1885 : Twain publishes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
On this day in 1885, Mark Twain publishes his famous--and famously
controversial--novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) first introduced Huck Finn as
the best friend of Tom Sawyer, hero of his tremendously successful
novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Though Twain saw Huck's
story as a kind of sequel to his earlier book, the new novel was far
more serious, focusing on the institution of slavery and other aspects
of life in the antebellum South.
At the book's heart is the journey of Huck and his friend Jim, a
runaway slave, down the Mississippi River on a raft. Jim runs away
because he is about to be sold and separated from his wife and
children, and Huck goes with him to help him get to Ohio and freedom.
Huck narrates the story in his distinctive voice, offering colorful
descriptions of the people and places they encounter along the way.
The most striking part of the book is its satirical look at racism,
religion and other social attitudes of the time. While Jim is strong,
brave, generous and wise, many of the white characters are portrayed
as violent, stupid or simply selfish, and the naive Huck ends up
questioning the hypocritical, unjust nature of society in general.
Even in 1885, two decades after the Emancipation Proclamation and the
end of the Civil War, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn landed with a
splash. A month after its publication, a Concord, Massachusetts,
library banned the book, calling its subject matter "tawdry" and its
narrative voice "coarse" and "ignorant." Other libraries followed
suit, beginning a controversy that continued long after Twain's death
in 1910. In the 1950s, the book came under fire from African-American
groups for being racist in its portrayal of black characters, despite
the fact that it was seen by many as a strong criticism of racism and
slavery. As recently as 1998, an Arizona parent sued her school
district, claiming that making Twain's novel required high school
reading made already existing racial tensions even worse.
Aside from its controversial nature and its continuing popularity with
young readers, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been hailed by
many serious literary critics as a masterpiece. No less a judge than
Ernest Hemingway famously declared that the book marked the beginning
of American literature: "There was nothing before. There has been
nothing as good since."
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
1885 : Twain publishes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=52406
1856 : Know-Nothings convene in Philadelphia
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4770
1930 : Pluto discovered
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4771
1948 : De Valera resigns
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6811
1967 : J. Robert Oppenheimer dies
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4772
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On this day in 1885, Mark Twain publishes his famous--and famously
controversial--novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) first introduced Huck Finn as
the best friend of Tom Sawyer, hero of his tremendously successful
novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Though Twain saw Huck's
story as a kind of sequel to his earlier book, the new novel was far
more serious, focusing on the institution of slavery and other aspects
of life in the antebellum South.
At the book's heart is the journey of Huck and his friend Jim, a
runaway slave, down the Mississippi River on a raft. Jim runs away
because he is about to be sold and separated from his wife and
children, and Huck goes with him to help him get to Ohio and freedom.
Huck narrates the story in his distinctive voice, offering colorful
descriptions of the people and places they encounter along the way.
The most striking part of the book is its satirical look at racism,
religion and other social attitudes of the time. While Jim is strong,
brave, generous and wise, many of the white characters are portrayed
as violent, stupid or simply selfish, and the naive Huck ends up
questioning the hypocritical, unjust nature of society in general.
Even in 1885, two decades after the Emancipation Proclamation and the
end of the Civil War, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn landed with a
splash. A month after its publication, a Concord, Massachusetts,
library banned the book, calling its subject matter "tawdry" and its
narrative voice "coarse" and "ignorant." Other libraries followed
suit, beginning a controversy that continued long after Twain's death
in 1910. In the 1950s, the book came under fire from African-American
groups for being racist in its portrayal of black characters, despite
the fact that it was seen by many as a strong criticism of racism and
slavery. As recently as 1998, an Arizona parent sued her school
district, claiming that making Twain's novel required high school
reading made already existing racial tensions even worse.
Aside from its controversial nature and its continuing popularity with
young readers, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been hailed by
many serious literary critics as a masterpiece. No less a judge than
Ernest Hemingway famously declared that the book marked the beginning
of American literature: "There was nothing before. There has been
nothing as good since."
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
1885 : Twain publishes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=52406
1856 : Know-Nothings convene in Philadelphia
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4770
1930 : Pluto discovered
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4771
1948 : De Valera resigns
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6811
1967 : J. Robert Oppenheimer dies
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4772
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