Huckleberry Finn: Antidote to Hate

About the Book

Huck, Jim and Tom are American immortals. They resonate in the popular culture and, at the same time, provoke the continual concern and interest of intellectuals in the academic community. When the book was first published, and for years thereafter, many critics complained about the baleful influence the delinquent Huck, with his use of bad language, and skepticism about religion, would have on good God fearing American White boys. They did not sufficiently focus on the issue of race raised by the book. . In recent decades many scholars and educators have severely criticized the book as a bigoted tract that portrays a subservient Jim and repetitively uses the N word. This book answers those more recent concerns. It demonstrates the toughness and humanity of Jim. Professor Wolfson points out how Jim educates Huck and treats him with love. He sets forth the ways in which Jim’s fundamental humanity awakens Huck to the degradation of his surroundings and leads him to the famous Chapter where Huck resolves to go to hell rather than betray Jim.

About the Author

Nicholas Wolfson is the George and Helen England Professor of Law, Emeritus at the University of Connecticut School of Law where he taught courses on Free Speech, Church and State, Securities Regulation and Corporate Law. He has written extensively; some of his books include “Hate Speech, Sex Speech, Free Speech” (Praeger, 1997); “Corporate First Amendment Rights and the SEC” (Quorum,1990);and “The Modern Corporation: Free Markets vs. Regulation” (The Free Press,1984) (translated into Japanese). He authored “Conflicts of Interest: Investment Banking”, a Report to the Twentieth Century Fund (1976). He is a member of The American Law Institute. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School (cum laude) and Columbia College, Columbia University (summa cum laude and valedictorian). He served as an Assistant Director on the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.