Race and racism in Mark Twains 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'

Seminar paper from the year 2000 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, University of Cologne, course: Racism in the American Novel, language: English, abstract: Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is an intriguing case in point. Not only are race and racism prominent issues in the novel, but they are also dealt with in a specific manner as Huck is the narrator whose eyes everything is seen through and whose language everything is presented in the text. According to Quirk, this has the advantage that 'through the satirical latitude Huck's perspective on events permitted him, Twain could deal scathingly with his several hatreds and annoyances - racial bigotry, mob violence, self-righteousness, aristocratic pretense, venality, and duplicity'. Nevertheless, this narrative strategy, which differs from focalization only in its use of the past tense, has led to a controversy about whether the novel is racist, anti-racist, or both. This point will be discussed in the final section of this paper.