Huckleberry Finn Character Analysis Essay

Pappavasiliou 1George PappavasiliouMrs. Mary AmatoEnglish IIMarch 23, 2018Mr. Charles Loring Brace, Founder of The Children's Aid Societyand Pioneer of The Orphan Train Movement“When a child of the streets stands before you in rags, with a tear-stained face, youcannot easily forget him. And yet, you are perplexed what to do. The human soul isdifficult to interfere with. You hesitate how far you should go.” – Charles Loring BraceIn Mark Twain’s book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character,Huckleberry, is a young boy, 11 or 12 years old, who lives an orphan lifestyle. He has nomother. His father is a highly abusive drunk and his aunts, who try to care for him, are nottrained to do so and are unsuccessful. At the time this book

(Brace 19)Although orphanages were a choice for some families, Brace felt that orphanages wereovercrowded and gloomy places that did not teach children to become productive andfunctioning adults ... Brace believed that a strong family life could help these victimizedand neglected children, knew that the American pioneers who were settling the Westcould use help, and felt that an arrangement that would place children within thesefamilies would be mutually beneficial. (Brown)In an effort to make the situation better and to remedy a cure, the Children's AidSociety was founded in 1853 by Charles Loring Brace ... at a time when orphan asylumsand almshouses were the only social services available for poor and homeless childrenin New York City. (A History of Innovation)The Orphan Train Movement had set goals of placing homeless children into lovinghomes rather than orphanages in order that the children might have a better upbringing intoadulthood. They tried their best to make sure that every child was placed in a loving home butsometimes that was not the case. Between 1854 and

My great object in the present work is toprove to society the practical truth of Mr Livingston's theoretical statement that thecheapest and most efficacious way of dealing with the Dangerous Classes of large citiesis not to punish them but to prevent their growth through the influences of education anddiscipline and religion ... to change their material circumstances and draw them underthe influence of the moral and fortunate classes that they shall grow up as usefulproducers and members of society able and inclined to aid it in its progress. (Brace,Charles Loring. Dangerous Classes of New York 43)As time passed, and the west was being developed, some 65 plus years into the OrphanTrain Movement, society began to rethink this process. In the 1920s the number of OrphanTrains decreased sharply. It was at that time that states began passing laws thatprohibited placing children across state lines. Additionally, there was criticism fromabolitionists who felt that the Orphan Trains supported slavery. (Brown)Although, as noted earlier, the Orphan Train Movement was not anything related toslavery, general citizens felt differently Pro-slavery advocates criticized the practice as well,saying that it was making slaves obsolete. In 1912, the U.S. Children’s Bureau wasestablished with the mission of helping states support