Sterotyping in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Intruder in the Dust

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Sterotyping in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Intruder in the Dust

In the book of Matthew, the Bible states that the second greatest

commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. When a person holds on

to stereotypes and resentments towards his fellow man he cannot possibly

love them to the degree called for. Both William Faulkner and Mark Twain

show their characters struggling to progress past their stereotypes and the

consequences of clinging on to them. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

by Mark Twain and Intruder in the Dust by William Faulkner the authors show

that stereotypes often lead to the inability to see the situation as a

whole as well as the internal conflict when these stereotypes are

questioned.

The stereotypes that a person harbors can often result in the

inability to see the "big picture" in a situation. Twain showed this

result through the duke and king when they are staying at the Wilk's house.

The duke and king pose as the brothers of the deceased Harvey Wilk's in

order to claim the fortune that he left behind. Wilk's will tells them of

a bag of gold in the cellar. When they find the bag, they offer it to the

daughters of Harvey Wilk's; however, the daughters suggest that the money

would be safer in the hands of the duke and king. The duke and king hide

the money behind a curtain in their room, but then the duke thinks that

they did not hide the money well enough. Huck observes them hiding the

money and describes it. "They took and shoved the bag through a rip in the

straw tick that was under the feather bed, and crammed it a foot or two

amongst the straw and said it was all right, now, because a n_____ only

makes up the feather bed, and don't turn over the straw tick only about

twice a year, and so it warn't in no danger of getting stole, now." (Twain

235). The reasoning behind the duke and king's action shows the stereotype

that they have towards the Negro slaves. They think that a Negro will

never do a more than adequate job. Turning over the straw tick represents

a job that only a Negro slave would attend to.

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