# Huck Finn publisher removes some offensive language - Thoughts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 5, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441 "2011-01-05T01:45:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/41 "2011-01-05T13:28:19Z")
This is the most retarded, gay, niggardly decision I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/42 "2011-01-05T13:30:46Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Is this the same as editing _The Godfather_ for television? No, but it’s almost as bad. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/43 "2011-01-05T13:37:46Z")
> [@Dr. Evil](#): > > You just don’t get it, do you? The conflict between the racism of the time, and Huck’s conflict with it, are the essential theme of the book. If you edit out the racism, the conflict becomes that much less stark. And the drama of the decision that Huck makes, to reject racism and “go to hell” is lost. What are they going to do with the speech of Huck’s father near the beginning of the novel, where the father confronts a freed black who is educated and a professor, and “spoke all kinds of languages, and knowed everything”. Huck’s father _has_ to call him a nigger - otherwise you lose the dramatic irony of this abusive drunk, with nothing to recommend him but a history of lying, stealing, abuse, and neglect, who is calling an educated man derisive names because that is the only way he has to feel superior. I guess people who say that literature should challenge our assumptions and be subversive don’t always mean it. Big surprise there. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/44 "2011-01-05T14:18:57Z")
The word is _supposed_ to be offensive. Twain thought it was offensive. That’s why it’s in there. Unless you’re producing an abridged excerpt for a 7th grade class, this is stupid. More stupid than the cleaned-up version of Romeo and Juliet that I read in ninth grade. ---
**Author:** ![godix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/278dde/32.png) [@godix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godix)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/45 "2011-01-05T14:29:46Z")
What the fuck? Huck Finn’s “All right, then, I’ll go to hell” speech loses it’s meaning without him using the word nigger at the same time. It is Huck’s, and societies, attitudes about blacks that makes his transformation as powerful as it is. Change it to slave and it suddenly becomes nothing more than ‘My buddy here is in a tight spot what with being a slave and all, I’ll help him out…’ I understand some words make readers uncomfortable, but those who want to censor ‘nigger’ just don’t understand what Twain was doing. Injun Joe at least is a more understandable change. IIRC he was basically a stock stereotype to serve as a threat and never got portrayed in a good light like Jim did. Although it’s hard to think what Injun could be replaced with really. Maybe he’ll do like colleges with indian mascots did a few years ago and become Redhawk Joe or Stanford Cardinal Joe. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/46 "2011-01-05T14:49:38Z")
I suppose To Kill A Mockingbird is next, though it has the best answer I’v ever heard to the argument "everybody says it"ever written: Atticus: Scout, don’t say nigger. It’s common. Scout: But Atticus, everybody says it. Atticus: Well, now it’s everybody minus one. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/47 "2011-01-05T14:59:02Z")
Seth Grahame-Smith should rework the whole thing changing ‘nigger’ to ‘zombie’ everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/48 "2011-01-05T15:19:42Z")
Perhaps they’ll next ‘correct’ Shakespeare. Shylock is now Methodist, Juliet is now 24, and _Taming of the Shrew_ ends with the men being sentenced by the court to sensitivity training. > [@bup](#): > > Seth Grahame-Smith should rework the whole thing changing ‘nigger’ to ‘zombie’ everywhere. Jim already things Huck is a ghost when he sees him on the island, so a zombie would work well. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/49 "2011-01-05T15:26:46Z")
‎"Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in." Mark Twain, 1876, from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/50 "2011-01-05T15:27:14Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > This is the most retarded, gay, niggardly decision I’ve ever heard. I completely agree with you and I’m a nig-DING! Hey, cut that out! ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/51 "2011-01-05T15:29:59Z")
