Are words really just words? Does every word have a meaning? Yes, and with these multiple meanings come an infinite amount of viewpoints and opinions. Thus, the long controversy of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is still alive today.

The novel has been criticized, censored, and banned for obscenity, poor grammar, atheism, and “low moral tone”. At the same time, it is considered one of the Great American Novels.

This novel embodies the search for freedom. Twain wrote it during the post-Civil War era where there was an intense white reaction against blacks. The controversy of this novel focuses on Twain’s word choice and characterization of the character Jim. However, Twain made it clear Jim was a good, deeply loving human anxious for freedom.

So, which is it? Is this novel a masterpiece or an insult? I say, masterpiece.

Don’t get me wrong; any words used to dehumanize another human being are DEFINITELY words better off unsaid. But, Twain was not trying to do that with any word in his novel. Rather, he was trying to paint a picture of how his society used to be at the time.

Yes, society can be pretty offensive at times. I’m sure you can look around in our current media and find some material that could be considered offensive today- probably more so offensive than anything this novel has to offer.

The “offensive” material, whether it is regarding religion, racism, word choice, or obscenity SHOULD offend people. There are many things in our human history that SHOULD offend people. Infinite viewpoints and opinions can make our world go round or destroy it, depending on how we use them.

Just because this novel offends people does not mean it should be banned or censored. We have had movements and revolutions against this kind of censorship in literature. Once we start banning and censoring, where do we stop?

Instead of focusing on the “offensive” material, we should focus on the themes or lessons Twain has to offer. This is what we learn from; we can learn a lot from the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This educational merit overrules the “offensive” material.