Huckleberry Finn – Study of His Character
In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he takes an alternate route from the normal adventure cliché. On the surface as well as when searching for a deeper meaning, many adventure books are unfulfilling in that they posses no real message. It is not that an adventure book should be deemed poor in quality simply because it lacks depth, because that's not really what an adventure book offers. Conventionally, the adventure book is a descriptive book in that it describes every leg of the protagonist's journey. The pivotal part to a truly fulfilling book is the deeper meaning, the stuff below the surface-- to me, this is what separates The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and puts it head and shoulders above any book I have read in that genre. Twain offers up more than the conventional adventures-- he personifies the characters to the point of showing their exact dialect through improper spelling and grammar. He displays the character's emotions and thoughts, making it easy to relate to many of the things that the characters are thinking, in essence making a better book. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book saturated with morals and lessons. If you take the tale at face value the characters seem uneducated, but the depth to the book shows that there is a lesson being transmitted through each of the characters.
The vivid and colorful characters make this book pleasing to read, a type of book that makes reading not a burden, but entertainment that rivals even video games. Twain takes Huckleberry Finn, on the surface your average character but because of the extent that Twain develops the characters, the character's rises and p...
... middle of paper ...
... may look like they are disrespectful and malignant just because of the clothes they wear, their place in society, their dialect, or the way the do their hair. These are all of course outward appearances and should not influence our judgment of someone but they almost always do. Huck and Jim are great examples that adhere to this doctrine well-- Jim for instance is a slave, he almost seems foolish by his superstitions. Though through deeper inspection, Jim turns from a slave to a father figure, offering guidance to Huck and protecting him. Twain illustrates that below every ugly surface, there is usually a great personality to discover.
Works Cited
Bruce, Robert Ph.D. CliffsNotes On Twain's Huckleberry Finn. New York: Hungry Minds, Inc., 2000.
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Bantam Books, 1981.
Both the New England and Southern colonies enjoyed some common conditions that enabled them to grow. First, the colonies were loyal to the English crown and considered themselves English citizens, subject to their mother country’s laws. They also shared a common language. Finally, England inadvertently helped the colonies develop a sense of autonomy by essentially ignoring them while dealing local issues such as the English Civil War in the 1650’s.
The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn’s unique ability to incorporate moral lessons through satire and simmilar literary techniques prove it to be vital for High school students, especially at Rye, to read. The vast nature of things it teaches is something very rare for one book to do. It not only provides the reader with important life themes like other great novels do but it also shocks the reader to show the power of racism which makes it one of the greatest pieces of literature of all time. Just think of how different things would be if no one had read such an important book.
Twain makes the reader look at society in a different lens. When reading Huckleberry Finn the reader is transported back in time to America during the 1840s. The reader meets Huck and Jim, two unlikely friends who are both in bondage with society. Olsen says that literature shapes the way people view the world by exploring different viewpoints. These viewpoints include society’s view about slavery at the time, and Hucks changing view about Jim even though he is a slave. High school students are mature enough to think about the points Twain is trying to make about racism and society through his themes and satire. Simmons states in his article that, “It seems fairly obvious to me that as students mature, they benefit by thinking critically about literary texts.” DelFattore says in her article, “Being required to confront difficult, embarrassing, and controversial matters and learn how to deal with them does not constitute a hostile learning environment. It constitutes an education” (DelFattore). Through reading Huckleberry Finn students begin to develop and question society and the prejudices that still exist. Students need to be given the opportunity to read this book and think about it critically so that they can learn to address important issues and how to work through
Mark Twain tells the story of Huckleberry Finn, and his maturity that is developed through a series of events. This maturity is encouraged through the developing relationship between Huck and Jim, as well as the strong influence Jim has on Huck. Jim's influence not only effects Huck's maturity, but his moral reasoning; and the influence society has on Huck. Jim is Huck's role model; even though Huck would not admit it. At first Jim seems to portray a Black stereotypical role with his superstitions and ignorance, although his true identity and maternal role begins to shine through as his interactions with Huck progress.
