A Mirror for a Flawed Society: Satire in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 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.
Romanticism
An attraction to Romanticism causes a person to act—and therefore appear— more honorable and intelligent then in reality. In reality, everyone possesses character and physical flaws of some sort, yet most people try to hide their flaws in order to appear better than others. When the Royal Nonesuch prepare a Shakespeare performance, the Duke quotes the following as part of Hamlet’s Soliloquy:
To be, or not to be; that is the bare bodkin/That makes calamity of so longlife;
For who would fardels bear, till Birnam Wood do come to Dunsinane,/But that the fear of something after death /Murders the innocent sleep,/Great nature 's second course, /And makes us rather sling the arrows of outrageous fortune/Than fly to others that we know not of. (Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens better known by the name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, and served an apprenticeship with a printer and then worked as a typesetter, contributing articles to the newspaper of his older brother Orion Clemens. He became nothing less than a national treasure. He captured a world audience with stories of boyhood adventure and with commentary on man's faults that is humorous even while it probes the roots of human behavior. One of his most famous essays (satire) that I will analyze is, “A Presidential Candidate”, which was written on June 9th, 1879, in which he evokes a sarcastic tone to mock presidential candidates by using syntax, diction, irony, and examples from his own past.
In Mark Twain’s book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the protagonist, Huck Finn, struggles in-between the Southern values of slavery and his own conscience, letter revealing situational irony. Situational irony is an occasion in which the outcome is significantly different from what was expected or considered appropriate. Slavery was commonplace in Huck’s time. No one has told him differently, but somehow the isolation on the raft, away from the laws of civilization changed that misguided outlook.as a port uneducated boy, Huck questions the precepts that society takes for granted. This self questioning is heighten by the difference of social orders: Huck and Jim’s microcosmic community where everyone wants everyone else to be satisfied
In Mark Twain 's satirical essay, “The Damned Human Race,” Twain critiques human beings by declaring that “The human race is a race of cowards; and I am not only marching in that procession but carrying a banner.” The motif of cowardice and the cruelty of humanity is also present in another one of Twain’s most famous works: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Throughout this novel, Twain passionately decries the immorality and corruption of society through the employment of rhetoric and themes. He utilizes irony to draw attention to the hypocrisy and self-righteousness of many Christians and the detrimental effects this hypocrisy can have on society. He implements pathos to highlight the greed and
Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been controversial ever since its release in 1884. It has been called everything from the root of modern American literature to a piece of racist trash. Many scholars have argued about Huck Finn being prejudiced. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses satire to mock many different aspects of the modern world. Despite the fact that many critics have accused Mark Twain’s novel of promoting racism, through close analysis of the text, it becomes remarkably clear that Twain is satirical in his writing as he ridicules slavery and the racist attitudes prevalent in his day.
Many authors use satire to discuss issues in society that they have opinions on. These authors express their opinions by mocking the issues in a subtle way in their writing. Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain satirizes many societal elements. Three of these issues include the institution of slavery, organized religion, and education.
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.
Twain uses a boy and a runaway slave in, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, to not only tell a story, but to express what he thinks are the problems of civilized society. Satire is the key tool in which he uses to demonstrate these problems. Through Twain's use of satire, we can not only poke fun at American society, but we can learn from its mistakes. Twain
Mark Twain published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with sardonic references to acknowledge the errors in his society. During Twain’s time period, the U.S. government and the media slowly began to convince their citizens that they were veracious, however he sought to reveal that they were actually deceptive. Twain was determined to inform the American people about how apathetic the government leaders were, how the judicial system served injustice and how the media would indoctrinate anyone that listened to them.
Mark Twain's use of satire within his novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is to promote his criticism of American society. Twain uses humor, irony, and excessive exaggeration as a way to criticize. In this case, Twain is taking serious issues in America and exaggerating them to make them easier to read about. Targeting these specific problems with irony is what Twain did best. Within the novel, Twain uses satire to show greed, family issues, and civilization within the American Society.
In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain satirizes and points out common human weaknesses. Within the content, readers are shown the flaws in most all characters including the unreliable narrator, Huckleberry Finn. Some of the most obvious human weaknesses satirized by Twain are ignorance, racism, and self conflict. Twain’s intention of satirizing is to point out common and ironic flaws within their society, considering the time period.
Michelle Tam Dec. 5, 2014 AP Eng 3rd Final Draft A Twain Ride Through The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn American author and humorist, Mark Twain, in his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, addresses the issues of society. Twain’s purpose is to raise awareness of the hypocritical flaws in American culture during the Reconstruction Era in furtherance of improving society. He adopts a satirical tone through irony, juxtaposition, and sarcasm to expose the hypocrisies of Southern slave owners or supporters. Twain begins his novel by illustrating that the hypocritical actions of individuals creates a corrupt society through his use of irony.
In the novel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain, Twain expressed his theories of society in a way that was individual to him. Mark Twain used an episodic structure to demonstrate the life experiences, the main character, Huck Finn goes through. Each episode has a unique way of demonstrating a use of satire that is then used to make fun of a problem present in Huck’s society. Twain attempted to make points in hopes of changing the future. Many of the characters were influenced by Twains satiric nature.
Mark Twain purposely had satire put is his book “Huck Finn”, to show all the faults society has at this time. Mark Twain has satire, mostly on about human greed and violence. He shows this by everyday human interaction and people do to others. Also, people can be selfish because they scammed or something bad happened. They had to let others be affected to because they wanted them to suffer too. Satire in “Huck Finn” was meant to show the faults of society during this and how people can be selfish and really violent.
In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a main target of satire is the romantic view of life. Though the characters and symbols, it is evident that the idyllic views are being disparaged. Some of the people in this book are simply deluded, while others cause major tribulations during their lives. Literary romanticism can be pleasant, but it is not real and can confuse those not sage enough to distinguish the difference between a writer's fantasy and their reality. For a person who sees the delusions that humans allow themselves, this can be aggravating. The annoyance caused is not the problem, however. It is the harm caused. The romantic problems brought to light in The
Mark Twain uses humor to show all that is wrong with society in many different ways. Humor is mostly shown through hypocrisy in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” which is conveyed through the people in Huck’s life. Twain uses wit and humor to show what needs to be reformed in society.