THIS year the US Mint will honor one of the country's most famous writers. "Mark Twain", the pen name of Samuel Clemens(1835-1911) is loved by American readers for his novels Tom Sawyer(1876) and The Adventures of Huckberry Finn(1844). Now he is going to have his life and work commemorated  with special gold and silver coins. But does Twain need to be commemorated? It doesn't seem like people in the US will forget him. Twain once joked that a lack of money is the root of all evil " but a lack of money with Twain's famous face on it wouldn't have made people forget about him. The Adventures of Huckberry Finn is thought to be his greatest works. Motherless Huck Finn is a young boy who shows the spirit of freedom. But it could be said that Huck's freedom really comes from Huck wanting to fly. When Huck gets away from his violent  father, he isn't really looking for freedom,out survival. It's even more of a problem for a slave. Jim, the escaped  slave who Huck helps, makes Huck's life seem even better. It's easier not to be able to deal with someone who wants to force you to go to school than to have to fight a law that says you are a piece of property . Huck and Jim's friendship, as shown by Mark Twain, is one of the great stories in American literature because it shows a white character, Huck, who gets an idea of the African American experience. Mark Twain is famous and would still be famous without any special coins. Anyway, the coins could be a reason to look again at the work of a writer who got under the skin of the US in the 19th century. With the race issue  _ in the US today, perhaps Twain still has something to teach today's readers. Why is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn considered Twain's greatest works?
It talks about how a black slave runs away from his violent owner. It describes an everlasting friendship between people of different races. It describes the social problem that a lack of money is the root of all evil. It talks about a white American understanding the African American experience.