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analizing the story of Huckleberry Finn
the adventure of huckleberry finn as a social critique
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Books are known for teaching lessons. In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain satirically presents the situation of how people of different color were treated unjustly, while at the same time amusing his readers.
Isn’t it ironic that the character that grows on you most is Jim, the black runaway slave, who society looks down upon most during the time period of this book? Jim is treated poorly as a slave and as a person. For one, he is separated from his parents and children amongst different slave owners. On top of this, he is about to be sold for $800 to another owner even more far away from his family, which leads to his escape. Despite these situations, he remains a loyal, loving, father-like figure, and most importantly, he remains a great friend to Huckleberry.
Society, even today, often puts children down by saying that they do not contain values. Well, Huck closes the door to this statement. Whenever Huck is challenged to make a decision on impact concerning the safety of Jim, such as the incident when the men are looking for blacks, his heart always seems to pilot him to the direction of Jim’s benefit, even though almost all of the rest of society would object to his decisions during this period of time. You can also see Huck’s distress and sorrow for the fact that Jim has to buy his family back in order to see them again. This absolutely breaks Huck’s heart.
Back in the 1800s, blacks were considered property, and whites were always the superior race. In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain purposely makes Jim the best character in the book, in that he is the most compassionate, caring, and most appreciated by Huck, the main character in the book. At the same time he makes Pap, the white dead-beat father of Huck, the most detested, disrespected, low down character of this book. Twain causes his readers to contemplate of how foolish it is that a person can be judged on his outside appearance, rather than who the individual is on the inside.
Mark Twain tells the story of Huckleberry Finn, and his maturity that is developed through a series of events. This maturity is encouraged through the developing relationship between Huck and Jim, as well as the strong influence Jim has on Huck. Jim's influence not only effects Huck's maturity, but his moral reasoning; and the influence society has on Huck. Jim is Huck's role model; even though Huck would not admit it. At first Jim seems to portray a Black stereotypical role with his superstitions and ignorance, although his true identity and maternal role begins to shine through as his interactions with Huck progress.
Because of his rolling stone like upbringings, conformity is not a part of his forte. In some ways he takes after his father, the infamous town drunk who hasn’t attempted to contact Huck in years. But despite all of the complications and seeming misery, he is a decent boy who only gets himself into a bit of mischief. Therefore, with the difficult life he’s already had at such a young age, it’s a miracle he isn’t either depressed or a delinquent. Jim also hasn’t had it easy. Being a black man living in the south during pre-Civil War times means daily persecution. He lived a life that he could never fulfill because of the metaphorical chains he never got to take off. So he was left no other choice but to run until he found freedom. Although this would be deemed as “reckless” to society, he did it out of love for his family and fear of his life. Every decision Jim made was done with the hope that he would one day be reunited with them. His intentions were pure, and the positive light that’s cast upon him gives the readers a heartfelt sympathy for what he’s going through. Both Jim and Huck had to overcome great struggle until they found solace in the
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain paints the story of a developing friendship between two entirely different people which at the time society considered unacceptable and taboo. Huckleberry Finn is a white thirteen year old boy and Jim is a middle-aged black runaway slave. They meet by coincidence while they are both hiding out on Jackson’s Island located in the middle of the Mississippi River, Huck is hiding from the townspeople who think he is dead, and Jim has runaway and is hiding from his owner. Throughout their journey together, Huck and Jim’s relationship goes from them being mere acquaintances, then to friends, then to them having a father and son relationship.
Huck has been raised in a high-class society where rules and morals are taught and enforced. He lives a very strict and proper life where honesty and adequacy is imposed. Huck being young minded and immature, often goes against these standards set for him, but are still very much a part of his decision-making ability and conscience. When faced to make a decision, Hucks head constantly runs through the morals he was taught. One of the major decisions Huck is faced with is keeping his word to Jim and accepting that Jim is a runaway. The society part of Hucks head automatically looks down upon it. Because Huck is shocked and surprised that Jim is a runaway and he is in his presence, reveals Hucks prejudice attitude that society has imposed on him. Huck is worried about what people will think of him and how society would react if they heard that Huck helped save a runaway slave. The unspoken rules th...
Mark Twain, a famous American writer-satirist wrote many books highly acclaimed throughout the world. For his masterpiece, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the literary establishment recognized him as one of the greatest writers America would ever produce. This novel is about a teenage boy by the name of Huck Finn whose father is an alcoholic. Because of his violence, Huck runs away and finds a runaway slave Jim. Instead of turning Jim in, Huck goes against society and makes a decision to help Jim break free from slavery. As they travel together, Huck learns more and more about Jim and starts to understand that the common stereotype of black people is wrong. Huck sees there is no difference between Jim and any white man he knows except for skin color. Risking his life and overcoming many difficulties on the way, Huck succeeds in freeing Jim. Focusing on racism, alcoholism and mob mentality, Mark Twain uses his enthusiastic style of writing and satirizes the three traits throughout the novel.
