Huck Finn

Throughout the Mark Twain (a.k.a. Samuel Clemens) novel, The

Adventures of HuckleBerry Finn, a plain and striking point of view is expressed by the author. His point of view is that of a cynic; he looks upon civilized man as a merciless, cowardly, hypocritical savage, without want of change, nor ability to effect such change.

Thus, one of Mark Twain's main purposes in producing this work seems clear: he wishes to bring to attention some of man's often concealed shortcomings. While the examples of Mark Twain's cynic commentaries on human nature can be found in great frequency all through the novel, several examples seem to lend themselves well to a discussion of this sarcastic view. In the beginning of the novel, it would seem that both Huck Finn and Jim are trapped in some way and wishing to escape.

For Huck, it is the violence and tyranny of his drunken father. Kept in a veritable prison, Huck wishes desperately to escape. Jim feels the need to escape after hearing that his owner, Miss Watson, wishes to sell him down the river-a change in owners that could only be for the worse. As they escape separately and rejoin by chance at an island along the river, they find themselves drawn to get as far as possible from their home. Their journey down the river sets the stage for most of Mark Twain's comments about man and society. It is when they stop off at various towns along the river that various human character flaws always seem to come out. Examples of this would include the happenings after the bringing on of the Duke and King. These two con artists would execute the most preposterous of schemes to relieve unsuspecting townspeople of their cash. The game of the King pretending to be a reformed marauder-turned-missionary at the tent meeting showed that people are gullible and often easily led, particularly when in groups and subjected to peer pressure. The execution of the Royal Nonesuch showed another instance of people in society being subject to manipulation. The fact that, after being taken by a poor show they sent rave reviews of it to their friends to avoid admitting they had been conned showed that people in groups are ever afraid of losing status, and will do nearly anything to protect such. Both the King and the Duke, also, showed such a ridiculous degree of corruptness that it is difficult to believe that all humans...

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...) and they find out about this, Hick runs to hide and is caught but luckily Duke tells Dauphin not to kill Huck. Huck then runs again to the Mississippi to hide from them. Basically, in my view, the Mississippi is used as a symbol of freedom or possibly a getaway. It is referred to many many times in the story as such things as Hucks dead father washing ashore its banks happen throughout the story. It is always a used as a getaway, since at that time it was the easiest mode of transportation, especially for a young boy and a runaway slave.

Satire:

-One of the main satirizations of this book is the satire made by the general southern public, as they are mostly portrayed as ignorant, bigoted individuals. In their society, whites are seen as the superior race, and blacks are owned as property, and are slaves to common folk. The word “Nigger” is used multiple times in the story, as to stress their ignorance. It is illegal for blacks to get a proper education, so in no way could they ever rise up, and seemingly be forever oppressed. This is shown as Jim is constantly himself being called a nigger, and Huck is no exception, yet his views seem to change about other races in this story.