Sarah Jane Reshetiloff
Mr. O’Hearn
Honors British Literature
26 September 2015
Social Satire in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a masterful social satire that demonstrates the awakening of a young, adventurous boy living in a culture of slavery.
He uses humor and an unreliable narrator to convey social satire in the novel to reflect the flaws of society toward in the antebellum south.
The novel was published in 1884, just after slavery was abolished in 1865. Needless to say, racism was prevalent and although slavery was outlawed, colored people did not have equal rights to white people. African-Americans across the country were still treated disrespectfully, beaten, and often murdered. With the outlawing of slavery in the south, racism was much more common there than in the north. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn takes place on the Mississippi River along Missouri and other various southern states.
In the story, Huck Finn is a young boy who seeks adventures and does not wish to be civilized by the women in charge of him. He sets out on a journey to help free a slave named Jim, in a time period where slavery is legal in the south. They encounter many obstacles such as other characters, means of transportation, the possibility of getting caught, and also the war Huck is at with himself. He battles over whether he is doing the right thing. He feels that freeing Jim is morally correct but because of the society he
Reading Assignment #1: Chapters 1 - 7 Study Guide Chapter 1 What can the reader expect in a story told from first-person point of view? A first person point of view reveals all of the character’s emotions and thoughts. Nothing will be hidden from us. Describe the setting as it is established in the first chapter.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain published in 1884 is a novel about a young boy who faces many obstacles throughout his journey of running away from home. He is on his own with a runaway slave besides him named Jim as he is being questioned about his maturity. Society plays a big role in this novel, Huck wants to escape further “civilizing”. He is tired of normal things such as going to school. Slavery and racism are a part of this novel as well, Mark Twain includes how African Americans are being enslaved, lynched, and treated badly. This novel is well told and gives depth descriptions about the people and the Mississippi River.
Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel about a young boys coming of age in Missouri of the mid-1800s. The main character, Huckleberry Finn, spends much time in the novel floating down the Mississippi River on a raft with a runaway slave named Jim. Before he does so, however, Huck spends some time in the fictional town of St. Petersburg where a number of people attempt to influence him. Before the novel begins, Huck Finn has led a life of absolute freedom. His drunken and often missing father has never paid much attention to him; his mother is dead and so, when the novel begins, Huck is not used to following any rules.
A major theme in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is slavery and our evolvement towards the institution. “In fact, Twain’s novel is often taught as the text that epitomizes this tradition, with Huck held up as its exemplar: a boy courageous enough to stand against the moral conventions of his society. . .” (Bollinger, 32 – Say It Jim) In the beginning of Huckleberry Finn’s relationship with Jim, he has little respect for him and as their journey progresses he
Mark Twain’s stories have made a name for themselves into the realm of the old world and new world. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn not only enlighten and inspire readers, but they also educate them on the tragedy and hardships faced in the olden days: slavery and racism. The reader can infer that Twain portrays slavery and racism through characters seen as abusers or victims.
Huckleberry introduces himself as the narrator. He describes his life to this point. He lived on the streets on his own until a widow adopted him recently. Now he speaks about his struggles adjusting to his new life, such as the widow trying to teach him proper English. As he lays in bed in misery he hears his old friend Tom Sawyer outside of his window and rushes to meet him.
In the novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, we are told a story about a young boy and his slave companion’s journey down the Mississippi River and all of their encounters with other characters. Twain constructed a beautiful narrative on how young Huck Finn, the protagonist in the story, learns about the world and from other adult characters, how he is shaped into his own person. At the time this book was made however, this novel provided serious social commentary on current events, such as slavery, and pointing out hypocrisies in how people are taught to see the world when in actuality it is wrong. Twain expertly crafts a novel that not only tells an amazing story of a southern boy growing into his own character by learning from other characters, but also a novel that perfectly uses satire to point out the flaws in society.
