APPLICATION OF HUMANISM THEORY IN THE NOVEL “THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER”
The novel is a humorous fantasy, written in the tradition of a boy’s adventure story. It recreates the child’s vision of the world. It entertains the adult by reminding him of his own childhood feelings and by showing him his own adult world from the viewpoint of a child. From this childish viewpoint, the adult world appears rather foolish. The few examples of narrative criticism of social institutions education and the church are not made in a serious way. There is a distinct pattern of loss and gain throughout the novel. Tom’s fortunes swing between the two and his moods follows suit. There are two distinct types of language, the narrative voice and the
He is always disappointing the adults who surround him, by breaking rules, fighting with other boys, failing to perform his chores, fibbing, stealing sweet treats from his Aunt Polly's closet, and so on. Yet Twain's stories of Tom's misdeeds are humorous and affectionate, rather than judgmental moral lessons. Tom's shenanigans, in fact, often bring delight and even unpredictable insight into a situation, with the boys' interactions as a gang often satirically mirroring the behaviors of adults in society. Tom's rebellion earns him the admiration of the other boys in town, who misbehave to lesser degrees. Huckleberry Finn is the only boy who is wilder than Tom. With the village drunkard as his single parent, Huck lives an unsupervised life that is every other boy's dream: he never goes to school or church, he smokes, he wears whatever he wants, and he sleeps outdoors each night. Rebellion is a way for boys to bond, to the exclusion of a few well-behaved boys, such as Sid, and girls, who are more reserved than
In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, you meet a rebellious young teen named Huck Finn. Huck is not your everyday hero, especially in the beginning of the novel, but slowly through the story his mature, responsible side comes out and he shows that he truly is the epitome of a hero. Huck is forced to make many crucial decisions, which could get him in serious trouble if not get him killed. Huck has natural intelligence, has street smarts, which are helpful along his adventures, and is assertive. Huck has always had to rely on himself to get through things because he is from the lowest levels of white society and his dad is known more or less as the "town drunk."
Huckleberry Finn, “Huck”, over the course of the novel, was faced with many obstacles that went into creating his moral compass. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn begins with Huck, a 12 year old boy heavily swayed by society and by Tom Sawyer, a fellow orphan. His opinions and depiction of right and wrong were so swindled to fit into society’s mold. Throughout the story Huck Finn’s moral compass undergoes a complete transformation in search of a new purpose in life. Huck was raised with very little guidance from an alcoholic father, of no mentorship.
Huck Finn’s childhood is plagued by violence and cruelty. He is kidnapped from Widow Douglas’s home by Pap who hides him in his cabin, isolating the young child. Initially, Huck is delighted to live in the uncivilized area, but soon realizes that his father has “got too handy with his hick’ry” inviting verbal and physical abuse (Twain 25). Huck accepts the...
Quote #1 “Tom said to himself that it was not such a hallow world after all. He had discovered a great law of human action… in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.” Twain 17.
“She was going to live so as to go to the good place. Well, I couldn’t see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn’t try for it.” (Finn, 12) From the moment Huckleberry Finn is introduced in Mark Twain’s text Tom Sawyer, it is beyond evident that he is a boy that is not like most in this society. Huck comes from one of the lowest levels of the white society in which he lives. The truth of the matter is that this is not at all Huck’s fault. His low place in society stems from the fact that his father is an excessive drunk, that disappears for large periods of time, and when he does surface, he spends almost all of that time alternating between being jailed and abusing Huck. Therefore, Huckleberry Finn has become a bit of a ruffian himself, spending a majority of his time homeless, floating along the river, smoking his pipe and running a small gang with one of his only friends, Tom Sawyer. Throughout the course of this text, we watch as Huck transforms from this mindset of very little capacity for competent judgment and a very narrow minded concept of what is right and what is wrong to one of very broad minded perspective with an incredibly complex idea of the differences between rights and wrong. Within Mark Twain’s text Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huckleberry undergoes a series of very intense events that ultimately lead to a complete change in the development of his character.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, is a captivating novel chronicling the adventures of a young boy, Tom Sawyer, along the Mississippi River. Since its publication in 1816, it has become a literary classic that has captured America's imagination. Because of the novel’s catholic appeal, dynamic yet realistic plot, and unorthodox use of language, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer has made its way onto the bookshelves of millions of Americans.
