When I first heard this news, I was upset. Mark Twain's novel is a cultural and historical piece that reflects values and views of the time. Replacing one offensive word with its historical counterpart would not change the fact that the novel stereotypes African Americans in a negative way. The character of Jim is testament to that fact. I saw this republication of the book as another attempt for literature to be "politically correct", a term I have come to loathe because I feel that in our quest to become "politically correct", we compromise and water down our opinions through the fear of offending somebody. While I believe that we all are equal, I acknowledge that we don't all agree and some of my beliefs are likely to offend somebody. (opinions tend to do that)
Upon doing more research, I found the reasons behind this scholar's project to republish. Allan Gribben, the scholar, argues that too many people do not read this classic because of their aversion to the racial stereotypes and slurs that occur in the book. Gribben argues that he is not trying to "render Huck colorblind", but rather express that view in a way that a twenty first century audience would better understand. First of all, if people avoid this book because they are offended by the racial issues presented, they aren't going to feel any better just because one offensive word is replaced with a slightly less offensive word. Second of all, if those same people do not understand the historical context of the word, then it is likely that they are not going to understand the historical context and meaning of the entire novel.
In short, I believe that this novel should be left alone. The reason for this novel's renown partly comes from its historical meaning and context. If people are offended by it, I suggest don't read it. It can be done. In the mean time, scholars, please stop trying to make things more politically correct. People argue and disagree. Deal with it
