Black, white, and Huckleberry Finn : re-imagining the American dream / Elaine Mensh and Harry Mensh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mensh, Elaine, 1924-

Contributor:

Mensh, Harry, 1911-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Twain, Mark.

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910.

Literature and society--United States--History--19th century.

Literature and society.

Political and social views.

United States.

History.

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910--Political and social views.

Adventure stories, American--History and criticism.

Adventure stories, American.

National characteristics, American, in literature.

Fugitive slaves in literature.

Race relations in literature.

African Americans in literature.

White people in literature.

Physical Description:

167 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Tuscaloosa : University of Alabama Press, [2000]

Summary:

Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, the most widely taught work in American literature, is as controversial today for its treatment of race as it once was for its alleged immorality. Elaine Mensh and Harry Mensh here analyze its depictions of blacks, whites, and relations between them, and the messages those depictions send.

The Menshes consider Huck Finn in the light of historical records left by slaves and slaveholders in order to determine where the book undermines or upholds traditional racial attitudes. Reviewing key episodes, the authors explore such issues as whether Jim is a stereotype or feigns the traits whites attribute to him, whether Huck overcomes his racist attitudes, whether Twain overcame his own early attitudes on race, and whether or to what degree such attitudes affected his work. The authors consider the novel's use of the word nigger in the context of the controversy over Huck Finn as required reading, and explore the censorship issue. They also examine whether the ending is an allegorical condemnation of the racial travesties of the era in which Twain wrote it, or is itself a racial travesty.

Thoroughly researched, Black, White, and "Huckleberry Finn" provides a tough-minded analysis of Huck's and Jim's motives and attitudes. It shows that the argument over black-white relations in the novel is also an argument over non-fictional ones -- over black images in white minds, conflicting perceptions of racial harmony, and differing interpretations of the American dream.

Contents:

1 The Trespassers 3

2 Marginal Boy 17

3 Shifting Perspectives 25

4 Black Roots, White Roots 34

5 Shallows, Depths, and Crosscurrents 46

6 Identity Crisis 57

7 Conscience Revisited 68

8 Family Values 78

9 The Kindness of Friends 89

10 Fault Lines 102.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [149]-159) and index.

ISBN:

0817309950

OCLC:

40912558