What it do

Many people argue the appropriateness of Huckleberry Finn in the classroom of our youth today. The thefts, constant lying, disrespecting of religion and other misdeeds that occur in this book will continue to be controversial in regards to children. Lionel Trilling believes that Huckleberry Finn is “One of the world’s greatest books and one of the central documents of American culture (257).” But where does the greatness lie exactly? He believes the greatness of the book lies in its “power of telling the truth (257).” He uses the technique of simplicity to complexity among others to explain his point of view.

One of the arguments Trilling poses is that Huckleberry Finn can be viewed as both a children’s book and an adult’s book. The beauty of Huckleberry Finn is that one can grow up with this book. A child may read it once at age 10, again at age 11, and again at age 20, and interpret the novel in a different way each time. Trilling uses an Athenian boy reading th...