On the basis of its statement that “a false book is no book at all” (147), Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian is a revision of antecedent literary tradition, mainly Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as well as the Bible and Christian theology, thereby amounting to the creation of postmodern hybrid revisionist work. This paper will attempt to indicate Blood Meridian’s status as a counter-narrative, and thus, as both a neomyth and a neobiblical meta-narrative, meaning both a rendition of version of Twain’s novel, as well as a type of perverted Bible that presents both world of a barbarous God, but also, a secularly primitive and violent one.
On the one hand, Blood Meridian stands a postmodern literary revisionist work, in that it deconstructs
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More specifically, the kid is presented as being devoid of innocence from the time of his birth, with the narrator revealing that his “mother dead these fourteen years did incubate in her own bosom the creature who would carry her off”, in addition to stating that “in him broods already a taste for mindless violence” (3). That, considered in concert with the subsequent relaying of the kid’s adventures, his “wander[-ing] west”, all parallel Huck’s adventures toward the west. However, the nature of his …show more content…
For instance, over the course of his exploits, the kid is likened to “some fairybook beast” (4), while his eyes are characterized as being “oddly innocent” (4), and his face as “strangely childlike” (7). I would argue that all those similes, infused as they are with this sense of irony but also revoke and sinisterly re-render Huck Finn’s rather nonchalant, although of course interspersed with several violent episodes, journey, where, importantly, he arguably stands out more or less as incorruptible, contrary to the kid. Mainly though, I would suggest that Huck’s innocence is immensely deconstructed in the figure of the kid in Blood Meridian by dint of the vast contrast between the former’s empathy as well as strong conscience, and the latter’s apparent lack thereof. For example, Huck’s almost implausible degree of empathy, illustrated by the fact that he feels pity for a group of thieves who are left in a shipwreck (82), while he is also often seen
Society has always denounced the acts of death and children running away from their homes. Huck can be seen as a morbid child as he is always talking about death and murder. Society would rather not have anything to do with people who have such a melancholic outlook on life. Living with years of torment by his drunkard father, Pap, Huck feared the day he would return to daunt his life. When Pap does return, he seizes Huck and drags him to a secluded cabin where Huck is boarded inside and unable to leave: This is where the dilemma occurs. In this position, Huck has a decision to make, either take note to the morals of society and listen to his conscience, which will result in more added years of pain and anguish from Pap, or Huck can listen to his heart and do what he thinks is best.
Schopen, Bernard A. "'They Rode On': Blood Meridian and the Art of Narrative." Western American Literature 30.2 (Summer 1995): 179-194. Rpt. inContemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 204. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 8 May 2014.
Huckleberry Finn – The Changes of His Character Throughout the Novel. & nbsp; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is a novel about a young man's search for identity. Huckleberry Finn goes through some changes and learns some life lessons throughout his journey. Huck changes from being just an immature boy at the beginning of the novel to being a more mature man who looks at things from a different perspective now. & nbsp; At the beginning of the novel, Huck tends to have an immature side to him. There are some things in the beginning that show that Huck still has a very childish side to him. They get down on one thing when they don't know anything about it."
In the book Huck, a young boy from the American South. travels down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave. The two encounter many adventures and meet many different people. Along the way, not only. does Huck mature, but he also becomes a kind and loyal person, sometimes. going against the values of society.
Huckleberry Finn, “Huck”, over the course of the novel, was faced with many obstacles that went into creating his moral compass. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn begins with Huck, a 12 year old boy heavily swayed by society and by Tom Sawyer, a fellow orphan. His opinions and depiction of right and wrong were so swindled to fit into society’s mold. Throughout the story Huck Finn’s moral compass undergoes a complete transformation in search of a new purpose in life. Huck was raised with very little guidance from an alcoholic father, of no mentorship.
Huck Finn’s childhood is plagued by violence and cruelty. He is kidnapped from Widow Douglas’s home by Pap who hides him in his cabin, isolating the young child. Initially, Huck is delighted to live in the uncivilized area, but soon realizes that his father has “got too handy with his hick’ry” inviting verbal and physical abuse (Twain 25). Huck accepts the...
I ain't going to tell. " Huck is beginning to realize the importance of keeping one's word. Young children run and tell things that happen to anyone with ears, and it is hard for them to keep promises. He realizes that the things he says affect others, and the fact he is now capable of understanding that shows that Huck is beginning to have a more mature view on life. Another key factor in growing up is being able to take the blame for one's own actions and being able to come clean and apologize when you have done something wrong.
