As Fos Hazziet once said, “ The problem with gender is it prescribes how we should be rather than recognizing how we are”. According to the dictionary gender role is defined as “a role or behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms”. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses gender roles to show that women have specific roles in society. In the 1800s, men and women had complete opposite roles. Women had certain jobs, such as cleaning the house and watching the children, while the men were out in the world getting jobs and providing for their families. While reading “Gender in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Myra Jehelen and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark
Loftus was portrayed as a stereotypical female. When Huck showed up at her house dressed like a girl, she demonstrated all the various ways that girls were “supposed” to act. When Ms. Loftus gave advice, she stated “ When you throw at a rat or anything, hitch yourself up on a tipone and fetch your hand up over your head as awkward as you can, and miss your rat by six or seven feet” (Twain 78). Mrs. Loftus demonstrated that girls and women were supposed to look ludicrous in front of others and that they were not suppose to know anything that seem “abnormal”. She was able to realize that Huck was fake by looking at the results of the series of tests given to him. Also, she relied solely on her husband. Throughout Huck’s visit at Ms. Loftus’s house, he was constantly reminded by Ms. Loftus that her husband will get back home soon so that Huck can return safely. People at that time believe that women were too weak to do anything
She had put Huck’s opinions and actions before her own because she was a female and Huck was a male. When the real identity of the Duke and King were revealed, Mary Jane had a momentary tantrum. However, as she regressed back to her original mindset, she immediately slipped back into being in the inferior mindset. She said “ I never thought, I was so stirred now. Now go on, and I won’t do so anymore. You tell me what to do and whatever you say I’ll do it.” (Twain 180), she did not even consider the possibility of handling the situation herself; instead she expected a male figure to help her with creating a plan. Also, Mary Jane was portrayed as a motherly figure. Her nurturing caused Huck to trust her as a motherly figure. Mary Jane defended Huck when she said, “ I don’t care whether ‘twas little or whether ‘twas big; he’s in our house and a stranger, and it wasn’t good of you to say it” (Twain 169-170) As Mary Jane had said this, she is illustrated as a kind and trusting person, a quality all women were supposed to
In order for Huck to alienate himself from society and reveal the hypocrisy of society’s values. Twain uses the morals of the widow Douglas to insure Huck’s understanding of how contradicting these morals really are. “The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me” (Twain 1). It’s shown from this quote that the widow Douglas most truly believed that her moral values where the correct and civilized morals. But it wasn’t only the the widow Douglas who taught Huck, her sister Mrs. Watson taught Huck the ideas of Christianity and read stories from the Bible to him as well. They both tried to insure that Huck turn in to the what they believed was the civilized and religiously correct human being.
While Huck is traveling down the river with Jim, he must lie and often disguise himself to survive on his own to conceal his identity. Huck rebels because he does not want to follow his aunts house rules or live up to her expectations which are to conform to social norms. This means he has to dress cleanly and neatly, use manners, go to school, and be polite to everyone. Huck also is confused because he wants to get away from his abusive father who excessively drinks. Huck is afraid of his father who has beaten him and verbally abused him repeatedly therefore, his only solution is to run away. He does this by faking his own death. Curiousity overwhelms him and he wants to know how society has taken to the news of his death. In order to get some information Huck disguises himself as a girl. He meets with Judy Lawson, a local woman, and asks about the disappearance of Huck Finn. Although his disguise works well, Judy Loftus starts to test him to disguise whether Huck is really a girl. As soon as Judy says, "What's your real name? Is it Bill, or Tom, or Bob? -or what is it?"(Twain 70) Huck realizes he has no chance in pulling such pranks. When confronted with his lie Huck tells the truth and ends up making a friend who says he can count on her. Huck also tries to protect Jim from being captured by lying about himself and his situation.
Even at the beginning of the novel, before Huck has gotten an opportunity to explore what he feels is right, Huck is growing tired of dealing having society and what culture thinks is right and also civilized. Huck says, "The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me...I got into my old rags and my sugar hogshead again, and was free and satisfied “(Twain 1). Huck prefers living free and having the ability to think what he wishes, rather than being “sivilized”. When Huck escapes from the surrounding society, at Jackson Island Huck runs into Jim and he is very happy to see him. Later Huck takes on a mean trick with Jim. He kills a rattlesnake and puts it on the foot of Jim’s comforters. Huck expects that Jim will react like almost any stereotypically, foolish, black man or woman. But Jim is not really a stereotype, and the joke becomes bad when Jim gets bitten through the snake’s mate. This tests Huck’s morality. Huck senses ashamed for what he did, but does not take responsibility for not understanding that Jim is a human being. This situation shows Hucks immaturity early in the novel.
Throughout the novel Huck struggles to follow his morals because he is afraid of abandoning the values that he had been taught by his environment. When he first travels with Jim along the river, he thinks it’s a sin to help an escaped slave because he is breaking the laws of Southern society. While thinking about his conflict he is reminded of Miss Watson. Huck asks himself, "What had poor Miss Watson done to you that you could see her nigger go off right under your eyes and never say one single word? What did that poor old woman do to you that you could treat her so mean” (Twain 100)? Even though Huck feels that Jim deserves to live freely, Huck is anxious about helping him because he fears disobeying his environment’s values. Whenever Huck follows his own sense of decency, he still makes mistakes, but he knows that he is wrong.
