In the novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Colonel Sherburn lectures the crowd that desires to lynch him for shooting Boggs, a drunk man who had insulted Sherburn. His speech decries the false courage generated by a large group of insecure individuals as a flaw that plague average men and societies. Colonel scoffs at the idea that the mob will lynch him for his violent deed, saying that they “didn’t bring a man with [them]”, but “brought part of a man” and is “no braver” (Twain 190). Despite being outnumbered, Sherburn attacks the men about their manhood. He proclaims that they are “afraid [they]’ll be found out to be what [they] are –cowards– and so … they don’t fight with courage that’s born in them, but with courage that’s …show more content…
Before lecturing the mob, Sherburn “steps out onto the roof of his little front porch, with a double-barrel gun in his hand… and sort of laughed” (189,190). The elevated location of Sherburn forces him to look down on people with a gun beside him, a formidable and imposing sight, no doubt, to the mob driven only by an opportunity to take part in something exciting and not by firm ideals. Furthermore, Sherburn’s ability to laugh in the face of such a seemingly serious situation only adds to his argument against the mob as incapable of killing him in “daylight” or when they are in front of him. Sherburn, in fact, seems amused and even a bit annoyed by the mob rather than scared. His laugh, imposing stance, and finally his eloquent attack on the weakness of the mob are enough to disperse the mob. Anybody, including myself had I been in the mob, would feel ashamed after hearing Sherburn's speech. Sherburn has systematically exposed with his stance and speech the foolishness of the mob's actions and leave the members of the mob with no choice but to accept his arguments as true. This is particularly true as nobody in the mob is driven by anything other than the collective opinions and movements of others. Thus, when a logical statement that becomes undeniable is made, the
Sherifff Poppell and Thurnell Alston are the main characters that have strong and charismatic characteristics. They have a lot to offer to this diverse story, but they have a lot in difference to that makes them a complex character. Some of the differences are their leader skills differ fro both characters.
In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn you meet a rebellious young teen named Huck Finn. Huck is not your everyday hero especially in the beginning of the novel but slowly through the story his mature, responsible side comes out and he shows that he truly is the epitome of a hero. Huck is forced to make many crucial decisions, which could get him in serious trouble if not get him killed. Huck has natural intelligence, has street smarts, which are helpful along his adventure, and is assertive. Huck has always had to rely on himself to get through things because he is from the lowest levels of white society and his dad is known more or less as the `town drunk." So when Huck fakes his death and runs away to live on an island he is faced with yet another problem, which revolves around the controversial issue of the time of racism.
He also is quoted on African Americans with a side thought: "We have ground the manhood out of them & the shame is ours, not theirs, & we should pay for it" (Twain, 1997, p. 4).
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel in which the protagonist experiences man’s inhumanity to man in multiple forms: slavery and its brutality; selling a free man into slavery and allowing teenagers to treat him like a play-thing; separating families via slave auction; abusive parenting; alcohol abuse; honor killings; double-crossing; murders; lies; scams; two characters tortured by being tarred and feathered; and incivility of every sort. (Sean P. Connors,
During the first episode, a violent event occurs where a drunken man is shot and killed for feuding with a realist. This man is portrayed to have humanity figured out when the mob tries to avenge Col Sherburn for killing Boggs. Sherburn’s detailed speech describes how there is strength in numbers but oneself is cowardly without the other. Col confidently points out that the mob is cowardly and weak since no one has the courage themselves to lynch him. After Sherburn’s speech, the mob disperses quickly since they know he is right.
African-Americans aged 12 and up are the most victimized group in America. 41.7 over 1,000 of them are victims of violent crimes, compared with whites (36.3 over 1,000). This does not include murder. Back then during the era of the Jim Crow laws, it was even worse. However, during that time period when there were many oppressed blacks, there were many whites who courageously defied against the acts of racism, and proved that the color of your skin should not matter. This essay will compare and contrast two Caucasian characters by the names of Hiram Hillburn (The Mississippi Trial, 1955) and Celia Foote (The Help), who also went against the acts of prejudice.
That the soldier’s greatest fear was the fear of blushing. I think all men have this fear, to be a “man” and not a “pussy”. The fear of dishonored and becoming a lesser man. This fear was so compelling that each man within the platoon went off to war to die rather than to die of embarrassment of not going.
