Folks,

Hemingway, because of his comment in The Green Hills of Africa, has
popularized the usage of Nigger Jim.  The use of "nigger" by Twain
was not meant to be derogatory -- except that racial subordination
was readily embodied in American English as a regular part of
language as well as practice.  Twain was extraordinarily in touch
with the entire dynamic of white supremacy and black subordination --
in life and in language.  In his writing it is always possible to see
both aspects.

Hemingway is another matter.

In fact, I have trouble with Hemingway's famous remark.  It's an
absurd comment -- based on inaccurately remembering the book -- and
it has actually done more harm than good.  Popularizing "Nigger Jim"
as a usage is only one part of it.  I suggest that people read the
rest of the passage in which the narrator describes American
literature to an Austrian in the midst of Africa.  The narrator
dismisses Melville (merely rhetoric), tosses off Thoreau (merely a
naturalist), and basically scatters absolute literary judgements to
the right and left.  To praise Adventures of HF in this context --
and in the qualified way he does it: "The rest is just cheating" --
actually does more harm to Twain than good -- IF one takes these
literary judgements as the words of a great literary sage and not the
flawed narrator of a fictionalized travel book.  But because it's
Hemingway -- also a great writer -- it's taken without irony.  What
do other people think?  Hemingway's famous opinion may not be a FAQ
but it is a frequently invoked insight.

Peter Salwen did the service of presenting the entire passage about
Twain.  The rest of the literary assessment of American literature is
just 2 or 3 pages.  I'll reprint what Peter copied here to keep the
passage fresh in people's minds.  Meanwhile, dig out your copies of
The Green Hills of Africa:

"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called
Huckleberry Finn. If you read it you must stop where the Nigger Jim is
stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating. But
it's the best book we've had. All American writing comes from that. There
was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since."


Hilton Obenzinger
Stanford University