If Mark Twain Were Alive Today.

I clearly remember that one of my favorite books I read in high school, for several reasons, was Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. To me, it is the perfect book; the characters are vibrant, it calls the establishment on the carpet and still, to this day, it is way ahead of its time. In fact, the book does its job so well at making people think that it, amongst many others, has been banned from several libraries and school curriculums and districts. In fact, in my senior year, the book was banned in Portland, Oregon, a city not too far away, on the count of liberal use of the "N" word and lack of sensitivity in covering sensitive racial issues.

Besides still being way ahead of its time, the message behind the book is still relevant today. The sad part is, though, that while the message is a good one, it would be that of the extreme minority. Therefore, the majority would do everything in their power, be it with money, intimidation, or brute force to silence this opposing voice. After all, racism is still alive and well with groups such as the Aryan Nations, Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis and the Southern Baptist Church (at least Fred Phelps' camp) boasting members in the thousands. However, hate of other kinds have cropped up in this day and age against other groups that have appeared within our society (or at least have barely become visible) since Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn in the 1800s over a course of a nine-year period. And thus, this idea got me thinking; if Twain was alive and writing in our generation, what would he have to say about what was going on?

Honestly, I could never see Twain (whose real name was Samuel Clemens) taking a Michael Moore or Al Gore approach to spear-heading a crusade to bust down homophobia which is so common in our society, not to mention all of the fighting, alienation, bigotry, stereotyping and World War III on the brink being fought over what else but differences in religion. He would, however, probably write a piece or two picking apart our world problems, putting controversial characters; gay people, Muslims and Jews, just to name a few, in extreme situations, then calling the reader to check any of their bigotry at the door.

I can see at least two books that Twain could, quite possibly pen that would, despite condemnation from many being around the corner, say something that is dying to be said; hate and intolerance are not okay, and has to go. Book one would push the buttons of the American religious right, starring, perhaps a young boy who lives with a mother who is never there and a drunk for a father. Sick of his situation, he would run away and go to live with a member of his extended family of whom is revealed is gay. The gay relative would live with their life partner and want to get married. But, the majority of the society puts an end to these dreams by passing legislation by making not only marriage but gay love-making illegal. The boys parents would come to get the young boy, only to find the extended relative with said partner. Full of hate, the two are ratted out, persecuted, ridiculed, then sent to a concentration camp like setting on the count of being "different." Who knows how Twain would tweak this plot line, though something like this would be written as to inform our society that if our people keep their heads up their proverbial behinds and keep electing bigoted politicians to high office, this nightmarish vision could, quite possibly, become reality.

Another work of Twain's would have a bit of a similar plot line, though would poke fun at another disturbing trend amidst our society. This one would employ a large cast of characters set in various regions of the country. In each of their neighborhoods, middle-eastern and Muslim characters would move in, looking for a good, productive life as with everyone else. Over the course of the book, the Muslim families would find their property vandalized, would be taunted and harassed and shunned, and their neighbors would do everything they could to push them out of the community. The glaring issue would be raised that, despite our country having enough room for everybody, there are some that are wrongfully ousted; fueled exclusively by today's alarmist news broadcasts and media. The point would be made that as Twain would see it, it is much more acceptable to have a child molester living in a community than it is to welcome a Muslim family. Disturbing, but very true.

Of course, unless someone picks up the task and writes these pieces, such works will never be penned. On the other hand, we will never know exactly what Twain's plot lines would be like in doing his part to bust down bigotry and hate. We do know, however, that if he were alive and well today, the first thing out of his mouth would be, "What the hell is going on here?"