Huckleberry Finn Shouldn’t Be Modified

Before reading the article I already had an opinion. Upon reading the article's title, "New Huckleberry Finn edition censors 'n-word'", I knew that this article would try to show the points of view supporting the change and the advantages that the new edition could have. The first section of the article sought to defend this change. The change was defended strongly and it also persuaded people to think this new version as better. People should be treated equally. The excessive use of the "n-word" offends people who belong to this community, justifying the elimination of this word. People shouldn't be offended in books and if people feel offended by this they should be respected, making the change reasonable and justifiable.

Reaching the last two paragraphs, I noticed that there were people against this who also had important arguments. Any word that an author has used has been used for a specific reason, therefore the modification could change his intentions. Dr. Sarah Churchwell defends this point by stating "Twain's books are not just literary documents but historical documents, and that word is totemic because it encodes all of the violence of slavery". I completely agree with this point for not omitting these words. Literature has many uses, which includes showing society at a certain time. The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn show the southern society in the time of slavery. History can't be changed and this society can't either because slavery is a historical fact. Mark Twain in his attempt to portray the society has to refer to slavery. Twain also wanted to show other aspects of the other cultures. Jim's superstition could display the beliefs of many slaves, being part of their patrimony. Huck mocks Jim's beliefs by saying "I wish we could have some bad luck like this everyday, Jim", and Jim states "Never you mind. Don't you git too peart. It's a-comin" (pg. 48). Twain wants to display all of the beliefs and the culture of society of that time, inevitably using the "n-word". Words like these shouldn't be omitted because their intention is not to offend or cause any type of harm, their main function is to portray this society as real as possible.