In Chapter 22 during Sherburn’s speech to the mob Twain suggests that mob mentality is detrimental to the social system of America and that the average man is a coward by directly addressing the faults of a mob and connecting the idea of a mob to the cowardly theme of hiding from conflict. During Sherburn’s speech he explains to the members of the mob that “you’re afraid you’ll be found out to be what you are-- cowards -- and so you raise a yell, and hang yourselves onto that half-a-man’s coat tail”(Twain 167). In this passage Twain directly address the motives of a mob in order to show its shortcomings. Twain shows that being in a mob is just a form of cowardice disguised as brave action. The direct address serves to call out the individual in the mob and address this individual rather than the group. This rhetoric shows that Twain views the mob not as one group, but a collection of weak individuals. Twain further shows his disdain for
One of the characters who show real courage is Tom Robinson. Being an African-American and living a generally prejudiced town like Maycomb, Tom was already licked from the start. Tom was allegedly accused of raping a white person and as Atticus says, “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (295). During his trial, Tom could have lied about his reasoning for helping Mayella, to keep himself from getting into more trouble but instead he showed real courage by revealing the real reason behind his actions: “I felt sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em” (264). Since Jim Crow laws were active in Maycomb, Tom’s answer was seen as a terrible mistake: “Below us, nobody liked Tom Robinson’s answer” (264). It showed that he, being a black person, thought he was better off than a white person. Tom also had real courage to go and help Mayella out in the first place; he didn’t have to, and by doing it he was putting himself to risk; any bystander could have gotten the wrong idea. However, he helped her anyways out of sheer goodwill. Another act of courage Tom did was when he tried to escape prison by running over the fence. He was licked from the start because he only had one good arm a...
Have you ever heard about the hippie who had to go to a Middle School after living on a remote farm in the novel Schooled by Gordon Korman? Well, Capricorn Anderson is a flower child who lives at Garland Farms until his grandmother, Rain, falls out of a plum tree, which changes this hippie’s life. Now, Cap has to go to a public middle school and live with Mrs.Donnelley, a social worker, which he is not prepared for.He is just a hippie with a soul of good, who is not prepared for physical fights, cursing, and even video games! He doesn’t understand this modern world; he’s as lost as a kit who couldn’t find her mother.
Henry is a young and enthusiastic soldier who was at first extremely eager to enter the war. He had a burning passion to be hero and talked about. “ This voice of the people rejoicing in the night had made him shiver in a prolonged ecstasy of excitement” (Crane 2). This young naive farmer boy finally after reading countless articles and hearing many tales of the war could not resist and enlisted in the army. To his surprise joining the army and getting onto a battlefield is not what he has dreamt of.
Hester Prynne committed a crime so severe that it changed her life into coils of torment and defeat. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester is publicly recognized as an adulteress and expelled from society. Alongside the theme of isolation, the scarlet letter, or symbol of sin, is meant to shame Hester but instead transforms her from a woman of ordinary living into a stronger person.
Le Colonel Chabert exhibits the relationship between strong and weak characters. The degree of strength within a character reflects how well the character survives in society. In society, weak characters often have no identity, profession or rank. Stronger characters have power to succeed from inner confidence, motivation and ambition. Any drastic changes brought to the body or soul by the environment corrupts that person's strength thereby affecting their ability to function properly in society. This comparison of characters gives an understanding of Balzac's pessimistic view of nineteenth century society. A character's strength and energy in the novel determines their survival in society. Colonel Chabert has been known to be a courageous hero in the past, "... je commandais un r‚giment de cavalerie … Eylau. J'ai ‚t‚ beaucoup dans le succŠes de la c‚lŠbre charge..." Once he returns to Paris after his injury, he loses his identity and becomes the " weak character " of society. This is a rapid decline down the "ladder of success" and Chabert tries desperately to climb back up to the top, where he had been before.
Throughout all the sinful things Hester Prynne has done, she still managed to obtain good qualities. Hester was an adulterer from the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester was looked down upon by the citizens of Boston because of the sin she and another person committed, but no one knew who her partner in crime was because she refused to release his name. Towards the very end of the story Hester’s accomplice confessed and left Hester and Pearl feeling joyous, because now they didn’t have to keep in a secret. Hester is a trustworthy, helpful, and brave woman throughout The Scarlet Letter.
several times about his new beautiful wife and how lucky he is to have been the one that was