> [@Moe](#): > > My initial reaction to the idea of “cleaning up” a great work of art in order to be less offensive is outrage. This is a rare case where I’m of the dissenting opinion. I wouldn’t have been, except that, when the issue was in the news a few years ago a journalist was covering it a predominantly black school and he interviewed many of the kids about it. Many of them talked about how they feel when they’re reading excerpts together as a class and how embarrassed they always feel whenever one of them had to read the word “nigger” out loud. I felt for them. > > Regardless of how well the teacher can explain the reason and larger meaning of the work, even if the kids can truly embrace this at some level, I can understand how distracting that might be for 13 and 14 year olds. > > As long as each individual school has the choice of which version to use (and as long as this version is never used at the college level) I’m OK with it. I can’t agree with this. One can argue that it’s _supposed_ to make people feel uncomfortable, thus forcing the reader to examine his own attitudes and prejudices. But if any school district feels it’s too much for 13 and 14 year-olds, they are free to simply choose not to include the book in their curriculum. And I have no problem with that. But teaching a watered-down version takes away the point of teaching it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/52 "2011-01-05T15:35:02Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > ‎"Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in." Mark Twain, 1876, from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. \*Tom Sawyer \*and \*Huckleberry Finn \*are very different books in tone and content. I daresay Twain probably didn’t include a similar disclaimer with _Finn_. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/53 "2011-01-05T15:40:49Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > But what about the [zeppelins](http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=zeppelin+v+pterodactyls&aq=f)! If we have dinosaurs, we have to have zeppelins. You are somehow overlooking the Nazis. While I think the idea of removing “nigger” from Huckleberry Finn is a deeply stupid and offensive one, I would immediately buy a version where they are escaping on a zeppelin from dinosaur-riding Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/54 "2011-01-05T15:43:39Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [The Times says he’s going to be Indian Joe.](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/books/05huck.html?hp) Injun is offensive and Indian isn’t. In\* Little Big Man\* it’s Indun. I wonder what’s going to happen with that. [QUOTE=Moe] My initial reaction to the idea of “cleaning up” a great work of art in order to be less offensive is outrage. This is a rare case where I’m of the dissenting opinion. I wouldn’t have been, except that, when the issue was in the news a few years ago a journalist was covering it a predominantly black school and he interviewed many of the kids about it. Many of them talked about how they feel when they’re reading excerpts together as a class and how embarrassed they always feel whenever one of them had to read the word “nigger” out loud. [/QUOTE] Black teenagers can’t bring themselves to say “nigger” out loud? Really? Could they have been shining him on? ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/55 "2011-01-05T15:57:19Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Black teenagers can’t bring themselves to say “nigger” out loud? Really? Could they have been shining him on? I imagine the problem is that they are reading the words of a white person who is saying the word. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/56 "2011-01-05T15:58:44Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > While we’re at 1984 we should work on some of the language. “Double-plus-ungood”, indeed! Hey, watch your mouth. This ain’t the Pit! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/57 "2011-01-05T16:06:31Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > I completely agree with you and I’m a nig-DING! > > Hey, cut that out! He says the sheriff is near! ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/58 "2011-01-05T16:12:20Z")
More seriously, while I think it’s a stupid idea, people have a right to be stupid with public domain stuff. I hope, for all that is good and decent, that the edition makes it very clear that it is an edited edition (the cover in the linked story, if it’s real, doesn’t make it obvious at all), and that nobody ever, ever buys it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/59 "2011-01-05T16:31:11Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Black teenagers can’t bring themselves to say “nigger” out loud? Really? Could they have been shining him on? > [@cjepson](#): > > I imagine the problem is that they are reading the words of a white person who is saying the word. Or that they’re reading the actual hateful word and not the version they’re used to, which - whether you accept that it’s a separate idea or not - means something different to them. But I can see this might turn into another debate about nigger vs. nigga, and I’d rather gouge my eyes out than do that one again. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441/60 "2011-01-05T17:04:10Z")
If the problem is with students having to read the offensive language aloud… why don’t teachers just not have them do that? Or tell them that they can skip over the offensive words? I might be biased, because when I was in school listening to my classmates read from any book aloud was torture regardless of the material, but it seems like that’s something one could get rid of fairly easily. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huck-finn-publisher-removes-some-offensive-language-thoughts/566441.md?page=4)