Huck Finn Criticized

Huckleberry Finn

The book I read was Huckleberry Finn, which was written by Samuel Langhorne Clemens whom is also known as Mark Twain. Twain was born on "November 30, 1835, in Florida or Missouri, his exact birthplace is not known" (Powers, 11). He was born to "John and Jane Clemens" (Powers, 11). At the age of only "twelve years old Twain worked as a printer's apprentice and typesetter in Hannibal" (Powers, 11). It was "at this age that Twain became interested in writing and as he got older he got more serious into his career" (Powers, 11). By the time he died he had received many awards and honors which include "Honorary M.A., 1888, Litt.D., 1901, both Yale University; LL.D., University of Missouri, 1902; named to American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1904; D.Litt., Oxford University, 1907" (Powers, 26). Mark Twain wrote many other "Novels, Humor/Satire, Short Stories, Plays, Essays, and Letters" (Wagenknecht, 31), therefore, making him more than qualified to write this book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered one of his greatest works. It is so good that "Ernest Hemingway said it "was one of the great masterpieces of the world" (Wagenknecht, 34). The purpose for Huck Finn was to express ideas in the late 1800's, which was dominantly slavery. The character of Jim as the slave as well as other minor characters in the story helps to fulfill this idea. This book is a good piece of literature that took "Twain over seven years

to write" (Petit, 18). The intended audience of the book was general readers that wanted a story with adventure and curiosity.

Throughout the book Mark Twain does make a bias that mostly black men and women were uneducated and inferior to the society they lived in. This is shown through the author's use of diction describing the characters and how they react to certain situations. An exaggeration that has been noted by some is that "Huckleberry Finn, the son of a drunken, poor white man, is troubled with many qualms of his conscience due to the part he is taking in helping the negro to gain his freedom" (Shaw, 52). Though this is a fictional book, that is opinion, it is heavily influenced by the times the author lives in by showing Huck as superior to Jim, because back when this book was written there were black slaves.