2010 closed with news about the phenomenal interest in Mark Twain's autobiography, and 2011 opens with Galley Cat's January 5, 2011 report about a new edition of Twain's masterpieces, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Alan Gribben is the editor of the new volume, which will include both books, and on January 3, 2011, he explained to Publisher's Weekly why he removed two "offensive" words.
Why is NewSouth Books Replacing Words in Mark Twain Masterpieces?
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer are free ebooks and free audiobooks on Project Gutenberg. The two books are available in public libraries, in book shops, and they are movies. If the original editions of the books are so readily available, why would editor Alan Gribben and his publisher, NewSouth Books, censor controversial language from classic books? According to Gribben, it has to do with making the books more acceptable for classrooms.
According to Gribben, teachers told him that they couldn't use the original editions of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer because teachers said, "we can't do it anymore. In the new classroom, it's really not acceptable." According to Publisher's Weekly, "Gribben became determined to offer an alternative for grade school classrooms." If teachers and students have more comfortable language in the books, they will be able have more comfortable classroom discussions.
Do Racial Slurs Interfere with Reading Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer?
When I taught high school English, we used the original edition of the book and students were uncomfortable reading passages out loud. If students aren't allowed to use racial slurs in conversations at school, it is hard to have a class discussion about a book without using the "forbidden" words, and it was awkward and uncomfortable at first. However, once we acknowledged that the words were archaic and uncomfortable, we were able to move on with our class discussions. The uncomfortable words in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer may interfere with classroom discussions about the books, but they do not prevent discussions.
Not every teacher has had my experience. According to Time, "In 1998, parents in Tempe, Ariz., sued the local high school over the book's inclusion on a required reading list." The parents lost the lawsuit, but schools can not afford lawsuits over books. In the September 29, 2008 article "Banned Books," Time points out that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been censored for language since 1885, which is the year the book was published in America. (It appeared in England in 1884.) Even Louisa May Alcott found the book to be unacceptable for "pure-minded" readers, and Mark Twain laughed off censorship, saying, "Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it."
In August, 2010, Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum asked if modern society would medicate Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Not only would the boys be protected from their adventures, it appears modern society would protect them from controversial language. It is not necessary to change the language in Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, but it is understandable. It is better for students to read a modified version of a classic book than to avoid the book all together. You can download free electronic editions of the original Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer from Project Gutenberg's Mark Twain section and see if you think that the changes to these books are warranted for students.
Sources
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer Republished With Two Racial Slurs Removed" was written by Maryann Yin on January 5, 2011. It was published by Media Bistro on Galley Cat.
" Banned Books " was written by Time Magazine staff, and published on September 29, 2008. The article was accessed online on January 5, 2011.
"Tom Sawyer and Today's Children: Same behavior, Different Treatment" by Anne Applebaum was published in the Washington Post on August 10, 2010.
Alex Sharp - Alex Sharp is a teacher who has been keeping Suite101 readers up to date with the latest in audio- and e-book gadgetry since 2008.
