Realism and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is an immensely realistic novel, revealing how a child's morals and actions clash with those of the society around him. Twain shows realism in almost every aspect of his writing; the description of the setting, that of the characters, and even the way characters speak. Twain also satirizes many of the foundations of that society. Showing the hypocrisy of people involved in education, religion, and romanticism through absurd, yet very real examples. Most importantly, Twain shows the way Huckleberry's moral beliefs form amidst a time of uncertainty in his life. Realism is a literary style in which the author describes people, their actions, their emotions and surroundings as close to the reality as possible. The characters are not perfectly good or completely evil; they exhibit strengths and weaknesses, just as real people. The characters often commit crimes or do immoral things, and are not always just good or just evil. In a realistic novel, aspects of the time period or location are also taken into consideration. Characters dress in clothes that befit them, and speak with local dialects. Most importantly, characters are not sugar coated or exaggerated. The characters do things as they would normally do them, and are not worse or better then their real life counterparts. Using his experiences as a steamboat engineer, Mark Twain creates a realistic novel through meticulous detail in the descriptions of the setting, diction, and characters. The setting is described with much detail and imagery, so as to make it as close as possible to the actual surroundings. Twain uses a page just to describe the sunrise over the river. The first thing to see, looking away over the water, was a kind of dull line - that was the woods on t'other side; you couldn't make nothing else out; then a pale place in the sky; then more paleness spreading around; then the river softened up away off, and warn't black any more, but gray; you could see little dark spots drifting along ever so far away-trading-scows, and such things; and long black streaks-rafts ... and by and by you could see a streak on the water which you know by the look of the streak that there's a snag there in a swift current which breaks on it and makes that streak look that way; and you see the mist curl up off of the water, and the east reddens up.(117) This complex and almost photographic description of a simple dawn is an example of Twain's painstaking attempt to stay as close to reality as possible, placing him into the genre of realism. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn also displays realistic qualities in the way characters and their speech is written. Twain explains this in a preface: "In this book a number of dialects are used ... The shadings have not been done in a haphazard fashion, or by guesswork; but painstakingly, and with the trustworthy guidance and support of personal familiarity with these several forms of speech"(EXPLANATORY). The dialects are not only realistic in grammar and word choice, but in the characters that display them. Characters who are less educated, such as Jim the slave, speak using slang, shortened words, or improper grammar; "Say, who is you? Whar is you? Dog my cats ef I didn' hear sumf'n. Well, I know what I's gwyne to do: I's gwyne to set down here and listen tell I hears it ag'in"(5). Characters who are more educated, such as Miss Watson, speak properly and do not use colloquial terms. The diction in general matches that of the south with such popular expressions as "dog my cats" and "by and by". The use of proper diction that fits the characters, time period, and location is another way in which The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn becomes a realistic novel. In unmasking the identities of characters, Twain satirizes the falseness and hypocrisy of certain educators, religious leaders, and romantics. Twain shows how the characters act in front of others, and then reveals their true emotions and mannerisms. The Duke and the Dauphin, for example, are two characters whom Huckleberry meets while traveling with Jim. The two act sophisticated and well read, but are actually common crooks. At first, the two pass themselves off as royalty, but even Huckleberry realizes that they are simply conmen. "It didn't take me long to make up my mind that these liars warn't no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds."(125) Claiming to also be a celebrated actor, the Duke recite and teaches the Dauphin excerpts from Shakespeare, whom he speaks of as "The historic muse is the darling. Have you ever trod the boards, Royalty?" Although at first the Duke seems like an educated gentleman, when he actually acts out Shakespearean plays it is evident that he knows very little; mixing scenes and lines from completely different plays. His recital of Hamlet's soliloquy contains lines from MacBeth, and perverts the actual lines from Shakespeare To be, or not to be; that is the bare bodkin That makes calamity of so long life; For who would fardels bear, till Birnam Wood do come to Dunsinane. (136) In this way, Twain satirizes those who act educated and well-bred, but actually know very little. Twain also satirizes religion, and the way people seem to be pious when in public, but completely disregard religious values when they are not beneficial to them. The Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons, two rivaling families whom Huckleberry stays with briefly, are an example of this type of religious hypocrisy. When the two families go to church, "the men took their guns along, and kept them between their knees or stood them handy against the wall. The Shepherdsons done the same" (109). Even when in church, the two families still do not trust each other. More importantly, after agreeing that the sermon on brotherly love was a good one, the two families go out and continue fighting each other. Again, the families attend to church and act devoted, but do not actually apply what they have learned to