Because he is still a child, his thoughts are not yet clouded by the verses of southern slaveholders. Huckleberry was “glad to see [Jim],” (Twain 64) which would be irregular for anyone living in the Deep South. Meeting a slave would not arouse joy in a white person due to the societies corrupt standards. However, Huck Finn is not a run of the mill white boy; he has complex and passionate feelings about black people, especially those he calls friends. Huck is able to possess these feelings because he is “so earnest and truthful with himself” ("Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Narrator Point of View"). In addition to his independence from the standard southerner, Huck has more of a conscious than the town of the Wilks family in it’s entirety. Although “Huck do[es] some questionable things,” ("Huckleberry Finn in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn") he reflects that he is glad that he “hadn’t done the niggers no harm” (Twain 286) by his actions. This simple thought unveils Huck’s deepest condolences for people that are less fortunate. He may be living on a raft, but he is not held accountable by his actions by anyone but himself. As he is already shunned by his family, Huck can see the point of view of slaves with more ease than others. He “can’t stand” (Twain 451) others telling him what to do and therefore is able to relate to the feelings of southern serfs. Huck’s “youthful voice” ("Adventures of
Huck Finn learns from the actions of people around him, what kind of a person he is going to be. He is both part of the society and an outlier of society, and as such he is given the opportunity to make his own decisions about what is right and what is wrong. There are two main groups of characters that help Huck on his journey to moral maturation. The first group consists of Widow Douglas, Miss Watson, and the judge. They portray society and strict adherence to rules laid out by authority. The second group consists of Pap, the King, and the Duke. They represent outliers of society who have chosen to alienate themselves from civilized life and follow no rules. While these characters all extremely important in Huck’s moral development, perhaps the most significant character is Jim, who is both a fatherly figure to Huck as well as his parallel as far as limited power and desire to escape. Even though by the end of the novel, Huck still does not want to be a part of society, he has made a many choices for himself concerning morality. Because Huck is allowed to live a civilized life with the Widow Douglas, he is not alienated like his father, who effectively hates civilization because he cannot be a part of it. He is not treated like a total outsider and does not feel ignorant or left behind. On the other hand, because he does not start out being a true member of the society, he is able to think for himself and dismiss the rules authority figures say are correct. By the end of the novel, Huck is no longer a slave to the rules of authority, nor is he an ignorant outsider who looks out only for himself. This shows Huck’s moral and psychological development, rendering the description of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” as a picaresq...
Huckleberry Finn, the son of a known drunk in town, is already able to look back at some exciting adventures and a chaotic and disobedient lifestyle. As he was taken under the wings of the widow Douglas. He lived in her nice house with the intentions of making him an acceptable figure of the american society. After three months Huckeberry Finn cannot take, living a high social life, full of annoying expectations, that he eventually leaves the town St. Petersburg. On his way to freedom and away of authority he gets to know Jim. A colored slave who also escaped from his owner because he was about to be sold to a new plantation owner. They become friends and start to head down the Mississippi river on a self-made raft. On which they experience a bunch crazy adventures, sometimes even dramatic ones. While on their trip Huck basically only experiences fraud, theft and lies as he runs into his father and a clever couple of swindlers. He soon notices that justice, faith and humanity is only presented as a camouflage. At the end of their travels Huckleberry Finn and Jim meet Tom Sawyer and eventually return back to St. Petersb...
