Posted by Ed Kiser on August 07, 2008 at 20:13:51 user Kisered.
In Reply to: Re: Great Northern & Characters as Adults posted by John on August 07, 2008 at 16:27:55:
Mike,
The "n-word" is not just in BS, but in several other places as well.
Did a scan, and here is what I found...
Ransome's references to the infamous "N-word":
BS CH 31 - TWO lines
PD CH 13 - ONE line
PD CH 28 - ONE line
PD CH 35 - FOUR lines
Some of these references were not about people, but about pearls.
What may have been acceptable in his day is now
subject to a new set of standards.
But then, let us consider another CLASSIC author,
Mark Twain, who wrote of an earlier period, that
of the mid 1800's.
Counting just those four books about "Tom Sawyer":
"Tom Sawyer"
"Huck Finn"
"Tom Sawyer Aboard"
"Tom Sawyer Detective"
That same "N-word" appears for a total of 237 times.
Times have changed...
It was time to do so.
(I wonder, of those people that feel they are familiar with the works of Twain, how many knew there were FOUR books about the "Tom Sawyer" character? Most can quickly name the first two, but seldom have they even heard of the other two.)
Meanwhile, back at the Lake, on Wild Cat Island, Susan was making tea. The others were gathering firewood... (Had to get back to AR.)
Ed Kiser, Kentucky