INFORMEDdebate
MEDIA BAKER Y
YES
from members:
Randi Wilkinson
Las Vegas, NV
Parents can expose
their children to the
original edition if they
feel their kids are
mature enough, or they
can read the revised edition now.
Paul Faamuli
Anchorage, AK
[It was a] different time
when he wrote [it]. The
language should be sani-
tized to reflect our society
and our values in our
community and our country today.
Agnes Carriere
La Crescenta, CA
I didn’t like what I saw
and see. I watched To Kill
a Mockingbird and didn’t
like what I was seeing,
and I’m from that time.
Should literary
classics be sanitized?
NO
from members:
MARK TWAIN’S The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has long been consid-
ered one of America’s literary masterpieces. But a recent edition has been
edited to remove racially charged words.
Supporters of the revised edition say that many Americans ;nd these
words so offensive that the original version of the book has been banned
in some schools and libraries. They say a revised edition maintains the
mood, context and style of the original; allows everyone to enjoy the work;
George Ruopp
Wilmette, IL
Everyone should be
able to read what
history is all about.
You don’t hear the
British saying that
they are going to change
Shakespeare’s work.
Claudette Rhodes
Cedar Hill, TX
[It] should be kept in
its original context for
purposes of students
asking hard questions
and as a yardstick to
see how we have or have
not evolved.
18 ;e Costco Connection MAY 2011
Find out more about this topic on the Web:
http://themoderatevoice.com/97181/huck-;nn-censored-and-sanitized
www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate (Search “Huck Finn”)
www.telegraph.co.uk (Search “Huck Finn”)
www.post-gazette.com/pg/11007/1116193-153.stm
Jonathan Cartrette
Hoover, AL
[It’s] sanitizing the history
of culture and the forma-
tion of norms and mores.
It’s better to record and
debate that rather than
pretend it never happened.
