Racial Issues: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn vs Gypsies in Romania

The issue of race and racism has always been of central importance in our society, whether is the case of contemporary times or historical past. Attitudes like racism usually generate controversial debates in different fields of interest: sociology, history, anthropology and even literature. Many writers tried and even managed to illustrate this problem of racism. However, it is in the approach of the reader and in the way of understanding and analyzing this aspect of social life that lays the dilemma. People often tend to take sides in this type of situations and when it comes to racism, subjectivity is a key word. The present paper tries to avoid the implications of subjectivity in dealing with racial issues in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the problem of gypsies in Romania, giving an overview of each subject and drawing connections between them where necessary. The first question that comes into our mind when we think about racial issues is what racism really means. Looking the word up in the dictionary, we would find that racism is a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. Furthermore, in its more common use, racism refers to race-based prejudice, violence, discrimination, or oppression. However, this issue of racism has various sides and can be discussed on various levels: from a legal point of view, a sociological one, anthropological and others. For instance, if we take the legal aspect of racism, it is important to note that a definition for the term racism is not provided by the United Nations, although the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination took into consideration the notion of racial discrimination defining it as any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life. Still, racist attitudes and mentalities exist for a long time and that is why legal aspects may not apply to periods like that in which, for example, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written. Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn two decades after the

Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War when Americaand especially the Southwas still struggling with racism and the effects of slavery. Initially, Mark Twains intention was to describe the story of a twelve-year-old as he deals with the struggles of growing up. However, the novel began to disscuss the issue of freedom and slavery. Although Twain wrote the novel after slavery was abolished, he set it several decades earlier, when slavery was still a fact of life. But even by Twain's time, things had not necessarily gotten much better for blacks in the South. That is why, Twain's depiction of slavery can be seen as an allegorical representation of the condition of blacks in the United States even after the abolition of slavery. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain tried to show how racism distorts the oppressors as much as it does those who are oppressed. As a result, we can see the moral confusion created by apparently good white people such as Miss Watson and Sally Phelps who did not care about the injustice of slavery or the cruelty of separating Jim from his family. In the late nineteenth century, Hucks view concerning his surroundings are more practical and more logical than that of his friends, relatives or simply the people around him. When it comes to the issue of race, color of skin or slavery, Huck is not judgemental. As he observes his environment and gives realistic descriptions of the culture that dominates the towns, he maintains a certain objectivity, that kind of objectivity that only an uncorrupted child can have. It is important to note, however, that Huck only observes the racist and anti-government rants of his father but does not condemn him because it is the accepted view in his world. Huck simply reports what he sees, and the narration allows Twain to depict a realistic view of common ignorance, slavery, and consequently the inhumanity. Huck considers that the laws of society are correct and he condemns himself as a traitor and a villain for acting against them and helping Jim. Moreover, Huck believes that he will lose his chance at Providence and when Huck declares, All right, then, Ill go to hell, he refuses his place in society and heaven.

Analyzing the issue of race, we must also take into consideration Jim, the other major character in the novel and one of the most controversial figures in American literature. He represents the other side of the problem, being the one who is discriminated and outcasted. As we read the novel, we can see that Jim is a simple and trusting person, despite the colour of his skin. Evenmore, he does not change during the course of the novel. On the contrary, he proves to be a positive character instead of a negative one, as one would assume, taking into consideration the preconceptions people tend to have when they think about black people. Jims simple nature becomes common sense, and he always seem to choose the right path for him and Huck. For instance, when Huck and Jim are on Jacksons Island, Jim observes the nervous actions of birds and predicts that it will rain. Jims prediction comes true as a huge storm comes upon the island. This moment is of great importance because it underlines the life experience and intelligence of Jim. However, the most important aspect of Jims character is his naivete. He likes to see only the good in people and often the consequences of his credibility are not in his favor. As the novel progresses, this nature reveals itself as complete faith and trust in his friends, especially Huck. Nevertheless, the one trait that does not fluctuate throughout the novel is Jims belief in Huck. And this proves once again the fact that white peoples suspiciousness towards black people are often exagerated. Jim is somehow unable to distance himself from the society in which he has been conditioned and that is why he always places another race above his own, regardless of the consequences. But as with Huck, Jim is willing to sacrifice his life for his friends. There are several opportunities for Jim to leave Huck during the tale, yet he remains by Hucks side so the two of them can escape together. Moreover, when Jim has the chance to be free at the end of the novel, he stays by Tom Sawyers side, another example of his loyalty. Jims logic, compassion, intelligence, and above all, his loyalty toward Huck, Tom, and his own family, establish him as a heroic figure, despite of his race. If we were to compare and contrast the race issue in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to Romania in points of tolerance towards other races and ethnies, we could take into consideration the issue of gypsy people.

Firstly, the Gypsy way of life leads to hostilities from the people of their host nations. Europeans regard "private property" as sacrosanct, whereas gypsies do not have a word for "possess", which gives rise to two incompatible ways of life and a continual problem of gypsies being regarded as "thieves" from the European's view. Nowadays, Romania is often associated with gypsies, regardless of their actual origin. And as a consequence, Romanians are usually blamed for gypsiess faults in other countries. And, eventhough generalization is not the best way to look at the problem, most of the time, gypsies in Romania, and not only, tend to act as thieves and to disconsider any moral values. If in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn black people like Jim respected their peers and their property, gypsies ignore any written or unwritten social rules, whatsoever. Secondly, in each host nation gypsies appear to take on the religion, names and language of their hosts, but within the Rom they maintain their Rom language, names, music, customs and Indian looks. This tight community has meant that after some six hundred years there is still a large population of gypsies not integrated or assimilated with Romanians. Gypsies like to see themselves asa an independent ethnic group and unconstrained by any social rules and that is why they are still seen as outcasts, like the black people in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. From the time of their arrival in Romania Gypsies were the slaves of the landowners, only to be emancipated in 1851. Similarily, black people in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn were slaves to white people and eventhough slavery was abolished, they were still considerated as an inferior race and threated as so. While in Romania some of the Gypsies took to speaking a version of Romanian called Bayesh which can be heard in some of the songs of Gypsy groups recorded in Hungary, nowadays about 40% of the Gypsies still speak Romany and many can still be seen travelling in lines of carts along the roads of Romania. The majority live in the towns and villages, some fully integrated into villages, some in large ornate houses standing out from the Romanians, but others in small buildings on scraps of lands on the villages edges. The black people in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn were not nomads like the Gypsies, but they as well were outcasts, being forced lo tive outside the towns or in area less populated. The issue of racism has always been a subject for debate in our moder society, wether we are talking about black people, gypsies, jews or any other group. Often, this type of duscussions

are driven by subjective and narrow minded people, who have all sorts of preconceived ideas. However, there are archetypes related to this racial groups which are not far from truth like in the case of black people or gypsies, as we illustrated in this paper. Nevertheless, one should look at this problem with tolerancy and as much objectivity as one can, in order not to become an ignorant racist for whom the true value of the human being resides in his skin colour and not his mind or soul. And, instead of conclusion, we might add that even after decades since The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written, Huck can still be regarded as an example to be followed. Resources: Twain, Mark.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: P. F. Collier & Son, 1918. Questia. 27 Dec. 2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsies