nted to write a historically accurate book - as he did - then the inclusion of this word is totally necessary. A closer reading also reveals Twain's serious satiric intent. In one scene, for instance, Aunt Sally hears of a steamboat explosion. "Good gracious! anybody hurt?" she asks. "No'm," comes the answer, "Killed a nigger." But anyone who imagines that Mark Twain meant this literally is missing the point. Rather, Twain is using this casual dialogue ironically, as a way to underscore the chilling truth about the old south - that it was a society where perfectly "nice" people didn't consider the death of a black person worth their notice. To drive the point home, Twain has the lady continue: "Well, it's lucky, because sometimes people do get hurt." But what is the book really about? It's about nothing less than striving for and attaining freedom. It's about blacks and whites who break the law and risk their lives to win their freedom. As a result of his upbringing, the boy starts out believing that slavery is part of the natural order. However, as the story unfolds he wrestles with his conscience, and when the crucial moment arises, he decides he will be damned to the flames of hell rather than betray his black friend.Moreover, Jim, as Twain presents him, is hardly a caricature. Rather, he is the moral center of the book, a man of courage and nobility, who risks his freedom - andhis life - for the sake of his friend, Huck. Huck and Jim's adventures give us a chance to examine the society they live in. It also gives us a chance to examine ourselves as well as the society today. The story is over a hundred years old, but many of the social vices then, sadly, pertain to our society now. There are more examples of human failings in this book, the trickery and cheating of the King and Duke, the lack of caring by the townspeople for Boggs, the innocence of the Wilks sisters and the lack of common sense in Tom Sawyer. There is cruelty, gre...
