Huckleberry Finn

I just finished reading Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and I saw a powerful connection between the story and the critical race theory. The story is set in a small town in Missouri along the Mississippi River during the mid 1800's when white people still owned slaves. Huckleberry Finn is the main character who is an outcast in his town because of the trouble he is always getting into as well as the fact that his father is an alcoholic. He is living in a time when whiteness is extremely prevalent. He is running away from home with a slave, Jim, who is also running away for his freedom.

Huck constantly struggles throughout the story with the racial paradox because he has been given the White Privilege, meaning that he has the advantage of being considered "normal" in his society. He also struggles because he is helping a black man escape for freedom. He knows that he is doing the right thing by helping Jim, but because he has grown up in a society where African Americans are not allowed to have the same freedoms as white people, he feels that he is doing something wrong. Throughout the story Huck realizes that he cares deeply for Jim, and that Jim also cares about Huck, and Huck realizes that he could never turn in Jim no matter what the reward, instead he helps Jim escape for freedom and the two become very close.

Another important part of this text is that it is written in English vernacular, based upon different regions and how they speak. The more wealthy white folks speak more clearly, while Jim does not. The slaves speak in a language that is much more difficult to read and understand. There is also a strong use of the n-word, primarily by Huckleberry Finn, and it is not nearly as big of a deal as it would be today. I frequently wonder  if people in the 1800's thought that the use of this word would still be common over one hundred years later. It is astonishing to think that in 2013 there are still people who feel that African Americans deserve anything less than the privileges of white people.