Greg

History Needs Censorship?  A Response to Smiley's "Literature's Dual Life"

Jane Smiley is a white American novelist and has also served as a professor of English.  She has won multiple writing awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for fiction.  In her article, “Literature’s Dual Life”, Smiley describes literature as representing something eternal, while at the same time, historical.  Smiley also states that older writing may contain language that is no longer acceptable.  She wants Huck Finn to be taught in schools because it should be shocking to the students reading it.  This shocking nature is mainly attributed to Twain’s copious restatements of “nigger’.  This allows the students, and the teacher, to discuss issues surrounding “nigger” and words like it.  Smiley is further against the idea of censoring “nigger” to the less weighty “slave”.  Twain chose “nigger” due to its intentional weightiness.  Smiley would then teach other race-based novels to further this discussion.  Smiley then describes American history as “fraught with conflict” (Smiley 6).  Children should be taught the history of America in full truth, including the language and conflicts.  In conclusion, Smiley states that if readers are honest about Huck Finn, then readers can be honest about American history.

I full-heartedly agree with Smiley on many of the points proposed in her article.  Huck Finn should be taught in schools as a way to teach both history and literature at the same time.  The novel stands as a prime display of both of these topics.  The history of America, especially the South, is both an interesting and touchy subject to talk about.  Twain takes this sensitive subject and puts a literary spin on it, resulting in an incredible novel.  Twain's use of “nigger” further pushes this idea of the realistic history of Southern America.  “Nigger” was the vernacular used in the past.  Just because it is derogatory today, does not mean that it should be taken out of our written language.  Things written down should last forever, not changed and altered due to people fretting about delicate minds.  These censorship enthusiasts need to realize that words are chosen for a reason.  This thoughtfully chosen words should not and do not need changing.  “Nigger”, along with the other seemingly graphic topics in Huck Finn, is part of American history.  Students cannot learn anything through only an exclusively positive lens.  This is completely and utterly unrealistic.  Huck himself said, “[Y]et here’s a case where I’m blest if I don’t look to me like the truth is better…than a lie”(Twain 28).  Although censorship is not a lie, it is not the entire truth.  The entire truth should always be told out of necessity.  If a young person like Huck can see that necessity of truth telling, then educated people should easily be able to see this.  Sadly, however, this is not the case.  Censors need to be placed on everything in a attempt to protect society.  People need start living by the old phrase, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  Literature is definitely not broken and needs absolutely no fixing.

All is not positive with Smiley's article.  Smiley’s mention of the teaching of other controversial novels is slightly disheartening.  Other controversial novels do not need to be taught to get the point across.  Students only really need about one good powerful source.  Reading more than that will result in even more dislike for the topic in general.  This will result in even more want for censorship and other unnecessary technics.  This action is a pushing of the envelope.  The censors of the world do not need for fuel for their fire.  Smiley, in my opinion, is inadvertently supporting the further censorship of controversial novels.  This is not something that needs to be done.  Once again, history and novels about historical happenings should be taught in full truth.  The true words should be present, the true plot described.  There should be no censorship involved.  Altering records of the past can result in the learning of false information, which can deform our perspective of the history.  A true view of history is one of the most important things one can have.  Censorship simply disrupts this view.

Smiley, Jane. "Literature's Dual Life." The New York Times, 19 Dec. 2011. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.

<http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/01/05/does-one-word-change-huckleberry-finn/literatures-dual-life-in-the-case-of-huckleberry-finn>.