In Mark Twain’s book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the character Huck is trying to figure out the struggles of adulthood while also trying to maintain his childlike wonders. Huck experiences many eye opening events, forcing him to grow up and start his adult life at a young age. From having an abusive father, floating down the river with an unlikely friend, and breaking away from society norms, his life was far from childlike dreams. In Twain’s novel, Huck’s experience with honesty, trickery, and perspective help develop the coming of age theme.
In addition, childhood has been described by the author, as an important factor in the theme of moral education: only a child is open-minded enough to undergo the kind of development that Huck does." It was a close place. I took...up [the letter I'd written to Miss Watson], and held it in my hand. I was a-trembling, because I'd got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I know it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself: "All right then, I'll go to hell"--Em dash intended here? and tore it up. It was awful thoughts and awful words, but they was said. And I let them stay said; and never thought no more about reforming..."It, describes the moral climax of the novel. Jim has been sold by the Duke and Dauphin, and is being held by the Phelpses spending his return to his rightful owner.
Huck Finn learns from the actions of people around him, what kind of a person he is going to be. He is both part of the society and an outlier of society, and as such he is given the opportunity to make his own decisions about what is right and what is wrong. There are two main groups of characters that help Huck on his journey to moral maturation. The first group consists of Widow Douglas, Miss Watson, and the judge. They portray society and strict adherence to rules laid out by authority. The second group consists of Pap, the King, and the Duke. They represent outliers of society who have chosen to alienate themselves from civilized life and follow no rules. While these characters all extremely important in Huck’s moral development, perhaps the most significant character is Jim, who is both a fatherly figure to Huck as well as his parallel as far as limited power and desire to escape. Even though by the end of the novel, Huck still does not want to be a part of society, he has made a many choices for himself concerning morality. Because Huck is allowed to live a civilized life with the Widow Douglas, he is not alienated like his father, who effectively hates civilization because he cannot be a part of it. He is not treated like a total outsider and does not feel ignorant or left behind. On the other hand, because he does not start out being a true member of the society, he is able to think for himself and dismiss the rules authority figures say are correct. By the end of the novel, Huck is no longer a slave to the rules of authority, nor is he an ignorant outsider who looks out only for himself. This shows Huck’s moral and psychological development, rendering the description of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” as a picaresq...
At one point, Huck’s father attempts to kill him in their home. “Bye-and-bye he rolled out and jumped up on his feet looking wild, and he see me and went for me, he chased me round and round the place with a clasp-knife, calling me the Angel of Death and saying he would kill me…” the reader by this point has developed their opinion of Huck, and must think to themselves, in what way twain has described the father. Twain has manipulated the father's language to show how the white father in the white dominated culture, is worse than anyone
“The situation of the orphan is truly the worst, you’re a child, powerless, with no protectors or guides. It’s the most vulnerable position you can be in, to see someone overcome those odds tells us something about the human spirit. They are often depicted as the kindest or most clever of characters.” Michelle Boisseau describes how important these types of characters are. In a Sunday Times article, she states that a lot of the stories and novels are considered to be apologues about orphans becoming the hero of the book. Huck’s story is quite like this subject. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel written by Mark Twain, it’s about a boy named Huckleberry Finn, who sets out on a journey to discover his own truth about living free in nature, rather than becoming civilized in a racist and ignorant society. Mark Twain implies that Huck Finn resembles more of what he believes is right rather than what society surmises from him. Twain reveals this through the themes of satire, racism, and hero’s journey, which he uses constantly through out the book.
Regardless, he is forced to make decisions that no person should have to make, even though he is only a child. Huckleberry is an outstanding role model and a model of what a human being should represent. Even though Huck is surrounded by corruption and is led by examples that do not recognize right from wrong, he is still able to address nonconformity. He makes the most morally upstanding decisions while under stress and the disapproval of society. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is about a young boy who grows up without the leadership of a father to guide him as he struggles with decisions that heavily impact those around him.
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...
The exploration of the west was no walk in the park. There were some bloody and gruesome battles that took place. In Cormac McCarthy’s novel, Blood Meridian, he demonstrates how bloody and gruesome the expansion to the west really was. The author uses the literary theory of Deconstruction to show the reader how dark this era really was. McCarthy demonstrates this by using vivid detail during the fights and battles, while staying historically accurate, with the constant presence between good and evil throughout the novel.