1. Huck Finn Timeline

2. Timeline 1830- underground railroad in progress
1835- Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) born
1860- Abraham Lincoln elected president
April 12, 1861 Civil War breaks out
1863- Emancipation proclamation frees slaves

3. April 9, 1865 Civil War ends
April 14, 1865 Lincoln shot
th amendment ratified- blacks right to vote
1885 Huck Finn published
Why would Mark Twain publish an anti-slavery novel 20 years after slavery ended? What is he really attacking?

4. Banned Books- Selection from the top 100
#1- Harry Potter
#10- The Perks of Being a Wallflower
#13- Captain Underpants
#14- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
#21- To Kill a Mockingbird

5. Banning of Huckleberry Finn
Was placed on banned books list in 1885 and is still among the top most challenged books today.
Originally banned because of its abolitionist/ civil rights views.
Today it is banned for the frequent use of the “N” word.

6. Controversy continued
“Many critics feel that Jim, even though a slave and called “Nigger Jim,” is the character who shows the most humanity in the book. His character is full of faults, ignorance, and superstition, as is Huck’s character. Jim’s character, however, is honorable, loyal, trustworthy, and trusting throughout the book.”

7. Why use derogatory terms at all in the book?
Realism/ dialect
Satire- Meant to make its readers uncomfortable and remember the issues discussed.
How does using this word make the characters look? Are they the kind of people the reader is supposed to look up to?

8. Was Twain Racist?
“Lincoln’s Proclamation…not only set the black slaves free, but set the white man free also.” Mark Twain
Twain paid for at least one black man to go to Yale Law and one to attend a Southern university to become a minister.
Was also an advocate for Chinese Immigrants, Native Americans, and Women’s Rights.