A World of Words

He was born poor and, despite writing success, he died poor, but his life was rich with laughter and his writing ripe with controversy. Mark Twain, the most famous of all regionalists was a genius at capturing the language, attitudes, and customs of the people about whom he wrote. One hundred years after writing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain is still in the news and his novel is the one of the most banned books in the country - all because of one little word. That one little word, common in his time and, arguably, more widely used today, has angered generations and sparked water-cooler debates all across America. This is the power of words. They shape our culture and change our thinking.

Whoever first quipped, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," clearly never removed his earplugs. Words hurt. They enflame dormant fires of anger. They remind us of deeply held hurt and deeply hidden regrets. Perhaps that is why Twain strove to write the people as they were, because he knew that their own words would reveal the most about who they were and what they believed. Perhaps that is why he is the standard for regionalist writing. Perhaps we are offended because Twain wanted us to feel that way and to search for the reasons why. Introspection forced upon us by a few well-chosen words.

Twain said, "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightening and the lightening bug." What a powerful idea! The reason that there is a debate at all about Twain's book is that he wanted to accurately represent the people and places, customs and prejudices of people along the Mississippi using all of their colloquialisms, and that included the n-word. Twain simply believed that he was using the "right" word, but was he? And does it even matter?

Huckleberry Finn provides powerful social commentary that clearly demonstrates Twain's distaste for slavery and other social mores (pronounced more-A-s) of the time. Yet, in it, he repeatedly uses a word that we now see as taboo. Just because a word was regionally accepted in the late 1800s, should we accept it today as simply a "representation" of the time, or should we require a higher standard, free of inflammatory language? Does his social commentary work if we take out the word? And if we are trying to banish it from our language, then shouldn't we banish it from music and television as well? I have no answers to these questions (although I do have some opinions), but they do give us some "food for thought." While Twain would be angry to know that any words were taken from his book, maybe you agree with those who say it is simply too controversial and hurtful to leave. Then again, you might stand on the side of those who believe that censorship is a slippery slope that you'd rather stay far from. Wherever you stand in this debate, I would love to hear your thoughts.

And in your free time :) . . . This weekend's extra credit is to research the life of Mark Twain a little more. We only got a small biography in our textbook, so dig a little deeper. For 25 EC points, provide me a list of 15 REALLY interesting facts about Twain's life. Last day for this one is Monday, February 14th!! And since it is due on Valentine's day, I leave you with a little thought about love from Twain himself. "Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired."

Have a great weekend!