A visiting lecture on “Slaves as Loyal Confederates” reminded me of the complex relationships between black and white as they are explored by Twain and Stowe.
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Tag Archives: Huckleberry Finn
The Myth of Slaves as Faithful Companions
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Harrieet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, racism, slavery, Uncle Tom's Cabin Comments closed
America Encourages the Vagabond Self
Looking at the United States from the vantage point of Iran, Nafisi writes that it was America’s vagrant nature that she connected to. She writes that America “somehow encourages this vagabond self.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Azar Nafisi, Great Gatsby, Immigration, Invisible Man, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Wizard of Oz Comments closed
How Life Looks When One Is Property
Last week we had another fine presentation in the series of Twain lectures that my colleague Ben Click has been running. Once again a talk about race and Huckleberry Finn deepened my respect for that magnificent book. Here are some of the ideas I picked up, which I share with you from memory since I didn’t […]
Damn the N-Word, Full Speed Ahead
Writing about interracial friendships in yesterday’s post brings to mind the most famous interracial friendship in literature, that between Huck and Jim. The novel is once again in the news (is it ever out of it?) with a new edition of the novel where the n-word is changed to “slave.” The edition is the brainchild […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged censorship, Mark Twain, racism, teaching literature Comments closed
Huck Finn’s Censorship History
I have always been fascinated by the many ways that literature influences our lives, but, as a literary scholar, I also know that influence is a very hard thing to prove. That’s why I find censorship to be interesting. When people censor a book, they do so because they assume that it can have an […]
Twain Was No Racist (Not Even Close)
“I hope that like Mark Twain, 100 years from now people will see my work and think, ‘Wow. That is actually pretty racist.’” –Tina Fey accepting the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Thanks to a visiting lecturer in our Mark Twain series, I have a new understanding of Huckleberry Finn that is exciting me […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, Mark Twain, racism, segregation Comments closed
Defending Miss Watson
Many readers of Huckleberry Finn enjoy laughing at Miss Watson’s approach to teaching Huck. She tries to use the Bible to scare him into good behavior, insists that he sit still, and prohibits him from smoking and drinking. Romantics that we are, we make fun of her educational philosophy and find her a hypocrite, especially […]
The Damned Human Race
Last Wednesday was the 100th anniversary of Mark Twain’s death. To mark the occasion, Ben Click, our enterprising department chair, set up a panel to discuss what Twain had to say about “race, religion, politics, and the ‘damned human race.’” On the panel were Peter Sagal, star of National Public Radio’s “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell […]
Empowering Conversations about Race
As I look back over this past week of entries, what conclusions can I draw? First, that literature can serve the cause of race relations in this country. The friendship between Huck and Jim spurred my dreams of black-white friendship when I was a child being raised in segregated schools in the south, and it […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged black anger, censorship, Mark Twain, race relations, Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison, white fantasies Comments closed