Alan Gribben wants you to feel good about reading Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Auburn University Professor, working with the publishing company NewSouth, plans to publish a version of the classic that will replace the word “nigger” (appearing 219 times in the text) with the word "slave." The term “Injun” will also be removed from the book, making us all feel so good about 19th Century American civilization.
The problem with ‘whitewashing’ Twain’s novel, no matter how good it may make some people feel, or how many readers the new version will attract, is that it considerably reduces the impact of the novel’s message, that racism is a very ugly thing. In the society that Finn (and indeed Twain) grew up, racism, the systematic dehumanization of other human beings, was a way of life. It was foundational to almost every person’s understanding of how that society worked, and by their understanding the natural order of things, ordained by God himself. Twain’s language reflected that reality. Editing that language not only dilutes the narrative, but the perception of the history that it is based on, making it seem somewhat less atrocious than it truly was.
The ultimate adventure of Huck Finn was not some journey down a river full of danger and excitement; it was the journey to discover the humanity of Jim and his own humanity in the process. The most profound moment in all of American literature is that moment when Huck fully realizes the humanity of his enslaved companion and is willing to defy God to give Jim his freedom. This is the story of the nation. It is not a perfect novel (Twain’s characterization of Jim himself is certainly problematic) but it derives a significant portion of its power from the language, language that was authentic and is indeed as offensive as racism should be.
Gribben’s endeavor to ‘sivilize’ Huck Finn is likely to be as successful as that of the Widow Douglas. This new version will attract timid readers who are afraid to face harsh realities, who would have never appreciated the story that Twain was telling in the first place. It may inhabit the same space on the bookshelf as does Twain’s original, but it will by no means be great literature.
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