While it remains somewhat of a certainty, the name 'Huckleberry Finn' in the venues of the American lexicon, there stands significant doubt as to how many people know anything of the actual tale. They may have read a version of it during their schooldays; they may have seen one of the many poorly-imitated productions released to TV or theaters; but most likely they carry no conception for Twain's original idea, relying instead upon edited books and abridged films meant to soften the book's content for a child's eyes (though Twain admits the book is one written for children - with the hope adults will also find something of worth).
Original sources. To learn the truth of any matter for oneself, always refer to original sources. No one will know the actual story, nor revel in the quiet genius of Mark Twain, until they return to the actual words he wrote.
For my own reading (an audiobook marvelously narrated by Patrik Frahey), two sterling points leapt from the pages, demanding my attention. Yet before I address either one of them - for the uninformed - allow me a moment for a brief synopsis as the the story's general plot.
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is a sequel to "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" - Tom, of course, being a friend to Huck. The two boys discover a treasure from the first book, split that treasure between them - with Huck being adopted by Miss Watson, the sister of widow Douglas, Jim's owner, whose life he saved.
Huck is not an orphan. His 'Pap' still lives; but as is witnessed in "Tom Sawyer", he is a boy who fends for himself, an absolute freedom the other boys envy.
When Huck's 'Pap" hears of the money his son now has, he naturally returns to town expecting money from Miss Watson. When she is unable to produce any, he takes his boy to his own cabin, lost somewhere in the backwoods, until she can.
Huck ultimately discovers a way to escape and devises a plan to make it appear the cabin was busted into and he was horrifically murdered - a move to guarantee his pap will not look for him.
The boy's plan is to build a raft and sailing the Mississippi River to freedom. What he does not anticipate is encountering the runaway slave Jim with the same goal.
Here lies the entire crux of the story. While Huckleberry does indeed have many adventures, meeting a myriad of interesting people (including the infamous Duke and Daulphin), and seeing a variety of different places in his travels, the central theme remains centered on the developing relationship between himself and Jim. Jim is becoming a friend, and not just the "nigger" owned by the widow Douglas. He is not the horse in someone's barn who has no identity outside of his use behind the plow. He is seen, by Huck, as a person - with his own dreams, and desires, and hopes.
At this juncture is where I reach the first of my two revelatory points. Current society condemns any soul who utters the derogatory term, 'nigger', when in reference to slaves. Instead, the ubiquitous "N-Word" is the PC proper mention. Saying "nigger" condemns one to the label of 'racist' out of the deep-South Civil War.
Thus, "Huckleberry Finn" is attached to the 'controversial' moniker, making it 'racist', simply on the basis of the six-letter word.
Yet his environment, the reality he was born into, was one of blacks being property of whites. They were not people with identity. They were owned. They did what white people told them to do - like the horse that pulled the plow, the chickens that laid the eggs, the dog that watched the homefront. They were somebody's "nigger".
Now Huck found himself on a raft, floating along the Mississippi, with one of the escaped "niggers". A proper boy would turn Jim into the authorities. If he did not wish to end up in hell for helping him escape, he would report him at once. But to do so would be to throw Jim into a heap load of trouble (Jim was suspected as the one who 'killed' Huck), as well as expose Huck as still alive.
So he and Jim continue along the Mississippi, having all sorts of adventures along the way, opening the door of providence for Huck to gradually see Jim not as a nigger, but as the person he is.
Employing the appellation "nigger" brings a context with it that lays more of a burden upon the individual speaking the word than the individual of whom the word is being spoken. It reveals how those people saw black slaves at that time, stripping identity from the person with a word so childish and silly, one would presume it came out of the mouth of a babe just learning to form words. Such is the character of the people using it, one absent any regard for the presence of human dignity.
To strike the word from the text Twain wrote is to elevate those people to more character than they obviously owned. Such an action denies the obvious disrespect to the slaves' humanity, placing such people on par with those of us who see the issue true.
Part of the marvel of Twain's writing here is seeing the transition Huck passes through in learning this truth. He moves from viewing Jim as just the property of the widow - upon whose shoulders, his responsibility, it is, to see him returned - to actually fighting for Jim's freedom.
Such is the grand testament to what each of us facin our own individual ways, the path we tread through the life of our own days, the lessons those days teach us. To disregard the appearance of a single offensive word on the basis of the p erjorative sense in whichit is used is to disregard those same lessons learned and invite the temperment of that past to resurface at a later date.
Twain make this lesson clear, through the entire breadth of the story, for any and all who are willing to open their ears and listen.
My second bit of revelatory insights into "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" came from something one could likewise attribute to "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" - though certainly not as prominently so as one will notice here. Huck Fin is the epitome of the boy who could do whatever he wanted (until, of course, adopted by Miss Watson), go where he wanted, say what he wanted, be what he wanted. He possessed the freedom to rule his life as he saw fit.
This characteristic serves as a source of consternation for the parents of the boys he knows, while standing as a source of pride and envy amongst the boys themselves. There is nothing a boy wants more (prior to developing an interest in girls) than the freedom seen in the life of Huckleberry Finn.
This same freedom can very easily stir up traits of laziness with its possessor. It can infer a lack of intelligence, an absence of the ability to learn, a foolhardy nature that accepts every bit of nonsense and believes every 'old wives' tale' about life and the company of strangers. Such a person never amounts to anything good in the public eye.
Such judgments can be plastered upon both Huck and Tom, as those from outside their inner circle would see two boys functioning against convention, living life by their own rules: the boys are after nothing but a good time. However, to assume this much is to once moremiss Twain's brilliant lesson.
Huckleberry Finn, in his adventures along the Mississippi River, relies heavily upon what he managed to learn in school. He is not the loafer people would presume. He learns. He applies what he learns. He adapts to the circumstances. He succeeds. This makes "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" a pro-education, pro-reading, pro-book story. If everyone is introduced to it as Twain wrote it, they will observe this suffused throughout the narrative, as well as much, much more.
0 comments:
Post a Comment