Should Huck Finn be taught in schools? This question has been widely debated over the past years and is continued to be debated today. Many say that the book should be banned from schools because of the racial comments in the book; people claim that it could offend or “scar” the youth, but all the book does is enlighten the youth on the history of slavery.

The book does use the racial term “the n-word” and today that word is very hurtful and offensive to people. But back in the day it wasn’t like that, that is just what black people were called. Twain wrote it that way because that is the way he knew, there is no way he could have known that in the future the word would be a derogatory term. Anyone who knows anything about the history of that time would know that.

The book also is a great piece of history. Aside from the fact that it does teach about the racial history of the time, it also shows what life in general was like. It shows in great detail what the North and the South were like from the eyes of the lowest of the low, Huck Finn. We get to see what everything was like through his eyes and relate it to ourselves in this day and age. It also allows us to see how even today we can be ridiculous over the smallest things just like people in the book are.

Another reason that the book should be taught in schools is that we see the bond of friendship between the white boy, Huck, and the runaway slave, Jim. Throughout the book Huck faces the dilemma of whether or not to turn Jim in. He starts to see that, even if Jim is a slave, he is a person and he has emotions just like Huck does. When Huck and Jim are in the canoe and Huck hears Jim crying about his family he thinks to himself “… And I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their’n.” This shows how Huck starts to see Jim more as a human and less as a slave.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a great book that shows the history of the South in the time of Mark Twain. It shows the friendship of two boys as they travel down the river experiencing life together. Huck Finn should be taught in schools to help educate kids on the history of the time.