The N-Word - 11.3.15

     The “n-word” used throughout the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain contains a negative connotation to it. Personally, I do not prefer the use of this word and I react with some surprise when it is used around me. The n-word does not mean much to me as people today use it to describe someone who is their friend. For example, “Hey thats my nigga!” Or something around that context. When it is used like that I do not react as harshly as I would when it is used with the -er ending as I find that much more offensive, and I am sure many others do too. The word in its entirety has a lot of historical meaning as it has been used for years on years most recognizably in the eighteen-hundreds with abolition and the Civil War.

     I was not surprised encountering the word in my readings because of the time-period the book was set in, that being the 1830’s. I had already been used to reading some literature containing the word through my A.P. United States History class last year. Although, I was extremely surprised on the amount of times the word was used throughout the book. Just by searching how many times the n-word is used throughout the entire book I found that it was used a total of 205 times; and in chapter two alone it was used eight times. 

     If we as a class were to be having a socratic seminar and the word were to be used I would not react with surprise to it, but personally I do not think I would say the word because I feel that it is not in my nature to say it. To put this into simpler words, I would treat the n-word as I would treat the b-word. I would ever just throw it out there, but only use it when needed or required.

     The n-word has a negative connotation: that being negative and derogatory. The word also carries a bit of history with it as used heavily throughout the 1800’s. In conclusion, I do find the word to be offensive unless used in such a way that is not (which can be rare) but seeing it in literature of a time period when it was used with such a negative meaning makes me feel that it is perfectly fine just because that is how people talked then.