So, in the end, it turned out that Jim and Huck had spent months running away from absolutely nothing. Great use of irony on Mark Twain's part, but I can't put into words how much it disappointed me. I'm actually angered that we had to read this book. I don't even know why it's part of the curriculum. Twain said that he wrote the story just to write it. It's not like there was anything to be learned from it. Maybe it's just me, but how am I supposed to relate to the characters when they're living on a raft on the Mississippi River in 1840?
That brings me to another question: why don't we ever read anything that was written less than 50 years ago? Were the writers back then or a hundred years back better than the ones of today? I understand that the books written recently aren’t classics yet but personally, I'd enjoy a book considerably more if I could relate to it.
Lots of little things that Huck did or said were very ignorant and extremely annoyed me, especially when he was making fun of Joanna's "harelip". I didn't find that amusing. A cleft palate is a serious birth defect that, thankfully, can today be fixed with a simple surgery. It also bothered me when he played the trick on Jim when they got separated on the river. I was so glad when he let Huck have it for that because it wasn't necessary, at all. It wasn't funny either.
Lastly, probably the biggest reason why reading this book was such a drag was because of the grammar. It was the worst when I had to read some extended piece of dialogue by Jim because it would take me like ten minutes to decipher what he was saying! But then again, maybe it's shallow of me to not appreciate Mark Twain's way of writing. If I'm not mistaken, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was the first book to be written with the actual dialect of the people.
I could go on forever about how much I dislike the story, but I’m stopping this rant now. These are just my opinions, so no one get offended please.
posted by Julia S.
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You bring up some great questions. As the one who chose to teach this book, I wanted to explain from my perspective why we read it, although that doesn't mean you have to agree. First, I try to select books that will "stretch" and push students. Of course it is harder to relate to a poor teenager from the 1840s than it would be to relate to a character from a more contemporary book! But I do think that students today can relate to Huck's battles with authority; I would hope that my own students could learn something from Huck about challenging authority and society's assumptions. Also, I try to select books that will reinforce and deepen what you are learning in US History class. It's not that I think that authors of "classic" works are better than contemporary authors! It's partly that students do tend to read contemporary books on their own, whereas they often don't expose themselves to older works. I want to push you to read books you wouldn't normally read. Finally, I think reading Huck Finn is an exercise in recognizing irony and satire and in trying to discern the author's point of view by thinking critically. You are SUPPOSED to be disturbed about the fact that Huck makes fun of Joanna's cleft palate and SUPPOSED to be angry at him for tricking Jim in an insensitive way. Books are not written for us to be blindly accepting of the characters and their actions-- I am excited to see you being critical of the values or actions in the text-- that's what I want.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Julia. However, I do think that Huck Finn is good to teach in an english class. I defintely noticed how Mark Twain used irony and satire to sort of "lighten" the situations that were happening. I did notice how what we learn in english relates with what we do in U.S. history. It's true, I probably wouldnt willingly read this book. Just because its not my type of reading.
ReplyDeleteKatie M.