I'M Not Sure What to Call This

Huck Finn Essay

Is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn A Racist Novel?

Imagine the crack of the whip as it hits you right in the center of your back, reminding you every day that you are less than the scum of the Earth. Although it is virtually unheard of nowadays, in the 1800s, this was a disturbing reality for black slaves in America, especially in Jim’s case. In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the hardships that slaves had to endure were made worse by the fact that they were often separated from their family member and risked being bought or sold to another “master.” For over 200 years, Americans and other all around the world have worked hard to make slavery and racism see as if it has surrendered to the changes in our society, but, if you ask me, racism is still very much alive.

Imagine living day by day working yourself to the bone and having all your credit be presented upon the person who you must refer to as your master. From the moment the sun came up to the moment when the sun set, all African slaves including children were forced to work without receiving the luxury of a break. According to www.learnnc.org, "slaves were allowed a day off on Sundays and on infrequent holidays such as Christmas and the Fourth of July." One main issue with having slaves was that there never seemed to be enough to get the job done no matter how efficient they were. Many masters' solution to this problem was to procreate within the slaves which in rare cases led to disease as a result of having children with family members or receiving a beating due to refusing to do so. In Jim's case, his experience with beating was a little more personal than that. On pages 165-166, Jim becomes slightly homesick which puts the whole purpose of his journey into perspective. He says, "En wid dat I fetch' her a slap side de head dat sont her a-sprawlin'. She never budge! Oh, Huck, I bust out a-cryin' en grab her up in my arms, en say, "Oh , de po' little thing! De Lord...