I agree with the argument that they put forth. The language helps represent the way of life in the south and to understand Twain's purpose it must be present. (forget what I said in our other argument, I was placed on a side)
I saw this and instantly thought it was wrong. But is it? I suppose it ends embarrassment and discomfort for many african americans and southern people and anyone else offended by the novel. Maybe they both have a place in the literary world, but it is an incontrovertible fact that the original novel is the only copy that can breach the tender topic of race. The new "21st century" copy deletes that aspect of that novel and also its place in American Literature. Twain makes fun of white people too and interestingly enough Jim is honestly the most honest person in the entire novel. It was never intended as a racist novel. So I guess the really question is, what would Mark Twain think?
That just annoys me to no end. Twain wrote the way he did for a reason, and if he had any intention of changing it, he would've. It's not just to change someone else's work because others disagree with it's contents. A word only has a negative connotation when given one, and of course the N- word always has and probably always will, but that doesn't give anyone the right to change it because they disagree. I understand that some overprotective parents and school boards and such look at it through a narrow perspective (at least they are in my opinion), but guess what? Things like that happened all the time. The N- word was used all the time. Yes, this century has grown out of using it for the most part, but really. Twain may have used the N-word, but after awhile, you look past it into the characters themselves. In this society, it's hard to find the line where "educational" becomes "offensive". But sometimes, people just need to let things go.
I agree with the argument that they put forth. The language helps represent the way of life in the south and to understand Twain's purpose it must be present. (forget what I said in our other argument, I was placed on a side)
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
ReplyDeleteI saw this and instantly thought it was wrong. But is it? I suppose it ends embarrassment and discomfort for many african americans and southern people and anyone else offended by the novel. Maybe they both have a place in the literary world, but it is an incontrovertible fact that the original novel is the only copy that can breach the tender topic of race. The new "21st century" copy deletes that aspect of that novel and also its place in American Literature.
ReplyDeleteTwain makes fun of white people too and interestingly enough Jim is honestly the most honest person in the entire novel. It was never intended as a racist novel.
So I guess the really question is, what would Mark Twain think?
That just annoys me to no end. Twain wrote the way he did for a reason, and if he had any intention of changing it, he would've. It's not just to change someone else's work because others disagree with it's contents. A word only has a negative connotation when given one, and of course the N- word always has and probably always will, but that doesn't give anyone the right to change it because they disagree. I understand that some overprotective parents and school boards and such look at it through a narrow perspective (at least they are in my opinion), but guess what? Things like that happened all the time. The N- word was used all the time. Yes, this century has grown out of using it for the most part, but really. Twain may have used the N-word, but after awhile, you look past it into the characters themselves. In this society, it's hard to find the line where "educational" becomes "offensive". But sometimes, people just need to let things go.
ReplyDelete