▁Mississippi ▁River ▁on ▁a ▁ra ft ▁with ▁an ▁adult ▁escaped ▁slave , ▁Jim . ▁The ▁word ▁" n igger " ▁is ▁used ▁( most ly ▁about ▁Jim ) ▁over ▁ 2 0 0 ▁times . ▁Tw ain ' s ▁advoc ates ▁note ▁that ▁the ▁novel ▁is ▁ ▁composed ▁in ▁then - cont empor ary ▁vern ac ular ▁usage , ▁not ▁rac ist ▁s tere ot ype , ▁because ▁Jim , ▁the ▁black ▁man , ▁is ▁a ▁sympath etic ▁character . ▁ ▁In ▁ 2 0 1 1 , ▁a ▁new ▁edition ▁published ▁by ▁New S outh ▁Books ▁replaced ▁the ▁word ▁" n igger " ▁with ▁" s lave " ▁and ▁also ▁removed ▁the ▁word ▁" in j un ". ▁The ▁change ▁was ▁spe ar head ed ▁by ▁Tw ain ▁scholar ▁Alan ▁G rib ben ▁in ▁the ▁hope ▁of ▁" counter ing ▁the ▁' pre - empt ive ▁c ensor ship '" ▁that ▁results ▁from ▁the ▁book ' s ▁being ▁removed ▁from ▁school ▁curr ic ula ▁over ▁language ▁concerns . ▁The ▁changes ▁spark ed ▁out rage ▁from ▁critics ▁El on ▁James , ▁Alex andra ▁Pet rie ▁and ▁Chris ▁M ead ows . ▁ ▁British ▁literary ▁usage ▁ ▁Several ▁late - n in ete enth - ▁and ▁early ▁tw enti eth - century ▁British ▁literary ▁us ages ▁suggest ▁neutral ▁usage . ▁The ▁popular ▁Victor ian ▁era ▁entertain ment , ▁the ▁Gilbert ▁and ▁S ull ivan ▁oper etta ▁The ▁Mik ado ▁( 1 8 8 5 ), ▁twice ▁uses ▁the ▁word ▁n igger . ▁In ▁the