For years, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” – arguably Mark Twain’s greatest novel – has been disappearing from classrooms because many school districts consider it racist.
Why? Mainly because Twain uses the “n”-word 219 times.
Bans of the classic tale about a 13-year-old’s journey down the Mississippi with a runaway slave didn’t sit well with Twain scholar Alan Gribben. Rather than have it go unread, Gribben and NewSouth Books decided to sanitize it for 21-century tastes.
In their upcoming edition, the “n”-word vanishes from the book’s 1830s Missouri vernacular. Replacing it is the safe, non-controversial “slave.” (“Injun” also is expelled.)
Literary purists will be appalled, of course. But so may casual readers. There’s a strong argument to make that the elimination of the word neuters the novel.
“The word is terrible. But it’s a linchpin of this book … It lays bare the inhumanity of slavery through the power of satire.” says the Washington Post’s Alexandra Petri. “… If we keep updating things to reflect our current sensitivities, where do we stop?”
On the other hand, a politically correct “Huckleberry” removes a hurdle for public school English departments.
So what do you think? Is this a reasonable price to pay to get kids to read a classic?
Upcoming NewSouth ‘Huck Finn’ Eliminates the ‘N’ Word (Publishers Weekly)