their own life. The most evident and humorous of Twain's satires is that of Tom Sawyer and romanticism. Tom Sawyer enjoys such romantic books as The Count of Montecristo, and makes all of his plans based on what he feels will be the most romantic, and oftentimes the least logical path. When rescuing Jim, Tom devises a complicated plan that is so difficult to accomplish that even he eventually gives up on certain parts, and just pretends that he is doing them. Even more outlandish is the fact that Jim eventually gets out of the prison to go and help Tom make the preparations for his escape. Instead of escaping quickly and painlessly, Jim must wait for weeks and finally run away under fire from the locals. Just as certain people exhibited false or hypocritical traits, the society also displayed selfish and egotistical. People felt that it was normal to hurt or even kill another person if that was beneficial. Slaves and Negro's faced even more conflict; considered inferior to whites, they were often mistreated and regarded with suspicion. Huckleberry holds many of these morals to be correct, and often strives to uphold them, even when he really knows that he shouldn't. Originally, Huckleberry feels that Jim is inferior because he is a slave and describes him as such. He and Tom play tricks on him and abuse his superstitious beliefs. Huckleberry, for instance, places a snakeskin in Jim's bed, because he knows that Jim does not like it. Huckleberry also feels that Jim should be returned and does not deserve to be free. He even goes as far as writing a letter to Miss Watson that explains where Jim is being held. Huckleberry also feels that conning people is normal and expected. He allows the Duke and the Dauphin to put on fake plays and charity events in several cities, and does not feel that it is wrong for them to steal. Although Huckleberry upholds these morals at first, because they have been taught to him throughout his life, eventually he realizes that this type of behavior is not right. Ultimately, Huckleberry's character changes, and he denounces the morals of society, and does what he himself feels is morally correct. Huckleberry first revolts against the popularly held belief that school and education is not important. Although he starts of cutting school, he eventually begins to attend regularly, and even receives an award for good studies. Eventually Huckleberry runs away due to the mistreatment that he receives from his father and encounters other characters whose morals are tolerated by society. When Huckleberry meets up with the Duke and the Dauphin, he also begins rebelling against the "dog eat dog" mentality of only caring for oneself. Ultimately, when the Duke and the Dauphin try to scam two sisters by posing as relatives collecting money from a will, Huckleberry goes as far as revealing to one of the girls where the money is hidden and how she can get it, even though he could have easily taken it and left. Huckleberry does this because, unlike the Duke and the Dauphin, Huckleberry does not feel that stealing is acceptable, even if one can get away with it. Huckleberry's most profound action is the rebellion against the belief that Negroes are inferior. He grows fond of Jim, and changes from thinking of him as a stereotypical uneducated Negro, to a real human being who is caring and compassionate. Huckleberry stops playing tricks on Jim, and treats him with more respect. Most importantly, when Huckleberry feels that he must return Jim, he eventually decides against it, even though he thinks that he is defying God: "All right, then, I'll go to hell"(214). Through this, Huckleberry shows that he is willing to defy God to do what he feels is right. Huckleberry transforms from a delinquent, hoping to be like Tom Sawyer, who is the epitome of the thinking of the time, to a boy who can think for himself, and understands what is right and what is wrong, even if it might bring him pain. Through The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain tries to show the wrongdoings of society at the time and the ignorance and hypocrisy of the people. He does this through painstaking realism and almost factual description. Twain tries to show the wrongness in slavery and the view that slaves are simply mindless farm animals which is accepted by society. Twain tries to convey this from the point of view of a relatively innocent child, who has not been conditioned by society, and has had time to make his own opinions about life. Twain uses realism to show that this is not a fairy tale land, from one of Tom Sawyer's books, but that these are real people and real sentiments. Twain also uses realism to convey the fact that Jim is not an extraordinary or special salve, but that he is just like any other slave. By giving a real slave compassion and emotions, Twain shows slaves are just like any other people. Twain communicates a powerful and controversial message through what, at first, seems like a simple children's adventure book.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book that has racial attitudes towards a society. It is written in a language which is more artistic than usual. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer may be a book for young adults and children, but the Adventures of huckleberry Finn is not so much for kids. Mark twain shows the evil in his society by satirizing the institution of racism by using irony.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel written by Mark Twain during the late 1800’s (Mintz). The book brought major controversy over the plot, as well as the fact that it was a spin-off to his previous story, Adventures of Tom Sawyer. This book has remained a success due to Twain’s interesting techniques of keeping the audience’s attention. Chapters eleven and twelve of “Huckleberry Finn,” uses a first person limited point of view to take advantage of the use of dialogue while using many hyperboles to add drama to entertain the reader by creating description within the story without needing to pause and explain.
