Forrest Crawford remembers the first time he read Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." He was an African-American student who had recently been integrated from an all-black school into a white junior high school in Oklahoma.
"The classroom teachers didn't know how to deal with students sniggling and laughing, and making off-the-cuff, sly remarks," he said. "I didn't remember learning anything about the book per se -- all I remember learning about is how I felt."
He felt very self-conscious, very uneasy, and remembers giggling every time the N-word was mentioned.
The book has made a lot of people feel very uncomfortable over the years, making it one of the most frequently challenged books since its publication.
"The nature of the challenges have changed somewhat over the years," said Gary Dohrer. "It was initially challenged because Huck was seen as not being genteel enough. ... Many critics said he shouldn't be read by young people, because he would be a bad influence."
Now it's challenged on grounds of racism.
Crawford and Dohrer, professors at Weber State University, will lead a discussion titled "Challenging Huckleberry Finn," at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 9, in the university's Stewart Library, as part of this year's community-wide Weber Reads program.
The N-word
One of the biggest problems people have with the book is the use of the word "nigger," said to be in the book more than 200 times.
"Some people say that the text is racist, and all it serves to do is continue to confirm or advance ideas people have about race," said Crawford, adding that some believe it gives people license to use the N-word and feel comfortable with it.
Members of the Weber Reads committee selected the book, knowing full well that it's controversial.
"We still haven't confronted racism in this country, and Huck Finn does," said Margaret Rostkowski, a committee member and retired schoolteacher. "The moral statement the book makes ... that Jim is a human being, even though he is a slave -- that he's a worthy person and is the most moral person in the book -- I just think it's an important statement. I think it's important to talk about books that still create discussion, that people talk about, and that people have questions about."
The dilemma
Dohrer says it's a beautifully written book, with incredibly powerful lessons.
"The trick is to balance, and figure out how to make people feel comfortable, in order to experience the book the way Twain intended," he said. "It takes a very skilled teacher to create an atmosphere where that's more comfortable, where students are sensitive to each other and the book can be dealt with then on the literary values and messages it has, as opposed to just the impact of that word."
Teacher consultants from the Wasatch Range Writing Project, based at WSU, created lesson plans for teacher and parents. The free plans are available on the Weber County Library's Web site, www.weberpl.org.
They recommend using "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" with younger students instead, but even that has to be handled with care.
"Tom Sawyer has another difficult situation in the character of Injun Joe, portrayed by Twain as being unremittingly evil," said Rostkowski. "To me, that is more troubling than 'Huck Finn,' because in that, he's showing Jim to be a wonderful person."
Many teachers just use excerpts of "Tom Sawyer," such as the fence-painting episode.
With "Huck Finn," they recommend careful preparation, talking about history and attitudes, and having a plan for dealing with the language.
"We had lengthy discussion all the way from don't say the word ... to really talking about it, and talking about words we use now that are similar," said Rostkowski. "There are other ways people use language to marginalize people, and it's a great discussion to have."
Crawford says one of the major dilemmas about a Huck Finn text is that we assume we can come up with an 'appropriate way to teach it' without having to grapple with, and reconcile, the baggage it brings along.
"All of a sudden, we want people to be progressive and enlightened, and all of a sudden try to make the word mean something different in a social constructive manner ... but you can't change what the N-word is supposed to mean overnight," he said. "I've heard some students say, 'The word doesn't bother me,' but others said that they refused to read a textbook, or be in a setting, where the word is used."
No easy answers
Crawford says the choice to read "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is a wise and timely one, because discourse on race and racism is still alive.
Dohrer says that open and frank conversations are part of developing empathy and understanding.
"I think those are discussions that are hard, but we can't avoid them if we're going to make any headway in dealing with racial issues," he said.
Read more on Mark Twain by Standard-Examiner staff:
'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' subject of Weber Reads program
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