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critical analysis the adventures of huckleberry finn
critical analysis the adventures of huckleberry finn
19th century in America society
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Imagine taking a great and adventurous trip along the Mississippi just a few years after the great Civil War. Well, that is a voyage that young Huck Finn took in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer written by Mark Twain. In this book, many aspects of Huck and his civilization or lack-there-of are brought up for discussion. As the reader progresses through the story, he or she will soon discover that it is not Huck whose civilization should be up for question but Pap’s, the duke’s and king’s, and Tom’s should be analyzed furthermore.
As the reader opens to book, they are soon to realize Pap’s barbarism. Pap is Huck’s father, but his attitude towards life is atrocious. Pap believes that he is significantly sophisticated for the simple reason that he is a white, land-owning male. During the year 1876 when Huck Finn was published, anyone owning land was considered civilized because they had the money to do so. Although this may have been unerring for many people, Pap is different. Pap is an alcoholic that is constantly trying to steal Huck’s money in order to avoid sobriety. Huck has six thousand dollars saved up that Judge Thatcher is conserving for Huck. Pap is constantly reinforcing the idea that Huck should give every cent of his coinage to his father. Every so often Huck sustains a meager sum to enable Pap to buy his palliative. When Pap is angry because of his lack of money, he tends to threaten Huck and lash him. Pap is also exceedingly selfish. He believes that Huck should not be more educated than he, because Pap feels as though children should not be “better” or more achieved than their predecessors. This element is evidently depicted when Huck affirms Pap’s recent threatening remark, “… I reckoned he was gone, he come back and ...
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... Tom” (257), and other remarks collateral to, “I don’t care for the morality of it, nohow” (260). These inputs show emphasis how mature, developed, and sophisticated Huck proves to be as opposed to the puerile, naive Tom. Huck continually depicts a great level of maturity and civilization against the view of Tom.
As the reader has come to realize, Huck is the most civil of the vital characters introduced in this story. Mark Twain explains his actual opinions on society and civilization in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This book is a great, classic piece of literature that should be used for generations to come to explain the importance of being a well-rounded person. Huck is compared, in civility, to Pap, the duke and king, and Tom Sawyer. As it is plain to see, Huck happens to be a very sophisticated person.
Works Cited
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Huck's Pap thought that he was trying to out do him, because he went to school. You've put on considerable frills since I've been away. I'll take you down a peg before I get done with you. You think you're better than your father, now don't you, because he can't? I'll take it out of you.
Before Huck sets out on his raft adventure, he is exposed to the values and morals of his poor, drunken father. Pap Finn instills a "Southern race prejudice" and leads Huck to believe "that he detests Abolitionists" (374). Huck comes into conflict with this philosophy as he journeys on the raft with Jim. He can not decide if he is wrong in helping Jim escape slavery or if the philosophy is wrong. The education of Huck also stirs some values from Pap. When Pap tells him that education is useless, Huck is confused because the Widow Douglas told him that education was important. As a result, Huck's values towards education are uncertain. Pap Finn, as a figure of the lower class, does his part to confuse the growing morals of his son.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn follows a rebellious orphan named Huck Finn through adventures that find him fighting against the society that wants to civilize him and the moral obligations imposed by society. Specifically, Huck runs away from society and in doing so embarks on an adventure that leads him to Jim, a slave. Society mandates that Huck turn Jim in but as a friendship is formed Huck struggles with society’s demands and protecting his friend. This novel realistically explores many different emotions that were prevalent in this era and the struggles that citizens were faced with.
“The judge and the widow went to law to get the court to take me away from [Pap] and let one of them be my guardian; but it was a new judge that had just come, and he didn’t know the old man; so he said courts mustn’t interfere and separate families if they could help it,” (21). The new judge did not take the time to know or assess Pap, so he figured that Huck better stay with his natural born guardian. Huck is then forced to stay with his drunk and abusive father who imprisons him in their cabin. Because Huck can no longer rely on other adults for help, Huck decides to fake his own death in order to escape. The idea that he has lost faith in adults depicts a picture that is not very optimistic towards the American people. Children are supposed to look up to adults and let them be their guide as they come of age, so Huck is showing that sometimes adults dismiss matters so quickly that a child must take them into their own hands. Another example would be the family feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons. The families do not exactly remember why they are quarrelling, but they do know that they have to fight because they have been battling each other for many years now. Twain, through Huck, is showing how absurd these family feuds are because they are rather pointless, especially if neither of the
In the novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, the characters all value some things specific to his character. Jim and Tom are peculiar characters because they have distinct ways of looking at things. In that Jim values family and friendship, Tom values following the rules, and Huck values the natural world.
Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered the great American Novel with its unorthodox writing style and controversial topics. In the selected passage, Huck struggles with his self-sense of morality. This paper will analyze a passage from Adventures of huckleberry Finn and will touch on the basic function of the passage, the connection between the passage from the rest of the book, and the interaction between form and content.
The prejudices on which the “civilized society” lie build those who are blind to the injustices occurring. The dark visages from which the societies hid are revealed through Huck’s persona and his interaction between the minor characters. Twain’s exposure to the dark side to even the moral- looking people reveals the theme of everyone wears a face and behind the front is a much darker side that most people do not want exposed.
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...
Throughout the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn there are numerous crimes. The violence of these crimes is described vividly by Huck, the narrator, which shows their impact upon him. By showing Huck's shock over these events, Twain is showing that there is no real justice in the South, except for the hollow and often inappropriate excess found attempts to obtain personal justice. During these scenes Huck's turmoil reflects what Twain wants the reader to feel. Ultimately, this novel is a sharp criticism of a Southern lifestyle where justice is unobtainable.
Huck Finn thinks about his father in an unusual way. Huck does not like his father, which makes sense because his father is a greedy drunk, however Huck still looks up to his father as a role model. Pap is not a good role model for Huck because of his history of abusing Huck and his random disappearances. When Pap tries to gain custody of his Huck, the judges side with him just because he is the father. This is shown when Huck says “The judge and the widow went to law to ge...
Mark Twain’s masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through much criticism and denunciation has become a well-respected novel. Through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy, Huckleberry Finn, Twain illustrates the controversy of racism and slavery during the aftermath of the Civil War. Since Huck is an adolescent, he is vulnerable and greatly influenced by the adults he meets during his coming of age. His expedition down the Mississippi steers him into the lives of a diverse group of inhabitants who have conflicting morals. Though he lacks valid morals, Huck demonstrates the potential of humanity as a pensive, sensitive individual rather than conforming to a repressive society. In these modes, the novel places Jim and Huck on pedestals where their views on morality, learning, and society are compared.
In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain illustrates several traits that are common in mankind. Among these traits are those that are listed in this essay. Through characters in the story Twain shows humanity's innate courageousness. He demonstrates that individuals many times lack the ability to reason well. Also, Twain displays the selfishness pervasive in society. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, many aspects of the human race are depicted, and it is for this reason that this story has been, and will remain, a classic for the ages.
Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is an American classic which analyzes and satirizes most if not all of the major issues at the time of its making. These issues are viewed through the eyes of the twelve-year-old Huck who has a unique perspective on the world due to his lack of family and overall wild nature. Huck’s innocence supports the novel as a whole through supporting Huck’s perspective on people, and his innocence also helps begin his journey and transforms as he grows throughout the novel.
Almost immediately we are introduced to the drunken, deranged man who is Huck?s father, Pap. Pap is an alcoholic who roams from place to place buying up booze and sleeping wherever he can. Huck has never viewed him as a real father figure because Pap has almost never been there for Huck, except when he is ?disciplining? him. Pap is uneducated and disapproves of Huck attending school. Pap tells Huck, "you're educated...You think your're better'n your father, now, don't you, because he can't?" (14) Huck puts up with Pap?s numerous beatings because he does not want to be the cause of any more controversies between himself and Pap. Huck explains, "If I never learnt nothing else out of pap, I learnt that the best way to get along with his kind of people is to let them have their own way" (95). Pap?s addiction to alcohol is how Twain views the affect that alcohol can have on a person. He believes that alcohol is a money waster, can affect the sanity of people, and how it can turn even decent men into complete scoundrels.
Pap says this during their first meeting in the book. He cannot believe that Huck is becoming an educated person and having a normal life. Pap is already angry because of Huck's money, and now he is just irate.