Huckleberry Finn

In my Huck Finn essay, i'm going to begin with arguing that the novel is an anti-racist novel because a) it's written in the language that was used in the time period, although offensive when used today the language used was not seen as offensive in the 1880's, and b) the novel is about a boy's journey with a slave in the slavery ridden south that transforms to a boy rebelling societies views in order to save the only true 'father figure' he's known, who happens to be a slave. From there I can create a stronger argument as to why the novel should be taught in schools. However the book should not be taught to simply any age group anywhere. I believe the novel should be taught in upper class high school english courses, classes consisting of juniors and senior who can more appropriately handle the controversial material and discuss it. I also think that the book should be taught mostly in mixed racial classes, you get multiple perspectives on the racist and anti-racist content in the book. I think I will be using excerpts from the novel, and quotes from Jane Smiley and Lionel Trilling.