Understanding "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"

ISBN: 9780313293276

³ö°æÉç: Greenwood Pub Group

³ö°æÄê: 1996-6

Ò³Êý: 264

¶¨¼Û: $ 58.70

×°Ö¡: HRD

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Since the time of its publication in 1884, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" has generated heated controversy. One of the most frequently banned books in the history of literature, it raises issues of race relations, censorship, civil disobedience and adolescent group psychology as relevant today as they were in the 1880s. This collection of historical documents, collateral readings and commentary captures the stormy character of a slave-holding frontier on the eve of war and highlights the legacy of past conflicts in contemporary society. Among the source materials presented are: memoirs of fugitive slaves, a river gambler, a gunman, and Mississippi Valley settlers, the Southern Code of Honor, rules of duelling and an interview with a 1990s gang member. These materials aim to promote interdisciplinary study of the novel and raise the student's understanding of the issues raised. The work begins with a literary analysis of the novel's structure, language and major themes and examines its censorship history, including recent cases linked to questions of race and violence. A chapter of censorship and race offers a variety of opposing contemporary views on these issues as raised in the novel. The memoirs in the chapter "Mark Twain's Mississipi Valley" illuminate the novel's pastoral view of nature in conflict with a violent civilisation resting on the institution of slavery. "Slavery, Its Legacy and Huck Finn" features the 19th-century pro-slavery arguments, firsthand accounts of slavery, the text of the Missouri compromise of 1820 and the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Each chapter closes with study questions, student project ideas and sources for further reading.