In speech class we have to do a report on a literary piece or art and find different crititical reviews on them. I picked huck finn becaus eI know it is very conterversial. What do you all think of the book?

It's a wonderful book. Personally, I think it's a shame that any controversy has come to surround it. But if that's your assignment, I'd suggest that you read the book first. Then go out and see what's been written about it. That way you will have been able to (hopefully) enjoy the book first and form your own opinions.

The following is an excerpt from a review I read at Amazon.com'books.

Though some of the situations in Huckleberry Finn are funny in themselves (the cockeyed Shakespeare production in Chapter 21 leaps instantly to mind), this book's humor is found mostly in Huck's unique worldview and his way of expressing himself. Describing his brief sojourn with the Widow Douglas after she adopts him, Huck says: "After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers, and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by and by she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time; so then I didn't care no more about him, because I don't take no stock in dead people." Underlying Twain's good humor is a dark subcurrent of Antebellum cruelty and injustice that makes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a frequently funny book with a serious message.

It is a great insight into the world of pre-Civil War Midwestern life. The only reason it is controversial is because the "n-word" is used not infrequently in the book.

well, I'd probably like it a lot more if i didnt have an analysis of it to write for english class. it is of excellent historic value though- as is only further proved by the controversy surrounding it.

would anyone care to help me w/ one of the following questions?

--Discuss the novel as a satire of the Pre-Civil War Southern society. Consider what it says for example about religion, life on the frontier, and the landed gentry.

--Twain has said, "a sound heart is a surer guide than a deformed conscience" Indeed Hucks conscience would have lef him to turn Jim in, what seems to be Twains definition of good and evil? What happens to the "good guys" and the "bad guys"?

(i could really use help w/ the last part of that question.. anybody? please?)

Cara...these probably aren't very good answers, but here goes.

-Satire - the people in the book, like Miss Watson, are very religious but they're also hypocritical, like Miss Watson keeping Jim as a slave (a moral sin), but telling Huck he'll go to hell for various things that aren't nearly as serious.
-Definition of good and evil - the people who recognize the basic difference between right and wrong, even without education, are good. The people who have education and know what's wrong but continue to do bad things anyway are evil. The good guys get what they deserve, as do the bad guys (Jim, the good guy, gets freed, and Huck's dad, one of the bad guys, ends up dead.)

I had to do an essay on this also, and these angles worked for me. Hope this helps!