According to Ernest Hemingway, "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn." Along with Hemingway, many others believe that Huckleberry Finn is a great book, but few take the time to notice the abundant satire that Twain has interwoven throughout the novel. The most notable topic of his irony is society. Mark Twain uses humor and effective writing to make The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a satire of the American upper-middle class society in the mid-nineteenth century.
The first aspect of society Twain ridicules is its attempt at respectability. Huck Finn, a boy referred to as "white trash," has grown up totally believing what society has taught him. Society attempts to teach the difference between right and wrong, but focuses so much on book learning instead of virtues that children have a very misconceived idea about righteousness. A conversation between Tom Sawyer and his gang of robbers shows how the boys are influenced by society and believe they must follow exactly what is written regardless of what is right. "
'And keep them till they're ransomed.' Ransomed? What's that?' I don't know. But that's what they do. I've seen it in the books, and so of course that's what we've got to do.' Well how can we do it if we don't know what it is?' Why, blame it all, we've got to do it. Don't I tell you it's in the books? Do you want to go to doing different from what's in the books, and get things all muddled up?' " (pages 8-9) While ransoming someone is a crime and not acceptable, because of the way Huck has been raised, he has no clue that what Tom's gang wants to do is not permissible.
Twain also satirizes the hypocrisy of society. While Tom's Gang of Robbers was a...
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...mething very evil. Twain uses Jim to counter this concept, by allowing him to influence Huck to ultimately come to the conclusion that a black man is not inferior to the white man.
In the end, Twain must bring the freed Jim and Huck from their adventures on the river back into society. Jim discovers that all along he was a free man, and Aunt Sally decides to adopt Huck and civilize him, which he cannot stand. In the society that Huck and Jim lived, blacks were inferior to the whites, but Twain satirizes this fact by making them equals in his novel. The fact that killing people is acceptable and even humorous is another way Twain ridicules society. He proves that sometimes what is accepted and seemingly respectable is not always right. Mark Twain was very successful in writing an interesting, entertaining, and satirical novel, The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn.
	Huck’s attitude for Jim is racist which is seen when he decides to play a trick on Jim during their voyage. After Huck plays his trick his attitude toward Jim begins to change, "It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn't ever sorry for it afterward, neither" (Twain 72). The dialogue throughout the book between Huck and Jim illustrates that Jim is more than property and that he is a human being with feelings, and hopes for a better future.
Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the greatest American novels ever written. The story is about Huck, a young boy who is coming of age and is escaping from his drunken father. Along the way he stumbles across Miss Watson's slave, Jim, who has run away because he overhead that he would be sold. Throughout the story, Huck is faced with the moral dilemma of whether or not to turn Jim in. Mark Twain has purposely placed these two polar opposites together in order to make a satire of the society's institution of slavery. Along the journey, Twain implies his values through Huck on slavery, the two-facedness of society, and represents ideas with the Mississippi River.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain is about the great adventures that Huck finn has with his slave Jim on the Missouri River. The story tells not only about the adventures Huck has, but more of a deeper understanding of the society he lives in. Twain had Huck born into a low class society of white people; his father was a drunken bum and his mother was dead. He was adopted by the widow Douglas who tried to teach him morals, ethics, and manners that she thought fit in a civilized society. Huck never cared for these values and ran away to be free of them. During Huck’s adventure with Jim he unknowingly realized that he didn't agree with society’s values and could have his own assumptions and moral values. Twain uses this realization to show how the civilized and morally correct social values that was introduced to Huck was now the civilized and morally contradicting values.
His Own Voice Mark Twain has a distinct writing style that includes had opinionated satire and presented social classes. These elements are present in the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In ch.4 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a judge comes to Tom’s religious school and tries to get the students attention by saying, “Now, children, I want you all to sit up just as straight and pretty as you can and give me all of your attention for a minute or two. That’s the way good little boys and girls should do.” When writing this, Twain has demonstrated his satire against religion and the church.
In the novel Huck Finn, the author repeatedly uses satire to ridicule the insanity of racial ignorance and inequity of the time period. With his masterful use of role reversal, irony, and the obvious portrayal of double standards, Twain exemplifies the injustices of different races contrasting them with example after example of counter-argument shown through the friendship and adventures of Jim and Huck together.
No matter in the past or present, the world never lacks actors and their nauseating affectations can be seen everywhere in life. They are pretending to have all those perfect beliefs and feelings and acting like the greatest people ever while they are really not. Satire is used by Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to depict how all kinds of people say one thing and do another in America in early 1800s, demonstrating that Mark Twain wants readers to be aware of the hypocrisy and ignorance of American society.