In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain a young boy by the name of Huckleberry Finn learns what life is like growing up in Missouri. The story follows young Huckleberry as he floats down the Mississippi River on his raft. On his journey he is accompanied by his friend Jim, a runaway slave. Throughout this novel Huckleberry Finn is influenced by a number of people he meets along the way. Huckleberry Finn was brought up in an interesting household. His father was rarely ever home and if he was, he was drunk, his mother had passed away so Huck had no one to really look out for him or take care of him. Huckleberry had the life that many teenagers dream of, no parents to watch you or tell you what to do, but when Huckleberry finds himself in the care of Widow Douglas and Miss Watson things start to drastically change. Widow Douglas and Miss Watson are two relatively old women and think that raising a child means turning him into an adult. In order for Huckleberry to become a young man, he was required to attend school, religion was forced upon him, and a behavior that was highly unlike Huck became what was expected of him by the older ladies. Not to long after moving in, Huckleberry ran away. When he finally came home he respected the ladies wishes and did what they wanted, but was never happy with it. When Tom Sawyer enters the picture, he is the immediate apple of Huckleberry's eye. Huckleberry sees Tom as the person that he used to be and was envious of Tom's life. Huckleberry saw freedom and adventure in this young man and soon became very close friends with him. Huck then joins Tom's little "group" to feel that sense of belonging and adventure that he misses out on due to living with the two older ladies. Soon enough Huck realizes that all of Tom's stories are a little exagerated and that his promises of adventure really are not that adventurous. Tom gives Huckleberry a false sense of excitement and eventually Huck leaves Tom's gang. Later on Huckleberry 's father, Pap, enters the story and tries to change everything about Huckleberry that the two women have taught him.
In the book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the protagonist is faced with many moral dilemmas. Huckleberry Finn is barely an adolescent who is used to skipping school and horsing around with his friends. Regardless, he is forced to make decisions that no person should have to make, even though he is only a child. Huckleberry is an outstanding role model and a model of what a human being should represent. Even though Huck is surrounded by corruption and is led by examples that do not recognize right from wrong, he is still able to address nonconformity. He makes the most morally upstanding decisions while under stress and the disapproval of society. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is about a young boy who grows up without the leadership of a father to guide him as he struggles with decisions that heavily impact those around him. Huckleberry makes the conscious decision to help a runaway slave escape to his freedom. He struggles with this decision for an extremely l...
Tom Sawyer, a mischievous, brave, and daring boy that goes through adventures in love, murder, and treasure. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is about a boy maturing from a whimsical troublemaker into a caring young man. In the "conclusion" Mark Twain writes, "It being strictly a history of a boy, it must stop here; the story could not go much farther without becoming a history of a man" Tom is now maturing throughout a span of adventures in love, treasure, and everyday life that make him more of an adult, then a boy.
In Mark Twain's novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the adults in Huck's life play an important role in the development of the plot. Pap, Huck's father, constantly abuses the boy, never allowing him to become an intelligent or decent human being. He beats and attacks Huck whenever they meet up, and tries to destroy Huck's chances of having a normal life. This situation is balanced by several good role models and parent figures for Huck. Jim, the runaway slave, embraces Huck like a son, and shares his wide ranging knowledge with him. He also protects Huck on the journey down the river. Widow Douglas is another good role model for Huck. She tries to civilize him and make him respectable to society, while also being caring and compassionate. There is a stark contrast in the ways Huck is treated by adults, and all have an affect on him.
Have you ever liked a movie more than the book it was based on? A book being made into a movie is sometimes stressful when it could be a total hit or a total flop. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer book by Mark Twain was a captivating book with details that molded well together. A movie was made in 1938 off of the book and I favored it over the book. The movie did leave me unsatisfied with its loss of an important scene that can cause confusion. Yet, the fast paced action scenes left me feeling enthralled and hooked. Adding on to that, the main character’s personality stayed true to the book without a feeling that something is missing. The movie, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is far more exciting and appealing because of its heart racing action and true characters that keep the audience glued to the screen.
In the Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, the friendship between the two friends Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer is strong enough to get them through some life changing adventures. The story takes place in the mid 1800's, in a Missouri town called St. Petersburg. Tom Sawyer is a very mischievous, adventurous kid, living with his Aunt Polly and her daughter, Mary, and his brother Sid. In the very beginning of the book Tom shows how mischievous he is when he tricks a couple of town kids into painting a fence for him. He talks about how it's such an honor and great fun to paint fences, so the kids quickly join in taking a brush. Huck Finn, however, has a different lifestyle, envied greatly by Tom, his best friend, as well as every other kid in town, because he is carefree and gets to do whatever he wants. Huck's father is the town drunk and beats him often. For that reason, Huck is basically an orphan and sleeps where he wants, skips school, dresses how he wants, and does whatever he wants to do.