Naming It Out

As I ventured into Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard, I was constantly impressed by the use of complete names in the play. In an occasion Yepikhodov addresses Lopakhin by saying: “And now, Yermolai Alekseyevich, permit me to append…” while Dunyasha approaches the same character when she states “You know, Yermolai Alekseich…” (Chekov, 323). Notice how the character’s name is spelled differently in both occasions and how the author refers to him by the name of Lopakhin. The author could have done this to either show how different people might have special ways of approaching their friends, colleagues and family members, expose some characteristic element of their culture or maybe to capture the mistakes that occur in everyday speech.

I imagine some crucial elements of the play are lost through translation. When one acquires a new language one enters a new way of seeing life. Since each person is so complex even the full name gives only a glimpse. It may be customary to address individuals using their complete names or maybe the author wanted to be clear about whom the characters were talking to. I would definitely feel pinpointed if they called me by my complete name every time they wished to have a word with me. Some of the cases in which the author uses the character’s full name reminds me of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, where some of the characters regularly refer to their friends by their complete names. In one occasion Dunyasha states that “I ought to wake him up but Varvara Mikhailovna told me not to” (Chekhov, 326). This line could easily fit in Huck’s speech if you replace the Russian name for Tom Sawyer. The way characters express themselves resembles to that of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn if you don’t take into consideration the slang employed in Twain’s novel. Names, from the beginning of the play, are given importance, something the reader must always pay close attention to.

Inspirational Talk

How much do words really matter? Can they astonish a world during an astronaut’s first moon walk or inspire an author to write a novel? In A Scholar Finds Huck Finn's Voice in Twain's Writing About a Black Youth, the author narrates how Twain may have been inspired by a boy he described “in an almost forgotten article in The New York Times in 1874 as "the most artless, sociable and exhaustless talker I ever came across"” (Anthony DePalma). The possibility that The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn was inspired by a young boy’s speech seems rather unbelievable.

Twain continues describing the boy as he states: “"He did not tell me a single remarkable thing, or one that was worth remembering," Twain wrote, "and yet he was himself so interested in his small marvels, and they flowed so naturally and comfortably from his lips that his talk got the upper hand of my interest, too, and I listened as one who receives a revelation"” (Anthony DePalma). This sounds just like a description of Huckleberry Finn, completely immersed in his adventure of survival, friendship and persistence. The way Huck completely brings his experience to live through his narration may well be based on Twain’s experience with this captivating boy.

Professor Fishkin, author of Was Huck Black? Mark Twain and African-American Voices, explains how Huck and Jim, the black boy Twain was allegedly inspired by “constantly repeat the same words, make frequent use of present participles and often make the same mistakes. The two boys often use the same adjectives in place of adverbs. Jimmy says, "He's powerful sick." Huck says, "I was most powerful thirsty"” (Anthony DePalma). This reminded me of an article about Neil Armstrong’s moon walk speech mistake. Words definitely travel a longer distance than we can imagine.

Old Facts New Questions

As I read Blackface Minstrelsy, I learned some facts about Mark Twain’s life which made me question how we see his life captured by the essence of his novels. The author of the article states that in 1906 Twain “said, using a word that would have bothered almost no white Americans at the time but which now makes us wince, that "the genuine nigger show, the extravagant nigger show" was "the show which to me had no peer" and "a thoroughly delightful thing"” (Blackface Minstrelsy). Once again we find the present issues with the word “nigger” and his proximity to the racially discriminatory society the author lived in. Clearly an author’s live affects his writing, specially when using experiences and childhood memories to create novels.

After showing the possibility of Huck and Jim being a minstrel show author of the article mentions how “MT's contemporary white readers would have seen nothing wrong with a "minstrel-show" version of an African-American. But the question of what kind of "source" minstrelsy was for MT's novel remains unanswered by a reference to the racist prejudices of his popular audience” (Blackface Minstrelsy). The possibility that the novel was inspired by minstrel shows and that it satisfied Twain’s readers desire for racist art exposes the dark side of Twain’s time period. In cases like these readers must search for answers that correspond to facts about author’s lives and interests which may sometimes lead to more unanswered questions.

Transforming Literature

The idea that a book doesn’t end when you finish the last page may not only apply to the reader, but to the writer’s role in the novel’s creation. The new edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which omits both “nigger” and “injun” seems to be one of those cases in which the author never saw his complete novel. According to the publisher, NewSouth Books, the new edition will "counter the 'pre-emptive censorship' that Dr Gribben observes has caused these important works of literature to fall off curriculum lists worldwide." Even though I believe texts should be left alone for readers to read and interpret in their own, I consider that if the objective of such changes helps the distribution of the novel worldwide such changes must be made.

Benedicte Page, author of New Huckleberry Finn edition censors 'n-word', exposes both points of view as she includes Dr. Churchwell’s reflection on this matter: “These changes mean the book ceases to show the moral development of his character. They have no merit and are misleading to readers. The whole point of literature is to expose us to different ideas and different eras, and they won't always be nice and benign” (Dr. Sarah Churchwell). Given that Twain captures American society in such form in his novel, I find it difficult to support a change in the language used by the author to depict the time-period’s speech. The possibility that the original version of The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn will be lost due to the new edition is menacing but it’s a risk literature will have to take.