(Image source: The Telegraph)

BY MAURICE SCARBOROUGH

A new adaptation of Mark Twain’s classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is coming under fire for its decision to censor the “N” word. The book will instead use the term “slave” in the 219 instances it appears in the book.

We’re analyzing coverage from The New York Times, MSNBC, CNN, Salon and the Stir.

The book is a collaboration between Mark Twain scholar Alan Gribben and publisher New South Books. The adaptation will also replace the word “Injun” with Indian. Gribben told the New York Times the reason for the change.

“I found myself right out of graduate school at Berkeley not wanting to pronounce that word when I was teaching either ‘Huckleberry Finn’ or ‘Tom Sawyer’... And I don’t think I’m alone...I’m by no means sanitizing Mark Twain...The sharp social critiques are in there. The humor is intact. I just had the idea to get us away from obsessing about this one word, and just let the stories stand alone.”


But on MSNBC contributor Melissa Harris-Perry says it is absurd to think that removing the word from the book will have any profound effect. She says it actually may do more harm than good.

“I think it’s more troubling because it suggests first of all that we think young people don’t hear the ‘N’ word as part of their pop cultural milieu. I mean I just hate to break it to the good professor but in fact the ‘N’ word is pretty widely available.”  

But on CNN Syracuse professor Boyce Watkins argues the book can be effective without using the “N” word some 200 times.

“I think the fundamental question I would ask is, can you still make the point of this brilliant novel without using that word 219 times, and I think that you can. I think that at the end of the day the question for me also is whether or not it makes sense to force kids in school to hear this word, over, and over, and over again in order to make that point. I think you can make the point one time.”

But a writer for Salon says that idea is just absurd and counters....

“The book, which deals directly with racism, is not better served by erasing the racial slur. ... To pretend this is for some higher good is to insult the intelligence of the American public... Because of the mistreatment of everyone who wasn't/isn't white, straight and male, America is constantly defending itself instead of dealing head-on with the wrongs that it willingly played a role in.”

And a writer for The Stir says the word holds a deeper meaning  and argues that eliminating it from the book would be like trying to erase it from history.

“If you ask me, a classic is a classic. When I was reading Huck Finn in my eighth grade English class, I never once thought that the use of the N-word was offensive... The novel helped me understand the time period the word was used and talk about the severity of the word with my classmates. The new version makes it seem as if there was never an issue....”

So what do you think? Is censorship okay, or does historical significance outweigh political correctness?