Throughout the centuries, assaults against minority groups and the condonation that accompanies these heinous acts have been one of the biggest controversies faced across the world , and Huck Finn is no exception. It is not shocking to believe that, 126 years after the publication of the American classic, the novel is still the subject of enormous controversy. From the day Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn hit the shelves, it has caused tension between people with different beliefs and understandings of the racial correlation present in the novel, including the use of the word nigger. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Since the novel is supposedly one of the greatest pieces of American literature, it must seem vital that it be taught in schools. A report conducted in 1992 showed that 70% of all public school students and 76% of all religious school students studied the novel in school. And even today the book is assigned but more often than not it is a modified version of the original text to make students feel 'more at ease'. By removing black the novel loses a certain quality; his wild and nervous nature, and part of the real message he is trying to convey. The strong language used in the novel undoubtedly serves a purpose because it is supposed to show Huck's lifestyle, and realistically, in Huck's world, "nigger" would not be censored. More recently than ever there has been a call to censor the novel for schools and to completely alter the text for people outside of schools. A publishing house in Alabama says schools don't have to change their reading lists because they changed Huckleberry Finn. Their new edition removes the N-word and replaces it with “slave.” Randall Williams, co-owner and publisher of NewSouth Books says, “I think it speaks to the fact that race continues to be a volatile and divisive topic.” “Slave is a condition. I mean, anyone can be a slave. And there's nothing to be ashamed of. But 'nigger' has to do with shame. It was what made slavery possible.” Others but they argue something different. Author David Bradley, a professor at the University of Oregon, says the key to understanding Huckleberry Finn is through Twain's language, as the relationship between Huck and Jim grows. What remains clear is that the word "nigger" is not an offensive word. It's how it's used in context and who says it that makes it offensive. The novel is set before the Civil War, when it was socially acceptable to say nigger, and that's the problem .People cannot escape from our modern world and see this story from a different perspective. According to the story, a white male would not realistically replace a black man with a slave the reality of that word replaces it with 'slave' it is the language used in this time period. Overall we cannot deny the terrible past by pretending it didn't exist. Throughout the novel, Twain uses the N-word 219 times. For some people, the word gets in the way of the story's anti-slavery message, but for others, Twain is simply capturing the way people spoke back then; which is the direction most people believed it was going. As an author, he has a responsibility to make the audience feel a range of emotions when reading his work, and that's exactly what he does. He also had a responsibility to let go of some of his personal prejudices to really engage with the story, even if it's fiction. Twain grew up in one.