Kirubel Sharpe
Mr. La Plante
Honors English 11 AA
Fifth Hour
8 January 2015
Unit IV Essay
Mark Twain argues that “self-moral code” votes society’s “moral code” in determining what’s right or wrong. He supports his assertion by juxtaposing Huck Finn 's believes to society’s morality and making fun of the idea of speeches. In order to manifest his beliefs to the readers, Twain uses Juvenalian satire and irony to demand society to second guess the moral codes set by society and instead for each person to focus on their own believes. Given the technique used by the writer it is safe to say that he uses satire to reflect on society and help readers understand the real problems of our society.
Mark Twain 's use of irony in The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn displays the malleability of morality. Huck and Jim are drifting down the river on a raft when slave-hunters show up, wanting to rummage around the raft. Huck is tested on his morality when he had to decide between turning Jim in and follow societies “moral code” or to lie to evade Jim 's capture by following his own conscience and stay loyal to his friend. "Then I thought a minute, and says to myself, hold on,-s 'pose you 'd a done right and give Jim up; would you felt better than what you do now? No, says I, I 'd feel bad-I 'd feel just the same way I do now. Well, then, says I, what 's the use you learning to do right and ain 't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?” (Twain 65). This employs the irony
People often hesitate to accept what they do not understand. In the absence of love and compassion, it is no question that fear, ignorance, and hatred, all contribute to a melting pot of negativity in the world. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, is about the love and friendship cultivated by a young boy and a black slave on the Mississippi River. Despite the pair’s differences, they are able to endure the struggles and difficulties that the toilsome journey brings. Mark Twain, in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, emphasizes the shift in Huck’s view towards slavery by contrasting Huck’s initial tone of reflectiveness to his assertive tone, both collectively addressing the issue of racism in society.
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
In Huckleberry Finn there are several themes. There are themes of racism and slavery, civilized society, survival, water imagery, and the one I will be discussing, superstition ( SparkNotes Editors). Superstition is a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation (“Merriam-Webster”). Superstition was a very popular theme in Huckleberry Finn that you saw throughout the story. Huck was somewhat superstitious, but Jim speaks a wide range of superstition and folk tales. In the story it makes Jim seem as if he is unintelligent, when really his superstitions and beliefs come true and shows he
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
Oppression has been a problem in this country, dating all the way back to the Europeans traveling to the New World, and forcing themselves on the Native’s and famously the British oppression of the thirteen colonies. Oppression is still a serious problem today, with almost all minorities, such as women, African-Americans, and the LGBT community feeling it’s pressure. Although these groups have gained seen many changes in their freedom, they are still being oppressed. Oppression is a common theme throughout American Literature, weaving in and out of many that are seen as classic American novels and poetry. Some of these books include Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the poetry of Langston Hughes, Richard Wright’s Native Son and Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. The form of oppression that is evident throughout all these works, is racial oppression, and narrowing it down even further, the oppression of African Americans.
Although people disagree over what makes someone morally “good” or morally “bad,” most people can agree that caring and compassion are good qualities while intolerance and selfishness are bad qualities. Mark Twain uses satire in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to amplify the good and bad qualities of people. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn exposes Twain’s thoughts on human nature by showing undesirable qualities of people in the racist white people and showing preferable qualities in the African-American slave, who is a victim of racism. The racist white people are portrayed by Twain as prejudice and egotistic while Jim portrays compassion.
Lord Byron once said, "Fools are my theme, let satire be my song." Mark Twain definitely lived by this quote when writing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Satire is a way of humoring and criticizing people's views on certain topics. Mark Twain used this technique immensely throughout the American classic. Having satire included in this novel created a different spin on the whole story.
Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain's classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, tells the story of a teenaged misfit who finds himself floating on a raft down the Mississippi River with an escaping slave, Jim. In the course of their perilous journey, Huck and Jim meet adventure, danger, and a cast of characters who are sometimes menacing and often hilarious.
In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the young protagonist Huckleberry Finn runs away from his abusive father with Jim, a black slave. Throughout the novel, Huck encounters people that fail to understand the injustice of slavery and violence, despite their education. Although Huck lacks any substantial education, his moral values and judgment are highly developed. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses uneducated, colloquial diction and deliberate syntax to provide ironic contrast between Huck’s rudimentary level of education and profound use of moral judgment.
Another example of satire is the incident of Boggs in chapter twenty-one. After Boggs, the town drunk, had clearly annoyed Colonel Sherburn with his nonsense, Sherburn had no choice but to pull the trigger on Boggs, desperate to kill him. When Boggs is shot dead, everyone jumps with excitement, all appalled of witnessing a shooting. Twain analyzes how the “loafers” imitate Boggs calamity. As Huck sees this chaos in town, he describes the scene, “The streets was full, and everybody was excited. Everybody that had seen the shooting was telling how it happened, and there was a big crowd packed around each other… One long lanky man, marked down the place where Boggs stood, and where Sherburn stood, they watched him mark the places on the ground with his cane, and then he stood up and straight and stiff where Sherburn had stood, frowning and having his hat-brim down over his eyes, and sung out, ‘Boggs!’ and then fetched his cane down slow to a level, and says ‘Bang!’” (Pg. 146). This quote supports the theme because here people have enjoyed witnessing a real shooting. The people feel the need to celebrate and make fun of something they don’t realize it is something tragic and wrong. Twain has this quote as an example of man versus society because it has Huck exposed to a
“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.” (Twain, ix) Mark Twain opens his book with a personal notice, abstract from the storyline, to discourage the reader from looking for depth in his words. This severe yet humorous personal caution is written as such almost to dissuade his readers from having any high expectations. The language in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is completely “American” beyond the need for perfect grammar. “Mark Twain’s novel, of course, is widely considered to be a definitively American literary text.” (Robert Jackson,
Throughout the evolution of the world’s societies, the roles of women seem to act as a reflection of the time period since they set the tones for the next generation. Regardless of their own actions, women generally appear to take on a lower social standing and receive an altered treatment by men. In Mark Twain’s pre-civil war novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, lies a display of how society treats and views women, as well as how they function in their roles, specifically in regards to religion and molding the minds and futures of children. The novel’s showcase of women affords them a platform and opportunity to better see their own situation and break away with a new voice.
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.
it got tiresome and lonesome. . . . I felt so lonesome I most wished I