eading experience except for the Bible.” (Bearkak 55) Many people argue that Mark Twain portrays American citizens as crooks, thieves, cheats, and liars, but that isn’t true. In Huckleberry Finn we recognize in Jim, in the Duke and the Dauphin, in Aunt Sally, and in Huck himself, typically American figures whom Twain has presented for inspection by the world’s eye. Huckleberry Finn gains much of its sophistication as a world novel from the fact that it is an intensely American novel as well.(Lauriat 297) Huckleberry Finn is set in the middle of America, the heart of America. The book has characters from all walks of life in the novel, there are the poor lower class, the middle-class, and the rich upper-class. Lane Lauriat Jr. illustrates this when she says “Huckleberry Finn gives literary form to many aspects of the national destiny of the American people.” (298) Twain has many admirable qualities hidden among less notable experiences. Take for instance the Shepardsons and the Grangerfords, they are good, courageous people, even though they are fighting and killing one another. These admirable qualities shine through in the scene where Colonel Sherburn destroys a lynching mob “merely by the courage of his presence.” This illustrates his bravery even though he is only one person and he is up against a mob of people. ( Lauriat 298-299) Because of these instances, Huckleberry Finn is not an anti-American book, and therefore must be taught in school. Huckleberry Finn has moral issues and lessons that high school students should be learning. We can clearly see that Huckleberry Finn should be taught in school because it is a moral and enriching novel which is not a racist work nor does it emit anti-American messages. Huckleberry Finn is not a racist work because the novel uses dialect and dialog true to the setting of the story. Jim is one of the most decent characters portrayed in the boo...
