Racism In Huck Finn Analysis

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The elements of racism and slavery could lead the reader to believe that Huckleberry Finn is in fact a mythical story. A mythical story’s purpose is to explain a social or natural phenomena, and racism and slavery are both social phenomenon. Slavery is a social phenomenon for the fact that is seen not only as ok, but instead desirable to own people as property, and treat them cruelly. Huckleberry Finn can also be seen as following the pattern of a picaresque novel because it follows the narrative of two friends who encounter many different adventures on their journey down the Mississippi River. 2) Pap Finn is a foil to Huck Finn in the light that he embodies everything that Huck tries to avoid. While Huck tries to go to school to better …show more content…

Towards the beginning of the book, Huck believed that harboring and aiding a runaway slave was not only socially wrong, but he also believed that it would earn him a place in hell. However, as his relationship with Jim grew stronger, he began to see Jim as a human being, not a “nigger”. The peak of Huck 's moral development occurs during chapter 31 when Huck decides to tear up the letter he wrote to Miss Watson describing the location of Jim. He then says “‘All right then, I’ll go to hell.”’(Twain 214). At this point, Huck understands the moral and legal repercussions of his actions, however, he has grown to the point where his friendship with Jim is more important to him than being in trouble with the law, and he decides to follow his newly found morals and decides to against societal …show more content…

Twain criticizes the large population of people that enjoy violence because it is “entertaining” and “fun”. An example of unnecessary and detrimental violence is depicted in the Grangerford and Shepherdson rivalry in which both parties have forgotten the original reason for the feud and are currently feuding just to feud. There is no meaning behind the violence, it is merely an excuse for both the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons to fight and kill each other. Twain is trying to relay the message that violence at most times as become unnecessary and it serves no purpose except to give the parties involved a slight adrenaline

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    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

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