Well, not really. He admits that he no longer knows how to teach that and other classics to today's young heads-full-of-mush, and they aren't interested in it, and he's using "offensive language," demaning portrayals of blacks, and dialect as his excuse. Best to stick with comic books, I guess.
I'm glad that the article at least captures what everyone with any kind of literacy knows about "Huckleberry Finn" -- and that is that Jim is one of the few completely moral characters in the book, and is its hero. In that context, the use of "nigger" in reference to him is even more despicable. Twain knew that. That was the point.
Thank you for this accurate description of the character development in “Huckleberry Finn.”
Could you perhaps e-mail it to Mr. Foley? He seems to have graduated with some sort of advanced degree in...uh...something, but has failed to learn the lesson any 8th grader of my day would have learned in second period English class.
Regards,