Discuss The Use Of Satire In Huckleberry Finn

Satire is defined as, “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices” (www.dictionary.com). In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the author Mark Twain, does just that. Satire is used in the novel to mock many different aspects of society. Throughout his trip down the Mississippi River with Jim, Huck encounters a variety of people and situations that are designed to scoff at the American people. Of these situations, the institution of slavery is represented not only by the treatment of African-Americans by their owners but as well as how society viewed them. Satire is used to picture the idea of “American trash” when represented by Huck’s Pap who is seen as a drunk. Satire is also used to

The Shepherdsons and Grangerfords are a pair of feuding families, and no one can remember why they are even fighting. Buck Shepardson even says that, “there ain't no cowards amongst the Grangerfords” (Twain 1355) but he still wants to kill them, although he hardly knows why. When the two families visit church and hear a sermon, Huck notices that “the men took their guns along…. And kept them between their knees” (Twain 1356). The fact that these two families bring their guns to church only adds to the humorous hypocrisy between loving and killing. This feud models one particular feud during the same time period between two families, the Hatfields and the McCoys.These two families had a huge feud that lasted for many years. There are a great deal of similarities between the fictional feud and the real feud. The fictional feud is satirical, because it takes parts of the real story and adds a silly element, commenting on the stupidity of human nature. Satire is used by Twain in order to expose the hypocritical actions used by his fellow citizens in society. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written shortly after the Civil War, in which slavery is one of the key issues. However, Twain did not believe that slavery isright in any way. Twain demonstrates how, years after the abolition of slavery, society is still filled with racial bigotry. By using satirical examples such as Pap as “American Trash”, and society’s view on African-Americans, Mark Twain shares his beliefs about slavery and human nature, while illustrating society’s hateful