Miller includes the quotes and opinions of both those in favor and not in favor, and does not impose her own views on the reader. This article was worth my time because it expanded my view of dress codes and the reasons they are established. It did not change my view per say, but I see now how at times they are necessary until deeper, more thorough changes can be made, especially when student 's lives are at stake. It is for this reason that schools in Detroit have taken action against crimes within the student population by adopting a dress code. Mumford High School was the first school in Detroit to enforce a dress code in 1986. The school also requires that all book bags be see-through to ensure that students are not concealing firearms or any other weapons. Subsequently, Dunbar High School also enforced a dress code in 1988. Today, offenders of these regulations are punished with suspension and negative marks upon permanent records. After these adjustments were made, the number of robberies at Dunbar had dropped significantly. Along with the Mumford and Dunbar high school, Tilton Elementary School in Detroit adopted an optional uniform after a rise in student robberies. 10 year old LaDonna White, a fifth-grader at Tilton Elementary responds, "The code shows that you come to school to work and not to play, and it saves your parents money. And people
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...
Many think that a stronger dress code will help students focus in school, but the way a student dresses does not determine a student’s willingness to learn or the teacher’s ability to capture the student’s attention. Also, adults argue that high school is a teenager’s job; therefore, they should dress professionally. However, Elizabeth Forward does not have a policy against sweatpants, sweatshirts, or athletic attire, which are much more unprofessional than tank tops or destroyed denim. I think that the dress code policies should be relaxed to a more lenient state given the temperature of the building throughout the school year, the change in long-term trends among teenagers, and the level of hypocrisy illustrated between the relationship of school’s administration and the dress code policy.
With smoking cigarettes, cancer can be developed through the lungs, mouth, nose, throat, larynx, trachea, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, kidneys, bladder, cervix, bone marrow, and blood. The most recent causes are lung cancer and cardiovascular disease/ respiratory disease which causes a stroke. These chemicals damage DNA which causes the cells to grow abnormally. It starts to affect the immune system which begins to kill the cells. The cells don’t function properly to maintain proper blood flow which in the end causes cancer. With higher heart rate and blood pressure, the platelets in the blood begin to stick together and form clots which causes amputation. Smoking cigarettes also causes diabetes and teeth/ gum disease. Smoking cigarettes causes eye problems and it affects vision. Smoking cigarettes affects infertility and impotence which causes pregnancy and newborn complications. It begins to affect the baby by becoming premature or having some sort of disease. Smoking cigarettes can change your entire physical
-The man vs. himself conflict is another conflict that is brought out through the story, as Huckleberry constantly challenges his morals with the way he is brought up, as a racist southern boy, and his own personal beliefs. The main point of this conflict is mostly based on the way society treats Jim. Many times in the story, Huckleberry treats Jim poorly, merely because of his skin color, as he does such things as place a rattlesnake skin near Jim as he is sleeping, which ends in Jim with a snake bite. Also, since Jim is a slave, and his color, many references to the word “nigger” are plagued throughout the story, as he is being called one, and so are the rest of the black population. But that’s where Huckleberry’s conflict arises. He sees Jim as a nice, kind hearted man (which he is) and wishes to set him free. But at the same time, he has his own prejudices as in chapter twenty-three, Huck has a revelation. Watching Jim mourn because of his far away family, Huck concludes that blacks must love their families as much as whites love theirs.
Ever since literature has existed, there has been some arrays of mockery. Whether it be a criticism about a person, an action, or the way people live, there has especially been satire. In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn, encounters plenty of people and situations that are easy targets to ridicule. Throughout the text, Mark Twain satirizes religious views, hypocrisy, and romantic ideals to expose the real human flaws in southern society.
