>>>http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/01/04/new.huck.finn.ew/index.html
>>
>>Seems that some idiots don't understand that "nigger" was a common word at that time.
>
>Or why it was used in the book - it served a very clear purpose in telling the story. It is a reflection of the deep south twenty years before the civil war and how one boy learns to make moral choices and rise about the common views of the day -- Jim is the moral center of the story and portrayed as more of a human being than the other characters.

Years ago when I was a kid we read the book in school. Prior to reading the book the teacher showed us a short film (about 5 or 10 min long) that talked about the use of the word in the book & explained that at the time of writing it wasn't considered offensive. You'd think that people today would be smart enough to figure that out....perhaps if they read more books they'd be more educated on the subject..hehe