In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, a depressed and controversial writer from a controversial period in American history, presents his ideas on sensitive subjects with a vulgar language and diction. The book is a field of contention that teachers must navigate and can leave students with the task of either deciphering the book for what it is or ignoring the unit altogether and wasting valuable time learning others pieces of literature. Louisa May Alcott called the book "trash" and what the book represents may very well be. With Huckleberry Finn's short list of issues, including religion, race, and criticism from Mark Twain himself, the book is extremely difficult to teach. This is why American school systems should remove the book from the standard curriculum. “Religion consists of a set of things which the average man thinks he believes and wishes to be certain of. The notebook, Mark Twain. Twain is one of the most anti-religious individuals of his time and his views are reflected in Huck's personality. Huckleberry Finn's commentary on religion is Twain's satirical attack on institutions. Huck does not understand religion and perhaps the same can be said of Twain, nevertheless Huck is used by Twain to attack the institution of prayers: "Miss Watson, she took me into the closet and prayed, but nothing did not come out. She told me to pray every day and that whatever I asked for, I would get it. But it wasn't and I couldn't understand it. (23). Twenty-three pages into the “Great American Novel” and Mark Twain has openly and deliberately ignored an entire institution by attacking prayer. Twain is relentless in his proselytizing to his readers and, a hundred pages later, his next assault...... middle of paper ...... in an aggressive manner. In doing so, they have destroyed the very purpose of reading Huckleberry Finn and its only indisputable positive point is that it is the first true first person adventure novel. Teachers simply cannot take the positives from the book because the book is a minefield of distractions and disruptions that the class must navigate. That's too much trouble for the average teacher to go through who could spend their time much more efficiently on the hundreds of other famous titles available. Reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in a public classroom is an unfair and morally shortsighted decision that schools across the United States must reconsider. The book's blatant slander of religion, overt racism, and sheer difficulty in teaching outweigh any real or positive benefit the book offers to a class. The book should be banned all over America and now.