The novel begins in St. Petersburg, Missouri, a realistic, although fictional, town in the south, before the Civil War. This setting provides an opportunity for Twain to comment on the social issues of the time, specifically slavery. The character of Huckleberry Finn is a very realistic depiction of a southern boy, brought up in the “southern mindset.” This mindset is accurately described when Huckleberry decides to go against his judgment and help Jim escape. “There was the Sunday-school, you could ‘a’ gone to it; and if you’d a done it they’d ‘a’ learnt you there that people that acts as I’d been acting about that nigger goes to everlasting fire” (Twain 213). This quote shows that Huckleberry did not feel comfortable helping Jim because he was raised to believe that “niggers” were not equals, but property. “Huck…does go through his own moral battle over the concept of slavery and whether it is right or wrong. Because of his upbringing, Huck has been taught to believe that slaves are less than people; they are simply objects to be owned” (Ostendorff). Likewise, Twains realism provides the reader with an accurate depiction of the thoughts and feelings of Jim as he tries to break free from his previous life as a Miss Watson’s slave. When Huckleberry finds Jim on Jackson Island for the first time, Jim expresses his concern of being caught because he did not want to live as a slave any more. “He bounced up and stared at me wild. Then he drops down on his knees, and puts his hands together and says: “Doan’ hurt me—don’t! I hain’t ever done no harm to a ghos’. I alwuz liked dead people, en done all I could for ‘em. You go en git in de river agin, whah you b’longs, en doan’ do nuffn to Ole Jim, ‘at ‘uz awluz yo’ fren’” (Twain 41). This plea to Huckleberry to spare his shows the severity of the
America has a long history of brushing their mistakes under the rug in the name progress. Trying to obscure their mistakes under piles of platitudes, erasing their past grievances. Though some may believe this is the best way to move forward, cutting out the memories and foregoing explaining the more brutal chapters in our biography, I believe we should instead highlight it, using it to educate and enhance understanding of the word and it’s impact on us as people and a society.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a one of a kind novel. The novel has been debated as controversial since it has been published in 1986. It has been considered racist, due to the “n” word. In its earlier days, racist people felt this book was a disgrace, because of the mingling of the two main characters. Among all of the negative comments, this book is truly a masterpiece. It is an unforgettable and enjoyable book for everyone to learn and scrutinize; it contains a multitude of literary devices that makes this American Novel a classic with a meaningful American Story. The major literary devices in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn include historical context, dialect, and autobiographic. The characterization of Huck and
People often laugh at shows like The Simpsons or The Colbert Report without the realization that the shows oftentime poke fun at the viewers. Everywhere one looks—books, movies, television, the internet, etc.— satire subtly appears like a mirror as a method of inspiring self-change. And the creative minds of today take a page from Mark Twain, one of the best and most prolific users of satire in his many published works. In Twain’s post-Civil War American novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he purposely creates characters with disillusions order to satirize human nature as man often fails to reflect on his everyday flaws, beliefs, and behaviors.
Literature changes history. Some works identify cultural criticism. Some works show how the past illuminates and shapes the present. Some works critique the American dream. These masterpieces educate, scold, and entertain an audience simultaneously. Samuel Clemens, more popularly known as Mark Twain, strives to challenge the accepted in his book “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. This tale of adventure, work of comic satire, sarcasm, and social ridicule which stands as an sincere critique of progress, enlightenment, and the cult of respectability, emphasizes a plethora of moral lessons with its picaresque style.
Since its first publication in 1884, Mark Twain’s masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has proven to be one of history’s most controversial novels; especially recently, the novel has often been banned by schools and censored by libraries. Characters in the book are constantly using disparaging language toward slaves, and the repeated use of the word “nigger” makes many sensitive and offended. Critics denounce the novel and Mark Twain as racist for this word being insulting and politically incorrect and for its depiction of black people and how they are treated. However, Twain was not attempting to perpetuate racism; on the contrary, he used satire to expose the ignorance and paradoxical views held by many in America at that time.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been labelled as a picaresque novel. A picaresque novel is an adventure story that involves an anti-hero or picaro who wanders around with no actual destination in mind. The picaresque novel has many key elements. It must contain an anti-hero who is usually described as an underling(subordinate) with no place in society, it is usually told in autobiographical form, and it is potentially endless, meaning that it has no tight plot, but could go on and on. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has moulded itself perfectly to all these essential elements of a picaresque novel. Huck Finn is undeniably the picaro, and the river is his method of travel, as well as the way in which he wanders around with no
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a satire written by Mark Twain that provided insight regarding slavery and racism. While reading the novel it is a struggle to remind yourself that the narrator is not Mark Twain, but the young boy Huck Finn. Some people may not be able to determine if Mark Twain was for or against slavery because he never comes right out and states that it is wrong. My interpretation is he was against slavery and the novel was a clever way of showing how absurd racism and slavery were at that time. The intended audience seems to be anyone in support of slavery and mistreatment of minorities to hopefully change their minds regarding prejudice. It is unclear if people were able to read between the lines and understand what Twain was attempting to convey throughout the novel.