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          A Response to Jane Smiley's Literature's Dual Life

            Jane Smiley, an American novelist, wrote an article for the New York Times showing support for a curriculum to be taught in schools that includes reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The use of the n-word in the novel was an acceptable part of the language at the time Huck Finn was written but is no longer approved by today's society. Smiley states that she "would want [her] students to be shocked and repelled by the use of the [word]" and that teachers should take the opportunity to open a discussion to debate the "issues...represented in the novel".  This article argues that Twain intentionally used such a strong word because substitutes such as "Slave...[don't] carry the same shock value and so [they] [tone] down what Twain is getting at". To read Huck Finn as it was written, including all 219 uses of the word "nigger" is important because it is an "accurate [depiction] of [its] [time], including attitudes that were held". The word changes the meaning of the novel to show the attitude of people at the time and also the effect that the word had when it was used. However, in a previous article written in 1996 titled Say it Ain't So, Huck Smiley criticizes Twain, accusing him of not being able to face "the nature and meaning of slavery" and that “to invest [Huck Finn] with greatness is to underwrite a very simplistic and evasive theory of what racism is and to promulgate it” which totally contradicts her article for the New York Times but I guess Smiley just has no integrity as an author and will throw out whatever opinion she believes will be most popular.

I agree with Smiley in her article for the New York Times when she says that Huck Finn should be taught in schools because of the insight that it gives into that time period. It is important that the original words chosen by Mark Twain remain because the word “nigger” has a specific message that isn’t conveyed through other words, even though they may be less offensive. I disagree that Huck Finn is a “great work” as she labels it in the Times, and that is because of her article published in Harper’s Magazine that argues that the character of Huck fails to be the model of morality that would make Huck Finn an effective piece against slavery and instead promotes the common mindset of the modern person that racism is only a feeling, instead of “a way of structuring American culture, American politics, and the American economy”. In the novel Huck does little to change his actions, even though his feelings toward Jim may evolve. His attitude towards African Americans in general remains the same throughout the novel, as proved at the end when a white man decides that Jim “ain’t no bad nigger” and Huck approves of the message because it was “according to [his] judgement” (ch. 42).  Huck grows more fond of Jim and he gains respect for him, but he fails to see Jim as an equal. Because of Huck's unchanging character, he should not be seen as a hero in Huck Finn.

Smiley, Jane. "Literature's Dual Life." nytimes.com. N.p., 19 Dec. 2011. Web. 7 Jan. 2013. < http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/01/05/does-one-word-change-huckleberry-finn/literatures-dual-life-in-the-case-of-huckleberry-finn>.

Smiley, Jane. "Say It Ain't So, Huck." Harper's Magazine Jan. 1996: 61+.