The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson try to "sivilize" Huck by making him stop all of his habits such as smoking, etc. They try to reverse all of his teaching from the first twelve years of his life and force him to become their stereotypical good boy. The rest of the town also refused to view him as good and he was considered undesirable. The only time that the town's people were able to put away their views of Huck was when there was excitement to be found, like when they all crowded on the steamboat to see if the cannons could bring Huck's body to the surface. Everyone got interested in him and tried to show that they cared about him, but this is only after he is presumed dead.
From the very beginning of the novel, there is an air of phoniness to the environments Huck is raised in, and his upbringing is the foundation for his ability to observe others’ discrepancies. He dislikes the stuffy rules in Widow Douglas’s home because they make little reasonable sense to him - for instance, Widow Douglas will not let him smoke because it is “a mean practice” and not “clean,” yet she chews tobacco, which Huck scoffs is alright because “she done it herself” (12). Huck observes little duplicities like this, yet does not judge them outright. And as uncomfortable as he was with the uptight style of living with Widow Douglas, he also finds little solace in the woods with t...
relevant to texts that are not commenting directly on gender (such as Huck Finn). Overall, Myra
... about the fog and felt bad, to when he decided he would tell the truth to Mary Jane in a note. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an excellent example of how people can change over time and events. Huck generally feels that "humans are good and trustworthy, but you always have to watch out for people that always want to make a benefit at others loss". He is surprised by the fact that people have a tendency to do kind things (like when he helps Jim) and the fact that people can do terrible things to hurt others emotionally (as shown by the King and the Duke's heartless ways to get money). Huck talks with his concious (that little voice in the back of your head) to find what choice is better, turn in Jim or help Jim, and when he decides to help Mary Jane. So all in all Huck's good heart may have been buired beneath his deformed conscious but it prevailed in the end.
“Let me hasten to point out that, like most others, I don’t hold any grudges against Huck himself. He’s just a boy trying to survive.” (Smiley)Jane Smiley felt that Huck could have been better and she understood what Twain was trying to say about Huck. Jane also was exhausted about thinking about all the things Huck character could
At the beginning of the tale, Huck struggles between becoming ?sivilized? and doing what he pleases. He doesn?t want to listen to the rules that the Widow Douglas and her sister force upon him, even though he knows the widow only wants what is best for him. Miss Watson pushes Huck away from society even more through the way she treats him. She teaches him religion in such a dreary way that when she speaks of heaven and hell, Huck would rather go to hell than be in heaven with her: ?And she told all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there?I couldn?t see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn?t try for it? (12-13). Huck is taught a very different kind of morality by his father who believes ?it warn?t no harm to borrow things, if you was meaning to pay them back?? (70). He likes his father?s idea of morality better because he is not yet mature enough to fully understand right and wrong, although living with the widow...
In Mark Twain's novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the adults in Huck's life play an important role in the development of the plot. Pap, Huck's father, constantly abuses the boy, never allowing him to become an intelligent or decent human being. He beats and attacks Huck whenever they meet up, and tries to destroy Huck's chances of having a normal life. This situation is balanced by several good role models and parent figures for Huck. Jim, the runaway slave, embraces Huck like a son, and shares his wide ranging knowledge with him. He also protects Huck on the journey down the river. Widow Douglas is another good role model for Huck. She tries to civilize him and make him respectable to society, while also being caring and compassionate. There is a stark contrast in the ways Huck is treated by adults, and all have an affect on him.
According to Oxford Dictionary, gender role is defined as “set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture”. Gender role created an expectation of how each individual should act, talk, dress etc., based on their biological sex. Over many years, the issue of gender equality has tried to be eradicated but till now this issue still exists. Women, specifically are looked down upon in our society, while men are seen more powerful. Some individuals will argue that women are better off taking the traditional role and being inferior towards men. In this society, there are few women who have proven and destroyed views and perception of all females
Gender roles are unavoidable at any stage of your life. They are taught to you by parents, conveyed in the media, practiced and honored in organizations and supported by our government. No matter how many feminist groups attempt to bring the two sets of gender roles for males and females together, there will always be the unwritten expectations that males and females are taught. Boys will always play with guns and girls will always play with dolls. As long as this occurs, the ambitions for boys and girls will be directly related to the stereotypical form we are taught. It is up to the families, media and peers to use the gender roles appropriately.
Gender roles seek to put a person into a mold of what someone else sees them to be. For example in "Keep Within Compass," it is obvious that a man drew the plate because the woman is depicted to be genteel, sedate, and almost air headed in appearance, with no voice of her own. This is a prime example of the despicable properties placed in gender roles. Girls cannot play football and guys cannot be cheerleaders. The gender roles are defining what is right and what is wrong within society. For example, in the "Keep Within Compass" plate, the woman is wrong if she does not conform to the ideal of society.