Huck Finn Superstition Essay

These paragraphs mention a couple of immoral aspects of Twain’s life. When he buries his grandmother under the grapevine, he justifies his reasoning through common sense. “The vine needed fertilizing, my aunt had to be buried, and I dedicated her to this high purpose.” This justification is ironic because his deceased grandmother is providing life for the vines. He also refers to the Constitution in support of his actions. “Does that unfit me for the President? The Constitution of our country does not say so.” Irony also occurs when Twain admits that he dislikes the poor. “I regard the poor man, in his present condition, as so much wasted raw material.” This statement is ironic because the office of the presidency swears on oath to support and serve the entire population of the United States. Because of this, the ironies placed in these two paragraphs further bring out the humor of this

Mark Twain is satirizing the advice young people are given by authoritative figures on different issues in life. The words of wisdom used to guide youth usually promote the same ideals and are repeated so often that in some sense they lose their strength. That does not mean though that the issues they touch upon are not important. Twain uses humor to actually make young people go beyond the banality and conformity and ask questions of importance.

Imagery adds to the novel and the theme by provoking emotion within the audience, making his purpose clear. An example of this occurs in Pap’s harangue about the “corrupt” government (Twain 26-27). He provides many racist notions that belittle the justice system and the government. Pap, unlike others in the novel, does not show moral strength and lets his heart guide him in the wrong direction, as he expresses how opposed he stands to black people having rights. A second form of imagery exists when Twain describes Jim and Huck’s shared moments. The following quote shows how comfortable they feel together, and provides another reason Huck felt so compelled to save Jim: “I see Jim before me, all the time; in the day, and in the night-time, sometimes moonlight, sometimes storms, and we a floating along, talking, and singing, and laughing. But somehow I couldn't seem to strike no places to harden me against him, but only the other kind. I'd...see him how glad he was when I come back out of the fog; and when I come to him again in the swamp, up there where the feud was; and such-like times; .. [he would] do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always was; and at last I struck the time I saved him by telling the men we had smallpox aboard, and he was so grateful, and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he's got now” (Twain 214).

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.

Twain also exposes the deplorable concept of slavery by allowing Huck to view Jim as an equal person. As the novel proceeds, Huck and Jim continue their voyage down the Mississippi River and become close friends. Huck eventually has to decide whether or not to turn Jim in to Miss Watson. "…And I got to thinking over our trip down the river; and I see Jim before me all the time: in the day and

Jim really dislikes King Solomon because he feels that his decision making skills and his actions are horrible. Most slaves look into the Bible for comfort and it is said that they believe and enjoy everything about it but it is different for Jim.

In Huck Finn, Jim believes that if you touch the skin of a dead rattlesnake, you will be granted bad luck. “Now you think it’s bad luck; but what did you say when I fetched in the snake skin that I found on the top of the ridge day before yesterday? You said it was the worst bad luck in the world to touch a snakeskin with my hands” (Twain, 59). It is understood that Jim has strong beliefs in bad luck occurring from the varying things humans do. Through this, we are able to infer that Jim may have fears about many things within day-to-day life. Superstitions like these could have come from his ancestry, to his life being a slave. Jim believes strongly in the bad luck side of superstition, leading a reader to believe he has seen a multitude of bad luck in his life. This bad luck, as mentioned, may fall from being a slave. All in all, Jim’s portrayal of superstition shows a very new side to him, while allowing us to both learn, and to make inferences about

Morality plays an important role in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Huck Finn is an uneducated, thirteen-year-old boy who does not necessarily know the difference between right and wrong, yet often makes the right choices throughout the novel. While Huck often accidentally does good, some people do not see this as an indication that he is a morally good person. Jim, on the other hand, is a slave who almost always does the right thing, but we are not inclined to see Jim as a moral model because he is a slave. Therefore, those who focus too heavily on Huck’s morality misunderstand Twain as Jim, not Huck, is the moral model of the novel.

Twain shows that society is not an omnipotent force and that the individual certainly can overcome society’s control. Huck continues to believe that he is doing something wrong by protecting Jim, demonstrating that society cannot be completely defeated by just one decision. At the end of the novel Huck comes to believe that Jim is

While he chooses not to hand Jim over, his position remains unclear. His moral compass is muddled. “I was stuck…but after this always do whichever come handiest at the time”. (l60). A true turning point reveals itself through Jim’s emotional vulnerability to Huck about Jim’s devotion to his family. While still bound by white southern culture, this added dimension to Jim’s character allows Huck to see past traditional stereotypes. Huck begins to view Jim more as a person and less as a slave. Having said that, Huck never reaches the point that readers so desperately wait for. While he decides to help Jim, Huck views his decision as morally wrong. It is Twain’s way of keeping Huck from overcoming the bounds of his culture, and Huck’s incomplete moral

They then see that Jim is selfless and cares more for others then himself by this. But this is not his only act of selflessness. Through the story, Jim puts others thoughts and feelings before his. In the beginning of the story, Huck and Jim see a house floating down yeh river. Jim takes a look inside and goes in before Huck to cover a dead body so he wouldn't see how gross it was.

2. “When a circus came and went, it left us all burning to become clowns; the first negro minstrel show that came to our section left us all suffering to try that kind of life; now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates. These ambitions faded out, each in its turn; but the ambition to be a steamboatman always remained.” This shows the humor in Twain’s work. Additionally, this also shows humor, “I soon discovered two things. One was that a vessel would not be likely to sail for the mouth of the Amazon under ten or twelve years; and the other was that the nine or ten dollars still left in my pocket would not suffice for so imposing an exploration as I had planned, even if I could afford to wait for a ship. Therefore, it followed that I must contrive a new career.”

Mark Twain shows Huck’s inner conflict over Jim being a slave and whether Huck should turn Jim in or not. In the novel, as Huck and Jim travel along the river, Huck struggles with the dilemma of turning in his friend, a slave, Jim. Back to Mrs. Watson. “Conscience says to me, “What had poor

Mark Twains Bildungsroman novel Huckleberry Finn stars the young protagonist Huck Finn and the slave Jim as they go through a remarkable adventure in search for freedom and a place to belong. The novel is known its controversial topic and concepts along with its use of linguistic devices, which are expressed in the novel and serve the purpose of creating and developing thematic connections. One of these devices that is highly noted, are motif, which are a central idea or concept present in the literary piece. In the novel, there are three motifs in specific that are noted, lies and cons, childhood and superstition, although amongst these three, the motif of superstition is used to develop the novel in the most intriguing way. The motif of superstition is used by twain throughout the novel to indulge into the interworking’s of characters' minds and give reasons as to why certain events happen.

The authors are criticizing two major but different ideas in each book, the hypocrisy of “civilized society” and the individual versus society. Twain really despises the society that surrounds Huck. For example the judge allows Pap to keep custody of Huck. This shows hypocrisy because while the judge is supposed to be doing what benefits Huck by keeping him safe, he is giving Pap, a drunken father, the right to custody over Huck. The author criticizes the judge because, back then, the right to property was put before the welfare and freedom of a person. This can also be compared to how black people were mistreated, because they were seen as property. The freedom of these slaves weren't a priority because they were in fact slaves and shown no