Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn deals with the cruelty in society. Huck, a motherless boy grows up with a misconception of society, by not understanding how society works. Huck does not have tom’s literacy, the widows’ and Miss Watsons social skills, nor does he have the keen intelligence required for an understanding of the cruelty that is shown throughout the novel. Mark Twain uses these references to give the reader a better understanding of how cruelty is shown through society and their beliefs concerning greed, slavery, and ideas of fun.
Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn we see many aspects of mans inhumanity to man. Slavery is a broad topic that is recurring throughout the novel. While we see many examples of slavery dealing with man’s inhumanity to man in the novel, we are also given a back story to what it was like in this time to be a slave as seen through Jim. “It warn’t the grounding- that didn’t keep us back but a little. We blowed out a cylinder head. Good gracious! Anybody hurt? No’m. Killed a slave” (Twain 228). This shows that during this time, there wasn’t much care for a slave, slaves were like animals and were treated as such. “Generally the slave had no choices about anything that affected his or her personal life, and the world beyond his or her master’s house and land was a vast terra incognita unless the master said otherwise.” In saying that Richard K. Barksdale shows that the slave was not able to have a say in their own lively hood.
Greed is also a very broad and everlasting issue in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
“Well, I’d been selling an article to take the tartar off the teeth – and it does take it off, too, and generally the enamel along with it” (Twain 124)...
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...nue to unfold as it sees fit, and sadly this includes inhumane objections to the peace that humans so wish to achieve.
Mark Twain uses these references to give the reader a better understanding of how cruelty is shown through society and their beliefs concerning greed, slavery, and ideas of fun.
Twain tried to convey the message of man’s inhumanity to man by showing how common it is and showing the causes of it. Even though Twain expressed his concerns for society by stating the cruelty that certain individuals inflict on others, the message conveyed is lost to many. Many do not care for others regardless of what is shown to them. Even if they understand it and changed how they lived, there would still be an inhumanity to man but not from man, it would instead come from mother nature, because in the end, mother nature is the biggest serial killer of them all.
	In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops criticism of society by contrasting Huck and Jim’s life on the river to their dealings with people on land. Twain uses the adventures of Huck and Jim to expose the hypocrisy, racism, and injustices of society.
(Hook). Mark Twains comparison of human and animal behavior in "The Damned Human Race" can be identified with by a wide audience. His notoriety as one of the most famous American writers makes his opinion valuable to readers. Twains presentation of the material leads the reader to make factual assumptions on the actions a mankind. He appeals to the reader by focusing on basic ideas and using emotional charged vocabulary to invoke a strong response. Logically comparing conflicting behavior aids Twains argument that humans actions are substandard in comparison to animals. The overall argument of mankind's degradation from animals is successfully argued through the use of emotional appeal and logical reasoning.
In Mark Twain’s essay, “The Damned Human Race,” he uses a sarcastic tone in order to show that humans are the lowest kinds of animals and ar not as socially evolved as they think they are, making his readers want to change. In order to inspire his audience, Twain motivates them by providing specific comparisons between animals and humans. These satiric examples emphasize the deficiencies of the human race and entice them to change for the better.
Throughout the book it is obvious that there are characteristics that Mark Twain either detests and despises, or respects and values them. Twain quite obviously is making fun of the undesirable characteristics such as the natural curiosity of people and also the greed for money. Although there are not many values that he respects, there is one that is shown in this book, friendship.
The subject this book revolves around slavery, and how white folks’ mindset on black people was popular at that time. Their mindset involved treating black people as inferior to them, and how to them, they were not even considered human but property. Twain also shows how sometimes a fourteen year old boy (Huck) was more morally correct towards treatment of black people than many adults of his time. Twain presents this in a humorous way with its serious points. The issue is obvious throughout the story and makes the reader wonder how even “good” characters treate...
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is the story of a young southern boy and his voyage down the Mississippi River accompanied by a runaway slave named Jim. Throughout the journey Huck and Jim face numerous obstacles and encounter a variety of interesting characters. These experiences help Huck to develop physically, intellectually, and most importantly, morally. Throughout the long expedition, readers can observe Huck’s transformation from an immature boy with poor values and ethics, to a matured young man with a moral conscience and a heightened sense of what is right and what is wrong despite what society says.