...e end of the novel, Huck and the reader have come to understand that Jim is not someone’s property or an inferior man, but an equal. To say that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a racist novel is absurd, but there are always some hot-heads claiming that the novel is racist. These claims are not simply attempts to damage the image of a great novel, they come from people who are hurt by racism and don’t like seeing it in any context. However, they must realize that this novel and its author are not racist, and the purpose of the story is to prove black equality. It is vital for the reader to recognize these ideas as society’s and to recognize that Twain throughout the novel does encourage racist ideas, he disputes them. For this reason, and its profound moral implication, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be removed from the literary canon. [1056]
Another theme that is dealt with in this book is slavery. In fact, slavery is one of the main topics that has been frequently debated in regards to Huckleberry Finn since it was first published. Twain himself was vehemently anti-slavery and Huckleberry Finn can in many ways be seen as an allegory for why slavery is wrong. Twain uses Jim, a slave who is one of the main characters, as a way of showing the human side of a slave. Everything about Jim is presented through emotions: Jim runs away because Miss Watson was going to sell him South and separate him from his family; Jim is trying to become free so he can buy his family's freedom; and Jim takes care of Huck and protects him on their journey downriver in a very materialistic manner.
cause you jail time or even death in Huck’s years. Mark Twain would introduce satire in the novel to exaggerate the people’s attitudes and social customs with their community. He brought out racism against blacks and how slaves were defined as. Twain spreads through out the book on Huck’s hero’s journey and how it helped him find out truths about society including Jim and himself in conceiving his true destiny in life.
Mark Twain, who is a realistic fiction writer, incorporates satire and humor in his writing, including Archetypal elements to modify how the reader interprets the story. He uses many archetypal characters like Huck and Jim who both can be argued as the heroes. They both have good intentions and help others. Mark Twain portrays Jim as a deeply caring and loyal friend. Jim becomes a father figure to Huck, helping him realize the human face of slavery. Twain Portrays Huck as a young and naive boy who has been under the wrong influence for a long time. Another archetypal element that Mark Twain uses is Jims Quest for freedom. This was a quest for most all African Americans, to run away north so you could be free. But Jim was one of the few who was brave enough to do so; that’s he can be classified as the hero in the story. But Jim’s life is not too bad compared to historical records about the lives of slaves. Even though he had to struggle for his freedom, he didn’t have any good reason to leave. His life contested of helping round and not doing hard enduring work like some of the other slaves. The way Jim’s life is portrayed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Mark Twain criticizes the life of African Americans at the time.
As they travel together, Huck learns more about Jim and realizes that the common stereotype of black people is wrong. He sees that there is no difference between Jim and any white man he knows except for skin color. Despite risking his life and overcoming many difficulties, Huck succeeds in freeing Jim. Focusing on racism, alcoholism, and mob mentality, Mark Twain uses his enthusiastic writing style to satirize these three traits throughout the novel. Although the book contains many words full of vivid disgust towards black slaves, it also shows that there is more to people than looks and race, emphasizing the importance of beliefs and character.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written in 1885, is a literary satire written by Mark Twain. The setting of the novel takes place prior to the Civil War along the Mississippi River. This novel presents moral and ethical problems that southern culture placed on individuals during the time period it was written. Twain wrote his Realist period novel to criticize what he believed was wrong with the society of his time. Twain presented his novel through the eyes and speech of the twelve year-old Huckleberry Finn to show his criticism towards this society. Although the novel has been criticized since its publication, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is still considered one of the greatest American novels ever written. Twain uses Huck to create a satirical imitation of the early American culture of the South through the themes of social class, racism, conscience, and religion.
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.
Jim 's human-like behavior explains that he is actually human, Huck and Jim 's bond reveals that it 's possible to be separate from the beliefs one is born into, and Tom 's foolish plans relate to southerns actions mimicking that of Tom 's. Twain 's message of equality is that is possible to separate from the racist beliefs that one is born into and decide what and what not to believe in. By publishing this book, Twain allowed southerns to make a choice and let African-Americans speak up and have a
Another social problem that Mark Twain addresses in the book is slavery and treatment of black people in general. Jim, who is a black slave, is treated like a piece of property. For example, he is forced to practice Christianity, which actually seems to be the opposite of Christian values. Jim is also forcefully separated from his family and has no legal recourse to get them back. Jim is very superstitious, and Huck, who knows this, puts a dead snake, (representing bad luck) at the bottom of Jim's bed and Jim gets bitten. Even Huck, at this point in the book, threats Jim as less than human.