What Is The Satire In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

A young white boy from the deep south, a runaway slave, and a daring adventure for freedom, sounds like the making for a literary disaster, right? Many people believe that the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is profoundly racist and disgusting, and have sought to have it banned from their local public schools. However, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a prime example of a book that has broken down stereotypes about slaves and satirized the social constructs of the South. Huckleberry Finn should be taught in schools due to the satire of preexisting constructs and the profound anti-slavery message.

Satire is funny. Though many people interpret satire in a serious nature, it is meant to ridicule a preexisting construct, such as the Christians

Though the lower class is low on the social hierarchy, they still believe that the African Americans are lower than them, on some inexistent class between slave status and low class. Huck’s father, ‘Pap’, exemplifies this when he was going to vote while he was intoxicated, and was told that someone that “there was a State in this country” that would let an n- vote and swore he’d “never vote again” (Twain 24). The irony of this statement is that the man was drunk, going to vote, but believes that sober African Americans do not have the right to cast a vote. Though Huck is lower class, he is an “honest, clear eyed individualist” who fights against a “corrupt social order” (Sawicki 48). Huck breaks the ironic chain of backward social constructs by questioning what he believes and by being his own person. Moreover, nothing is ironic about slavery, but something can be said about those who hold slaves. Miss Watson, who is a well to do Christian. Miss Watson is the Widow Douglas sister who is an “a tolerable slim old maid” with glasses (Twain 6). The widow Douglas represents the good part of society, the caring one who speaks of a loving God to Huck. Since she represents the good in society, Miss Watson represents the bad part. She speaks of an angry, vengeful God to Huck, nags him incessantly and owns as slave while being a ‘proper Christian’. She tells Huck to do not “put

The idea of a civilized society is to be well mannered, godly, polite, and humongous. If this idea is followed, then everyone will end up in heaven, according to the common belief in the south at that time. These values are always present in Huck’s life, but he cannot bring himself to follow the rules. Huck says that it okay that he will “go to hell” (Twain 3), this is because Huck realized the hypocrisy of civilized society. The heaven that the Widow Douglas describes is too lofty, and Huck believed that Tom and his other friends cannot get there. Huck also does not have a big sense of entitlement. Shortly after meeting Jim he decides that they are near equals and look out for each other. The mental crisis that Huck has towards the end of the novel shows that he wants to be good, but being good means turning Jim in. Huck knows that the good thing to do is to help Jim, and despite the consequences, believes that he made the right