-The man vs. himself conflict is another conflict that is brought out through the story, as Huckleberry constantly challenges his morals with the way he is brought up, as a racist southern boy, and his own personal beliefs. The main point of this conflict is mostly based on the way society treats Jim. Many times in the story, Huckleberry treats Jim poorly, merely because of his skin color, as he does such things as place a rattlesnake skin near Jim as he is sleeping, which ends in Jim with a snake bite. Also, since Jim is a slave, and his color, many references to the word “nigger” are plagued throughout the story, as he is being called one, and so are the rest of the black population. But that’s where Huckleberry’s conflict arises. He sees Jim as a nice, kind hearted man (which he is) and wishes to set him free. But at the same time, he has his own prejudices as in chapter twenty-three, Huck has a revelation. Watching Jim mourn because of his far away family, Huck concludes that blacks must love their families as much as whites love theirs.
Still a problem in today’s society, the treatment of African Americans continues to cause problems in books, movies, television, and music. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a novel by Mark Twain, Huck Finn, and a runaway slave, Jim, search for freedom while traveling down the Mississippi River. Throughout their journey characters including Huckleberry Finn, the Phelps Family, and the Duke and King, depict racism and discrimination of African Americans in differing ways.
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Twain’s main characters depicted the societal issues of racism in the South. Huck Finn, a poor white boy, and Jim, an African American slave, both encounter situations that cause these characters inter turmoil because of the societal standards of the time. According to Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, events throughout the novel suggest that Huck is a racist to Jim, Miss Watson’s runaway slave, whether he knows it or not. Despite the fact that Huck travels with Jim, he does not care about freeing Jim from slavery. As a result, Twain’s purpose is more focused on the adventures Huck and Jim experience rather than freeing Jim.
Throughout the story Jim is characterized as a mature person and more of a moral catalyst. He is a loyal person and he does not hate anyone, even though the society ignores him (Brownell 1). Even when he was a slave, he did not do anything wrong or cheated Miss Watson; rather he was very loyal to her. In any point of the story, he did not hate anyone or complained to anyone even though the society was against him. When he heard Miss Watson he is going to sell him, he was afraid he will have to leave his family and in this situation he decided to run away. He always valued his family most in his life, which clearly shows how much he loved and cared for his family. Jim has very caring and loving nature, and for Huck he is more like a father figure rather than a friend. When he is with Huck, he always worried about him. He always teaches Huck something new and loved him. When Huck lost in the river, he worried about him, which clearly shows he is more than a friend to Huck. Huck sees in him the value of love and more over his dedication towards his responsibilities, that Huck’s fathers lacks. Their relationship between them is so deep that is beyond a friendship.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is so much more than just a teen’s novel. Through Twain’s harsh language reflective of the times and location and the use of characters Twain showed how much the thinking of the majority of people in the Deep South fought progression. Mark Twain use of Miss Watson, pap, the duke and the king and others to show just how many thoughts and traditions where opposed to seeing “blacks” as equals. Through Jim, Twain showed that “blacks” are people / equals. And, in Huck, Twain showed how a logical person could progress, despite the views and morals of the Deep South, to see “blacks” equals. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn succeeded in exposing the Deep South for what it really was; highly prejudice and extremely reluctant to change.
Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain illustrates the bond formed between Huck, the young white protagonist, and Jim, Huck's black companion. Huck's father Pap, while he was still alive, had beaten Huck repeatedly, kidnapped and scared his son to the extent, that Huck, out of fear, feigns his own death to escape Pap's grasp. While Huck and Jim travel down the river it becomes apparent that Jim is more of a father figure to Huck than his biological father. Pap teaches the virtues of a life not worth living, while Jim gives Huck the proper fatherly support, compassion, and knowledge for Huck to become a man. Although Huck and Jim come from separate racial backgrounds their time together allows them to surpass their ethnic segregation and become true friends, and family.
Despite all the criticism, of racism and other questionable material for young readers, Mark Twain’s The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn is a superbly written novel, which in the opinion of this reviewer should not be remove the literary cannon. Twain’s novel is a coming of age story that teaches young people many valuable lessons and to some extend makes students reexamine their own lives and morals. The most common argument for its removal from the literary canon is that the novel is too racist; it offends black readers, perpetuates cheap slave-era stereotypes, and deserves no place on today’s bookshelves. However one must ask if Twain is encouraging traditional southern racism or is Twain disputing these idea.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been the source of criticism on many occasions. One major objection to the novel is based on the portrayal of black characters in general and Jim in particular as a “minstrel” with absurd dialectal speech and superstition. Former English professor at University of Alabama Claudia Durst Johnson states, “Black characters, including Jim, are reduced to minstrel or childlike roles which deny their humanity and maturity” (72). However, critics...
The above analyzes Huckleberry Finn as a person, as a moral example, and as a revolutionary. Huckleberry (without even knowing it) led an attack on slavery and moral injustice. Mark Twain’s satirical genius allowed him to produce The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This novel addresses many problems such as social injustice, race relations, and relation to society. Consequently Huckleberry Finn is still an extremely important work of literature today and will remain as such far into the future.