الممارسات اللّغويّة
Volume 16, Numéro 1, Pages 237-253
2025-06-02
Mark Twain’s The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn (1884): A Journey Through Institutional Racial Bias, Socio-economic Injustice, And Hope
Authors : Aziz Rabéa .
Abstract
This paper examines institutional racism in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), a novel by American author Mark Twain, set in the Southern United State during the Antebellum Period. In this work of fiction, the author portrays the socio-economic life in this region of USA, characterized by a system of slavery imposed on the Black population and the resulting systemic racial prejudice against enslaved individuals. In exploring this issue, Twain distinguishes between two racial groups: white individuals, often portrayed as the dominant and "civilized" class, and Black individuals, depicted—within the context of the novel—as subordinate and lacking in education or refinement. Twain himself was not entirely free from the white supremacist views prevalent in his community, which are particularly evident in his depiction of the character Jim. It is later argued that Twain’s characterization of the runaway slave using terms such as 'a nigger,' 'ignorant,' and 'superstitious' reflects his upbringing in Southern society, where such language was commonly used and socially accepted when referring to Black individuals. In this region, racial discrimination is an “institutionalized credential” that became “systematic”. This reality is reflected through what can be described as “societal racism.” The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn implicitly critiques the socioeconomic structures that shaped Southern society in the Antebellum Period and puts forward a hope to free the blacks from the chains of bondage and racism.
Keywords
Mark Twain ; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ; the blacks ; The South ; Antebellum Period ; Institutional Racism ; Hope
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