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Running head: RACIAL RELATIONS IN ADVENTRUES OF HUCKELBERRY FINN AND
AMERICA
Racial Relations in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and America
Shana Cera-Proulx
Middletown High School
December 17th, 2009
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RACIAL RELATIONS IN ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN AND AMERICA
In 1619 the first ships holding future slaves were brought to America. In 1941 the
Holocaust of killing Jews began. These two events are small effects of racial relations. Mark
Twains’ novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn carries the theme of Racial Relations. The
issue of race relation continued after Twain wrote the novel in 1865, and is still present today in
America.
One of the Racial Relations Twain wrote in his book was the racism during 1840’s
Racism is the belief that people of some races are inferior to others. When Huck pretended to be
Tom, and Aunt Sally asked why it took “Tom” so long to get to her house. Huck lied and
explained that the cylinder-head had blown out on the ship. Aunt Sally replied; “Good gracious!
Anybody hurt?”
“No’. Killed a nigger.”
“Well, it’s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt…” (Twain, 2004, p.312).
The last line allows readers to assume she doesn’t think blacks are important because she did not
consider a black person dying as someone being hurt. Aunt Sally, an example of white human
society justifies that whites did not view “niggers” (“Slang… a person of any race or origin
regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc.” (Dictionary.com, LLC) ), equal to a human
being. So by definition, Sally makes example of racism.
Racism was furthermore shown on the level that slaves were not people, but were
property. This quote was said by Huck Finn; "I wouldn't shake my NIGGER, would I? – the
only nigger I had in the world, and the only property." (Twain, 2004, p.306). Not only did Huck
think of Jim as a nigger (“property”) the Duke also thought of Jim as his property. "… we'd come
to consider him OUR nigger; yes, we did consider him so…” (Twain, 2004, p.306). Because,
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Huck and Duke thought Jim was property the racial relation during 1865 was that society
thought slaves were property to own.
Racism was not the only race relation, stereotyping was a further relation. Slaves were
stereotyped as un-educated. During an argument between Huck and Jim, Huck could not see past
Jim’s color. Huck acknowledged that he thinks Jim can not argue “no use wasting words” just
because Jim is a “nigger”. This comes back to the race relation of stereotyping. (Twain, 2004,
p.109).
The term “nigger” is an additional type of stereotype. Nigger was a term to label a slave
or African American in every day life. As you can see in the passage bellow how many times a
novel the character Pap, says nigger in one speech. "Oh, yes…. There was a free nigger ……
nigger vote, I drawed out. I …nigger – why…nigger?… can't sell a free nigger till he's… free
nigger…" (Twain, 2004, p.38-39). Twain, as you can see did a durable job in revealing how the
word “nigger” stereotyped blacks, and how people used the term in everyday life. Stereotyping
can be words, or action. Either way it’s a racial relation Twain was exposing.
Twain was also pointing out that blacks were scape goats. At the beginning of the novel
when Huck “died” the town automatically blamed a black person (Jim) “…and judged it was
done by a runaway nigger named Jim.” (Twain, 2004, P.78). Because the character said “judged
it was done” illustrates that the town is guessing that Jim killed Huck. There is no evidence in the
statement. With out evidence Huck is a suspect, and the murderer. Another example is when the
Duke blames Jim for the loss of the money, “…we rekond the nigger stole it!” (Twain, 2004
P.293). Once again there was no proof in the statement that Jim stole the money. They “rekond”
Jim stole it. Jim is an example of the race relation; escape goats.
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Students who read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn can still relate the book to racial
relation today in the present, and after the 1865 time period of the book. “In 1890 the state of
Louisiana passed a law requiring "colored" and white persons be provided "separate but equal"
railroad passenger car accommodations” “Then in 1896 the Court ruled racial segregation was
legally acceptable.” (Ed. Thomas Carson and Mary Bonk., 1999). These examples of
segregation were the work of Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws were established in 1870 after the
war. The war freed blacks but it didn’t mean blacks could still be equal. Jim Crow laws is an
example of how race relations (inequality), played a part in the past.
The history of Race Relation grew. In 1915 the white supremacy group the Ku Klux Klan
(KKK) reached it is climax. The clan was best known for terrorizing more than two thousand
blacks. This white supremacy group “is a racist, anti-Semitic movement with a commitment to
extreme violence to achieve its goals of racial segregation and white supremacy.” (AnitiDefamtion, 2009) Because, the KKK believed that Whites were better than blacks violence
against others increased; “The threat of violence by means of parades as demonstrations of
potential force.” Those people who were “alleged were unfaithful to their spouses, women who
allegedly wore short skirts or "petted" in cars, and any white person who "fraternized" with
blacks or patronized Jewish businesses.” The KK helped violence become part of the Race
Relation. (DISCovering U.S. History, 2003)
Race Relation is seen in the present today as well. Obama was the first black president
elected on November 5th, 2008. Because Obama has been elected does not mean race relations
does not exist any more; "There's so much that needs to be done," The race relations of
uneducated blacks are still present “50 percent of black men don't graduate from high school.”
(Ellen Yiadom, 2009) The education in blacks not only exist, yet furthermore increases the hate
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towards the black. “Southern Poverty Law Center released its annual "Year in Hate" report,
which outlines that in 2008 the number of hate groups rose to 926, up 4 percent from 2007, and
54 percent since 2000.” (Swarns, Rachel L, 2009)Because the hate percent increased four
percent since 2007 there is an aware about the actual tension between races. Relationship
between white and blacks are still open." …portrayed in the media [and] …People are proud of
Barack Obama and Tiger Woods and also think African-Americans are gangbangers. So it's
uneven." (Williams, Sherri, 2008)
Race Relations theme is revealed in the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn during the
time period of 1865. Race Relation increased after 1865, and still is a national ordeal in United
States to this day. A wise man once said “Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum
of hatred for a minimum of reason.”- Abraham J. Heschel. Perhaps, the man is right.
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References
Abraham J. Heschel. A., & ThinkExist.com Quotations. (2009). Racism quotes
Retrieved from http://thinkexist.com/quotations/racism/
Anti-Defamation. (2009). About the Ku Klux Klan
http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism
&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=4&item=kkk
Conant, Eve. C (May 4, 2009). Rebranding hate in the age of
Obama.(nation)(Barack Obama).
Newsweek /Student Edition (153.18 )
Discovering U.S History. (2003). Ku Klux Klan spreads terror in the South. 2003/
Online ed. Detroit: Gale.
Ed. Thomas Carson T & Mary Bonk M (1999). Jim Crow Laws. Detroit: Gale
Group.
Mark Twain, M. (2004). Adventures of huckleberry finn. New York: Simon &
Schuster.
Swarns, Rachel L. (12 Jan. 2009). have we over come? What Barack Obama’s
elections—and doesn’t say—about racial progress in America. New
York times Upfront, Student Edition (141.9)
Random House Dictionary (2009). Nigger
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nigger
Williams, Sherri. S. (July 2008). Uncommon ground: across the country, Africans
and African- Americans still struggle to come together. Ebony, Student
Edition ( 63.9)