By Lisa Conley
Round Table editor
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me; although that phrase has long endured as a symbol of strength, it’s implication that words don’t, and shouldn’t, have an impact on a person is either incredibly naïve or just hopelessly idealistic.
The truth is that words carry a significant impact and not just in terms of hurt feelings. Words can have different connotations even if they have similar definitions. Consequently, if words are carelessly switched around or substituted, it can result in a change of content.
The most recent incident that demonstrates the power of words is the alteration of the classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Alan Gribben, an English professor at Auburn University Montgomery, and New South Inc. plan to release a revised edition of Twain’s novel that replaces the “n-word” with “slave”. Similarly, the word “Injun” is exchanged for the seemingly less-offensive “Indian”.
Although the modifications may initially seem harmless, they essentially destroy the novel’s historical impact. Twain was a noted satirist and his excessive use of the “n-word” portrays the hypocrisy of the Deep South and the extent of racism. Even if Twain had not used the word in a satirical manner, it was still an important part of the vocabulary of the time period in which it was written.
Nevertheless, Gribben decided to edit the The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, currently one of the most banned books in schools, in hopes that schools would re-introduce the novel into the curriculum.
However, if students are only exposed to the modified version, then they aren’t learning the true characteristic of the south circa late 1800s. Teaching an altered version of Twain’s novel that is free from “offensive” words is just an attempt to ice skate over America’s past which prevents children from learning the truth; history is not pretty.
Twain himself once said, “The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter–it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
Has the recent switch from the “right word” to the “almost right” word in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn become the difference between Mark Twain’s novel and something else entirely? Only time will tell.
