I may be off base here -

In context, along with Poe this was American literature asserting its existence. How very direct to say "this new nation has come to have its own voice and this is what's special about growing up here". I was not under the impression that Huck Finn was written for children - nor Tom Sawyer for that matter. At a guess, it's told to permit both nostalgia and some projection about values and actions though not itself directed at children.

Again, I may be more "out" than usual - what do you think of the above interpretation of the works in context?

Jon

Update: There's yet another version of Huckleberry Finn coming out with the "N-word" removed. In this new one, all occurrences of the"N-word" will be r...... "Robot".

This could be good, but I may wait for the "Vampire" version (Awww, come on, who wouldn't want to read about Huck helping Vampire Jim escape down the Mississippi?)

Not exactly a "corruption", as such, but an attempt at a more phonetically correct spelling of the correct pronunciation of "victuals".