The mistreatment of man by man can also be portrayed in the times in which lynching mobs are formed out of fear, prejudice, and selfishness. One of the first instances a lynch mob is talked about is when Huck makes it seem like he is dead and most of the people think Jim kills him. By human nature, Tom showed that as a young boy, man treats man inhumanely for their own benefit. Mark Twain exemplifies in his work, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, that man’s inhumanity to man, is due to the fear, prejudice, insecurity, and selfishness that every man has experienced in society.
Mark Twain once described his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as “a struggle between a sound mind and a deformed conscience”. Throughout the novel, Huck wrestles with the disparity between his own developing morality and the twisted conscience of his society. In doing so, he becomes further distanced from society, both physically and mentally, eventually abandoning it in order to journey to the western frontier. By presenting the disgust of Huck, an outsider, at the state of society, Mark Twain is effectively able to critique the intolerance and hypocrisy of the Southern South. In doing so, Twain asserts that in order to exist as a truly moral being, one must escape from the chains of a diseased society.
One of society's favorite figures of speech is that it takes an entire town to raise a child. Such is true in Mark Twain's, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Through Huck's journey down the Mississippi River, Twain illustrates the influence society has on the undeveloped morals. As Huckleberry travels he becomes "the impassive observer" and aware of the corruption in the values of society (330). Encountering these societies gives Huck a selective morality.
The prejudices on which the “civilized society” lie build those who are blind to the injustices occurring. The dark visages from which the societies hid are revealed through Huck’s persona and his interaction between the minor characters. Twain’s exposure to the dark side to even the moral- looking people reveals the theme of everyone wears a face and behind the front is a much darker side that most people do not want exposed.
The book Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, has many themes that appear throughout the text. One such theme is that people must live outside of society to be truly free. If one lives outside of society, then they do not have to follow all of its laws and try to please everyone. They would not be held back by the fact that if they do something wrong, they would be punished for doing it.
Mark Twain’s masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through much criticism and denunciation has become a well-respected novel. Through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy, Huckleberry Finn, Twain illustrates the controversy of racism and slavery during the aftermath of the Civil War. Since Huck is an adolescent, he is vulnerable and greatly influenced by the adults he meets during his coming of age. His expedition down the Mississippi steers him into the lives of a diverse group of inhabitants who have conflicting morals. Though he lacks valid morals, Huck demonstrates the potential of humanity as a pensive, sensitive individual rather than conforming to a repressive society. In these modes, the novel places Jim and Huck on pedestals where their views on morality, learning, and society are compared.
In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain illustrates several traits that are common in mankind. Among these traits are those that are listed in this essay. Through characters in the story Twain shows humanity's innate courageousness. He demonstrates that individuals many times lack the ability to reason well. Also, Twain displays the selfishness pervasive in society. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, many aspects of the human race are depicted, and it is for this reason that this story has been, and will remain, a classic for the ages.
Society is not always right. In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a young boy by the name of Huckleberry Finn sets off on a journey along the Mississippi River to get away from his previous lives. One of the main themes in the novel is the conflict between society and the individual. During his time with Widow Douglas, a friendly woman who adopts Huckleberry Finn, he is taught about the importance of education, what is morally right in society, and how to be civilized. On the other hand, Pap, Huckleberry’s father, taints Huckleberry’s mind with his views which differ drastically from Widow Douglas’s guidelines. The moral dilemma that Huckleberry Finn faces between moralities illuminates the main message of individuality.
All things considered, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, suggests that people are subject to various enslavements and attempt to pursue freedom from these enslavements. The reason I selected this theme as the most important is due to its real world application. This theme is relevant to real life due to the fact that numerous people are deprived of freedom and are attempting to obtain the freedom that they desire. People throughout history and even today seek their freedom. In this novel, one of the freedoms sought after was the end to racial discrimination, this was achieved in the 1960s by the Civil Rights Movement and famous American hero’s we now admire such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..