It´s Not The Word.

As I read New Huckleberry Finn edition censors ” n-word” I was surprised. More than a novel this book is a classic. And by narrating the story of a boy with a runaway nigger represents a real situation that had a great impact on the American history.

Dr. Gribben said he decided to ban the word because “ the n-word possessed, then as now, demeaning implications more vile than almost any insult that can be applied to other racial groups”. He is right. That word has been seen as an insult but banning is not the solution. The book was written that way, using that word because Twain was representing a reality. It would not be as real or strong if he used another word. And still, the problem is not the word. Gribben said it indirectly I think, or at least I understood it that way. He praises Twain for being able to represent such a historical reality but states that the racial insults “repulse modern-day readers”

That should not be the cause for banning the word. Gribben and others may think this will increase the popularity of the book and to me that’s pointless. Even if the book will be read more its significance would change. Just the use of the word nigger empathizes how Twain is against racisms. His character shows a change in the novel when he decides to help Jim gain freedom by going against racisms. And “n-word” supports that change. “Twains books are not just literary documents but historical documents, and that word is totemic because it encodes all of the violence of slavery”. Censoring the word would cause the book to loose its purpose so the people that have a problem with the word should not read it then.

If the banning of the word would actually happen then they should ban anything that historically and even today is an insult to any racial group or population. And if that were to be done than many books just like Huckleberry Finn would loose their purpose. Those that do have these “insults” have them for a reason, to show and stress what they are talking about. As Sarah Churchwell said “the whole pint of literature is to expose us to different ideas and different eras” and by doing such things as banning the word nigger would be a loss mostly for us.