speak of the raft as if it's safe (104).  The fog that split the two up can symbolize so many things but when it comes to learning lessons the fog can symbolize that when life gets so chaotic and messy you lose track of where you're going (110). As the reader this is just one of the well learned lessons throughout the novel that make Huck Finn present our moral aspects of the time period easier to understand. 

Once the novel was published many sought immediate controversy due to the language and character usage within the book. Even though Mark Twain wasn't a racist and he believed in helping African Americans rights and slaver,when his book was published the public didn't believe so. The highly racial language usage throughout the book was believed to be offensive towards the audience. With a whopping 219 times the racial slur was used to describe Jim and other slaves throughout the novel (Purdy, 3). During the time period of Huckleberry Finn African Americans were seen as property and not equal, this is why the book had no controversy and was seen as the “American Book” at the time. Nowadays African Americans are equal, they have the same rights as whites and other races so the book now has much more complaints from readers for its racist view within the book. Mark Twain is seen as a Racist, and for his time period there is no one thinking twice about it. Now in our time we see it as more Huck Finn talks about the family slaves like it the most normal thing on this planet and to them it was (Twain, 51). However I believe it is important that we Americans read the book to see how much progress in races we have made and Huck Finn is the perfect book to do that with. 

The importance of Huck Finn reads much farther than just a book of entertainment for kids. Huck Finn addressed our national character during the time. Teaching children lessons that needed to be taught, exposing racism that needed to be exposed, and opening the eyes of Americans that needed to be opened to a world. America needed this book more than we the readers now need to book. I believe that Huckleberry Finn has more defined the rights and wrongs of not just their time period but address the problems we still face today.