A Teacher’s Troubled Reflections on the Big, Still River

It is an enduring classic and a commentary on the American social scene.

No, not the O.J. Simpson trial.

It is dogged by questions of race and accentuated with repeated references to the infamous “n” word.

And, no, I’m still not talking about the Simpson trial.

The classic in question is “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Mark Twain’s post-Civil War tale about the Mississippi River journey of Huck and the runaway slave, Jim.

“Huck” is considered an American literary masterpiece. Ernest Hemingway reportedly said, “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called ‘Huckleberry Finn.’ ”

As a high school English teacher, Roseanne Aulino wants her students to know “Huck Finn.” But you can’t read the book without confronting its use, both in narrative and dialogue, of the word “nigger.” Indeed, the frequency of the word (more than 200 times) has created a controversy around the book to the extent that some teachers and parents around the country don’t want it taught.

“Every year I think about it again,” Aulino said the other day. “I shouldn’t accept every book just because it’s somebody’s idea of a classic. So I think about it every year, and every year so far, I’ve come back to the importance of this novel. It may be the first really American novel. To me, Huck Finn is America. It’s the American struggle.” Aulino, now on the eve of her sixth year at Fullerton High School, said her 11th graders will begin “Huck” toward the end of the first semester. This year, however, they’ll have a topical reference point: the dominating presence of the Simpson trial and the controversy over the use of the racial epithet.

Literature and life will intersect. Simply put, if Mark Twain isn’t current enough, how about Mark Fuhrman?

Even Aulino has been caught off guard by the force of the word. She had read the book before, of course, but the first time she taught it, she was reading aloud to acquaint students with the hard-to-handle Southern dialect. She came to a narrative passage in Chapter 2, in which the word is used seven times in a span of several sentences.

“It’s not something that pops out as you’re reading it on the page, because of the context, but I started reading it to the class and I found I couldn’t do it. I’d get to that word and hearing myself say the word upset me.

“It [the passage] goes on and on. It’s probably the only paragraph in the book where it’s repeated so much. Nobody is being called anything, it’s just used in the context of the way we’d use Afro-American or Negro . . . so I started saying ‘Negro,’ but that wasn’t working and I finally said to the kids, ‘I’m having a bad time with this.’ ”

She has taught “Huck” several times. Only one student, an African American girl, has asked to be excused because the language made her uncomfortable. Aulino gave the girl an alternate book to read.

“The first time I did the book, I think I talked about it a little bit. I said I don’t want to hear the word in the classroom, but it’s in the book and it’s literature. But now I address it before we start reading the book. I was raised never to use that word. . . . I’m a model for kids, whether they’re high school kids or whatever, I’m a model for them, and if they see me comfortable with that word, I get the feeling they’re going to feel I’m comfortable with it, and I wanted to be honest with them that I’m not.”

Although she now tells the students ahead of time the book is controversial, most don’t understand why. “They say, ‘Oh, what’s so controversial?’ They’re not in a place [in time] where the things that were shocking when the book was written or even 30 years ago are shocking to them anymore.

“They say, ‘Well, black people call each other nigger.’ But then, I might ask a black student about that, and they can’t always explain it, but they know as well as I do what the limits of language are. They know when something is used in an insulting manner and when it’s dialect.”

Ultimately, Aulino says, Twain’s sweeping themes reassure her of her decision. “The book is valuable. I’m not a teacher of morality, but to me there are so many universal things in it. There’s growing up, the responsibility of freedom, the relationship between Huck and Jim that develops that’s probably the best relationship in the book.”

I asked if, in light of the Fuhrman issue, she already has her spiel prepared. “I don’t want to make so much of an issue over the word,” she said, “but I don’t like to just explain it away. I want kids to feel they can openly discuss the use of the word, if they want to.

“I talk to them about my feelings about the word and that I think the value of the book overrides that. I think if I didn’t talk about it, it might become an issue. If we were not open about it, it might be an issue to some kids, but I give them a chance to express what they think.”

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.