Jay, Timothy. "A Teachable Moment." Rev. of Huckleberry Finn. Weblog post. The New York Times. N.p., 6 Jan. 2011. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.
Timothy Jay believes Huckleberry Finn should be left uncensored in order to confront topics that we are uncomfortable with and to have teachable moments.
Timothy Jay states, "Uncomfortable topics should be confronted not tucked away." I believe that Jay's statement is true, topics that make us uncomfortable should not be censored because they help explain the tone of the novel and how the character is feeling. For example, Jim calls Huck trash after Huck lied to him, however Huck eventually realized what he did was wrong and apologized. Huck said, "It was fifteen minutes before I could humble myself to a nigger" (Twain 54). Although Huck apologized to Jim he still referred to him as a "nigger". Doing this showed that Huck still viewed Jim as lower than himself. If the word "nigger" had been censored out the tone would have been lost, the reader would not understand how Huck views Jim. Even though we are uncomfortable with certain words they should stay in the novel because without them there the full impact of the book would not be understood.
Jay also explains un-censoring Huck Finn can offer many "teachable moments". If schools were to censor the novel would not be able to make as big of an impact on the students. If students are willing to have open and frank discussions they will be able to discuss deeper issues of racism. Un-censoring the book will offer many teachable moments and should help the reader learn about racism and how it affects those around them.
Anna, I could not agree more with your views on un-censoring the novel, I also believe that by removing the "n-word" from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn it would lower the depth of the meaning and the book would lose its sense of history. The would "nigger" is not interchangeable, like Jill Nelson said, "What’s next? Substituting orange for red in a painter’s work because some observers find red too aggressive?" (Part of Our Lexicon 3). I believe that students need a level of maturity in order to fully understand the comity and word choose, yet once one can the novel become a classic piece of American literature.
ReplyDelete-natalie
I completely agree, I think students definitely need a sense of maturity when reading the book. If students read the book and fully engage in discussions about the word in class they will take many teachable moments away from the book. I also feel that the word should make you feel uncomfortable and therefore should be talked about in class.
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