Realism is a literary style in which the author describes people, their actions, their emotions and surroundings as close to the reality as possible. The characters are not perfectly good or completely evil; they exhibit strengths and weaknesses, just as real people. The characters often commit crimes or do immoral things, and are not always just good or just evil. In a realistic novel, aspects of the time period or location are also taken into consideration. Characters dress in clothes that befit them, and speak with local dialects. Most importantly, characters are not sugar coated or exaggerated. The characters do things as they would normally do them, and are not worse or better then their real life counterparts.
Parents and their children are constantly arguing about the way students dress in school. This debate has become a national conversation which has been going on for more than a decade. However, there still hasn’t been a final resolution. The questions “Why do I have to wear the uniform today?” or “Can I wear this t-shirt because the color matches with my school t-shirt?” have become part of our everyday lives. Before we go any further, we have to understand the difference between uniforms and dress codes. A uniform is simply a garment worn that is the same in all cases and at all times. Whereas, a dress code is a set of rules regarding the required manner of clothing in a certain context. For instance, a school might not allow students to wear
Throughout the novel, Huckleberry’s moral development drastically changes along the Mississippi River. Initially, Huckleberry followed what others told him in order to be a civilized being. However, on his adventures with Jim, he learns that sometimes society is not always right and that he should follow what he believes. An important factor in Huckleberry’s maturation is Jim as he serves as his moral compass. Near the end of the story, Jim’s capture is a pivotal moment in Huckleberry’s development. To Huckleberry, Jim was a compassionate and courteous friend who often cared about Huckleberry extensively. However, Jim was heavily looked down upon by society due to being black. Thus, society would have degraded Huckleberry for helping a slave achieve freedom. As a result, Huckleberry’s principles clash with societal rules when he is indecisive on whether he should rescue Jim or not. At first, Huckleberry thinks about leaving Jim as it is the proper action to do according to Widow Douglas. Eventually, Huckleberry makes a decision when he states “All right then, I’ll go to hell” (Twain 217). To clarify, this is a major turning point in the novel because Huckleberry decides that he will save Jim despite societal judgement because he values his friendship with him. Finally, Huckleberry solves his moral dilemma by choosing his own values instead of
...el and formation of thrombi. Over 7000 chemicals found in tobacco smoke cause breathing difficulty, wheezing, lung infections and chest pain. The long-term effects of smoking can cause many cancers as it contains many carcinogens. It is the leading cause of cancer affecting the lungs, mouth, throat, kidney, stomach and many other areas. Not only do tobacco products affect the user, but also the ones around them. Second-hand smoke can increase lung cancer, heart and breathing problems, as well as a premature death. In pregnant women, the unborn baby may be subject to health problems. By eliminating tobacco products, not only do previous smokers reduce the risk of developing cancer, but also can reduce their chance of dying prematurely by a very large percentage. For example, quitting at the age of 30 can reduce their chance of dying prematurely by over 90 percent.
First, smoking can cause at least twelve different cancers, the deadliest of the twelve being lung cancer. The filthy habit of smoking cigarettes is the leading risk factor in not only developing this horrible disease, but eventually and inevitably dying from it. In addition to lung cancer one who smokes may also be diagnosed with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) or asthma. COPD and asthma both affect the lungs by making it hard to breath. While, asthma does not initially come from smoking it certainly makes having it worse. Having either COPD or asthma really depletes one’s everyday life by making a simple walk to
Smoking causes bad health not only to the smoker, but to others too. The exposure of the smoke can be categorized into two kinds: The short-term exposure causes eye irritation and respiratory track irritation. The long-term effects are causing the more lethal problems like lung cancer, coronary heart disease, and increases stroke. All of these diseases come from the 4,000 chemicals found in tobacco in which 60 of them are carcinogens. There is no level of tolerance of the second hand exposure (Cooper, 2004).
Animals are not valued enough: Many forget that animals have feelings too. We tend to overlook the benefits of having a pet. Allen R. McConnell, Ph.D., a professor of Psychology at the university of Miami published an online journal in 2011, about research on pet ownership, “Pets provide meaningful social support for owners, improving their lives. Whereas some past research found that people facing serious health challenges are better with pets, the current work found that everyday people can benefit from pet ownership as well” (Friends with Benefits: Pets Make Us Happier, Healthier). Animals can bring immense joy in our lives if we allow them to and we start looking at them as companions and not