Slavery ChallengeAdventures of Huckleberry Finn In recent years, the seemingly racist ideas expressed by Mark Twain in Huckleberry Finn have been the subject of increasing discussion. In some extreme cases, the novel was even banned by public schools and censored by public libraries. The basis of these censorship campaigns was the depiction of one of the main characters in Huckleberry Finn, Jim, a black slave. Jim is a “typical” black slave who runs away from his “owner,” Miss Watson. At several points in the novel, Jim's character is described to the reader, and some people have considered this characterization racist. However, before you begin to censor a novel, it is important to separate the author's ideas from those of his characters. It is also important not to take a novel literally and to "read between the lines" in order to grasp the underlying themes of a novel. If we did this about Huckleberry Finn, we would probably realize that it is not racist and even anti-slavery. Through society, Huck and Huck's father, Mark Twain reveals a challenge to slavery. On a superficial level, Huckleberry Finn may seem racist. The first time the reader meets Jim, they receive a very negative description of Jim. The reader is told that Jim is illiterate, childish, not very intelligent, and extremely superstitious. However, it is important not to lose sight of who is giving this description and to whom it is being given. Although Huck was not a racist child, he was raised by extremely racist individuals who, even unconsciously, ingrained feelings of bigotry into his mind. It's also important to remember that this description, while quite sad, was probably accurate. Jim and the millions of other slaves in the South were given no formal education, were never allowed independent thought, and were constantly mistreated and abused. Twain simply describes Jim, a very realistic slave raised in the South during this time. To say that Twain is racist because of his desire for historical accuracy is absurd. Despite the rare instances where Jim's description could be misinterpreted as racist, there are numerous points in the novel where Twain, through Huck, expresses his extreme opposition to the slave trade. and racism.