Huck Experience Questions

1. Have you read the novel –Huck Finn- before?  If so where and why?

            I have not read Huck Finn before.

2. If you have not read Huck Finn before, surely you know something about the novel and character from references and allusions in popular culture.  What do you know about either the novel and/or character?

            I actually had very limited knowledge of the character. I’ve heard of the book, and somehow knew it was in some way related to Tom Sawyer (a book I have not read either), but that’s the extent of my knowledge. I couldn’t tell you anything about Huck Finn before reading it.

4. If you were assigned to read Huck Finn in a previous class, either here or in high school, how did your class as a whole react to the novel?  Why do you think your instructor assigned the novel?  How did he or she try to “teach” the novel?

N/A

5. If you were required to read Huck Finn in a previous class, what sort of assignments were you required to complete, and what exactly did you do during the classes when

Huck Finn was being discussed.

N/A

6. Huck Finn is still one of the most controversial and most banned books in America.  Why is it so controversial? 

            I believe the controversy in Huck Finn springs from the blatantly racist culture it depicts. The “n-word’ is thrown around over 200 times, and slaves are consistently understood as lesser than people. The South in Huck Finn is simply desensitized to their own lack of morality. Even Huck who seems to understand Jim’s humanity more than most white people is still racist. Jim never enters the same level of white people in his eyes. The society of Huck Finn essentially matches my picture of the south in the 1800s, a bunch of redneck racists.

7. Is Huck Finn still relevant to you as college student today?  Should it continue to be taught in college classrooms?

            I struggle with the question, because I don’t know if Huck Finn is truly relevant in modern society. I think it definitely is an eye-opener on how far humanity has fallen. The greed, selfishness, racism, self-righteousness, and simple lack of morals is ever-present in society today. Still, I don’t know if Huck Finn is really intended for a modern audience. Society, more in how we live and the activities we do, is much different than the old-time south. There’s a lot of great things about Huck Finn that would certainly merit its teaching. I just didn’t get a whole lot out of the story other than what was on the surface, which leaves me somewhere in the middle on it being taught.

8.  The general consensus among critics is that Huck Finn is a brilliant and powerful novel, but also a flawed and problematic novel.  What do you think might be flawed and/or problematic about the novel?

            It appears to me that most critics of Huck Finn take issue with its ending, which in my opinion wasn’t spectacular, but I didn’t find it problematic. I didn’t enjoy reading about Tom Sawyer’s ridiculous plans, that continued to become more convoluted, and essentially, a waste of time. Sure enough, the situation becomes even more unsettling when we find out Jim has been free all along. Making all efforts, whether ridiculous or not, meaningless. The whole thing seems to bring us back to square one. I can’t say for certain if Huck changed or not. Still, I have to say even more upsetting to me than the ending was how heavily criticized it is. I understand criticism helps us grow, but the reality is, no matter how much you want to say the ending sucks, it won’t change it. If that’s how Twain chose to end his novel, then that’s how it ends. I know people become attached to these works, but at the end of the day, it’s Twain’s novel and he can end it how he wants to. That’s just an aside. I think what’s problematic to me about the ending is that it just falls flat. The whole book has an incredible build up to the freeing of Jim, and then it just kind of happens. All the unbelievable adventures before were more unbelievable than what would probably be Huck’s most important adventure. My stance is not so much on Twain’s ending being cowardly, it just left me a little unsatisfied. It was one of those, “Oh… so that’s how it ends” moments.