After reading Mr. O'Connor's post on the N word, my thoughts on the word used in the book has changed. My first reaction to it was disgust. I didn't like looking at the word or even reading in my head. However, I am starting to understand the reasons why Mark Twain would use it. I think that by using the word, it makes the book more historically accurate because people used the word in every day conversation. The word was used by whites and blacks casually, even when everyone understood the harsh meaning behind it. I think that when Huck uses the word, he isn't completely ignorant to what it means and that it isn't just any word. I think we are giving Huck a 'straw man' quality by brushing off the fact that he is using racist language and blaming it on his ignorance. Huck uses the word most frequently around other white people and rarely or never uses it in the presence of Jim. I think this shows that Huck does know that the word is bad since he can say it around other whites, who obviously wouldn't have a problem with him using it. The times Huck chooses to use the word give us a good peek into what Huck actually thinks about the meaning and the emotion behind the n word.
I agree with you, that Huck is not completely ignorant to what the n-word actually means. I think that he know it's a bad word, but doesn't fully understand the extreme connotation it holds. I think that this is the same for kids today who use the word "gay". I think that kids know what gay really means, but they choose to say it because everyone else does. Overall, I think that it is the influence of society that makes Huck and kids of today say inappropriate words.
ReplyDelete