Huckle Berry Finn

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The American author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, is famous, or rather infamous, for satirically criticizing the values of society while demonstrating human nature through his characters. His novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is no exception. There is a warning at the beginning of the novel to not try to find a motive, a moral or a plot.
Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons; attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. (p1, Twain)
In this passage the Chief of Ordinance, G.G. implies that anyone attempting to analyze the novel ,that anyone trying to find a deeper meaning in the novel, will be punished. Despite the humorous warning, it is evident that Twain utilizes his central character’s struggles in a complex world to reveal elements of human nature and the values of the society of his era. Twain uses his character’s struggles to demonstrate the human nature of companionship in order to criticize one of society’s values of his era: racism.
Jim is an excellent example of how Twain demonstrates human nature. Jim is a black slave from the fictional town of St. Petersburg Missouri, who decides to run away from his owner, Miss Watson, for fear of being sold down south to New Orleans. Jim encounters Huckleberry Finn, who is also running away, and the two quickly develop a bond as they were able to relate to each other. Jim is a black slave, someone’s property, and Huck comes from the lowest level of white society. Jim and Huck’s friendship demonstrates the human nature of companionship.
“Well, I did. I said I wouldn’t, and I’ll stick to it. Honest injun, I will. People would call me a...

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...inn Mark Twain has demonstrated the insensibility of racism. Twain has used his central characters’ struggles in a complex world to reveal elements of human nature and elements of societal values; by doing so he has shown that racism, one of society’s values, is against human nature. At the time when the book was first published, 1884, the American Civil War had already ended and technically, all black men and women were free. However, down south, racism was still institutionalized through the passing of regulations such as the Jim Crow laws. Although black men and women were technically “free”, they were very much still oppressed. Mark Twain, through his clever use of the backwoods Missouri Negro dialect and his generous use of the “n-word” (219 times), has thoroughly explored the world of morals and values, all the while making a powerful statement against racism.

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