Slavery in Huckleberry Finn

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Recommended: The development of slavery in Colonial America

The conquest to destroy slavery played an important role in the development of our country and made an impact in many lives. It brought about new ideas in art, music, literature and gave insight to a novel written by Mark Twain. Twain contributed an aspect of his perspective on slavery and racism and incorporated it into a novel named Huckleberry Finn.

Slavery in Huckleberry Finn

This novel was written during a reconstruction period in our country in which the slaves had already been freed by the emancipation proclamation. However, the blacks were struggling for equality and their acceptance as free individuals, They were not taken seriously and were still segregated from the whites. Although they were free, the south still had a negative view upon the black population and maintained their hatred towards them. Twain wrote this book in the sense of being in the past and showing how the blacks were treated throughout slavery.

Twain utilized his knowledge of the past and created a novel based upon a runaway boy and an escaping slave. Huckleberry Finn (the boy) and Jim (the slave) both escaped from society and traveled amuck down the river. Symbolically, they were both dependant on each other and they developed a special bond which aided them on their journey. Twain takes advantage of their separation from society and relays to the reader how the characters viewed their diversity. The two individuals become very close to each other even though they realized they were comprised of a different race. However, the thought of taking the role of a white man and turning Jim into custody crossed Huckleberry?s mind sporadically. Thus, Twain showed that he had assumed the role of the stereotypical white individual, and broke their bond of trust.

Developing upon this his of the turmoil between the two, Twain shows us a little bit about himself as a writer. He shows the reader that he?s an individual who displays diversity as a complexity and something that isn?

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