Mark Twain throughout the book showed Huckleberry Finns personal growth on how he started from the bottom as a lonely, racist, immature kid who knew nothing to where he is now, by finally breaking away from society’s values he was taught in the beginning. He has alienated himself from the from that society and revealed how in fact these values were hypocritical. He realized that he can choose his own morals and that the one he chooses is the correct one.
During the late 1940's and the 1950's, the Cold War became increasingly tense. Each side accused the other of wanting to rule the world (Walker 388). Each side believed its political and economic systems were better than the other's. Each strengthened its armed forces. Both sides viewed the Cold War as a dispute between right and wron...
Southern colonies were hilly coast with grew cotton, tobacco, rice, sugar cans .also they had specific regions which gave way to religious freedoms.The founders of the Southern Colonies were, for the most part, out to make money. They brought their families, as did the New England colonists, and they kept their families together on the plantations.In the Southern Colonies and travel environment controlled social life. The Southern Colonies had a hard-and-fast three class system. Upper-class rich colony owners, middle-class small colony owners, lower class.The southern colonies were established early on after the settlement of Jamestown in 1607. At first, the south also relied on the forests and the water, but tobacco and cotton later emerged as cash crops. Initially, these crops were harvested by indentured servants, but with the growth of plantations, planters started to import slaves from Africa. In the South, there was a great divide between the rich and the poor. The Church of England was the dominant religion and the center of life for southerners. Laws were made by county governments and the economy centered around the large
Odd Arne Westad, Director of the Cold War Studies Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science, explains how the Cold War “shaped the world we live in today — its politics, economics, and military affairs“ (Westad, The Global Cold War, 1). Furthermore, Westad continues, “ the globalization of the Cold War during the last century created foundations” for most of the historic conflicts we see today. The Cold War, asserts Westad, centers on how the Third World policies of the two twentieth-century superpowers — the United States and the Soviet Union — escalates to antipathy and conflict that in the end helped oust one world power while challenging the other. This supplies a universal understanding on the Cold War (Westad, The Global Cold War, 1).
Despite all the criticism, of racism and other questionable material for young readers, Mark Twain’s The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn is a superbly written novel, which in the opinion of this reviewer should not be remove the literary cannon. Twain’s novel is a coming of age story that teaches young people many valuable lessons and to some extend makes students reexamine their own lives and morals. The most common argument for its removal from the literary canon is that the novel is too racist; it offends black readers, perpetuates cheap slave-era stereotypes, and deserves no place on today’s bookshelves. However one must ask if Twain is encouraging traditional southern racism or is Twain disputing these idea.
After World War II America and Russia became superpowers. Even thought they fought together against the Nazis they soon became hostile rivals. Between 1945 and
The Gospel of Matthew exhibits the plan of atonement and salvation for all people and the beginning of a new era. The Kingdom has come. Matthew’s Gospel is eschatological. Through the direct use of and allusions to the Hebrew scriptures, as well as fulfillment citations Matthew clearly connects Jesus’ life and ministry with Israel’s traditions and promised history.4...
A true friend is someone who is always there for you through thick and thin. During bad times and good times, true friends always have each other’s backs no matter. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain the main character Huckleberry Finn develops an unbreakable bond with Ms. Watson’s slave named Jim. Huck and Jim’s relationship doesn’t develop right away, but as the novel evolves, Huck opens up to Jim when they journey down the Mississippi river together. Huck begins to care for Jim and treat him as equal.
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.
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.
There is always a need for a minority voice, a figure capable of conveying to the masses about the injustices faced by minorities. Occurring more than commonly thought, this figure tends to be part of the reigning majority. This issue, with the addition of several others, is introduced in Mark Twain 's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a sequel to his book about the mischievous Tom Sawyer. In the novel, Huckleberry Finn and the runway slave Jim, find themselves both escaping the people who control their lives and their choices. As the mere acquaintances ' relationship suddenly transforms into friendship, Huck 's opinions about Jim greatly differ from what he was raised to believed. Jim 's humanistic characteristics, Huck and Jim