Huckleberry Finn - Satire to Criticize Society

The use of Satire in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn In his novel the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, published in 1884, Mark Twain uses satire frequently as a medium to display his feelings on a range of issues related to society at that time. Throughout the book he ridicules many aspects of society, including the prevalent views on slaves and religion, and their social structure. Even though the novel was set fifty years before it was published, the themes still held true for contemporary society. This led to the novel being criticised widely as a result of it condemning the very society it was presented to.

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

Through the theme of rebellion against society, Huck demonstrates the importance of thinking for oneself and embodies the idea that adults are not always right. This is highlighted in his noncompliance when it comes to learning the Bible and in the decisions he makes when it comes to Jim, decisions that prove to be both illegal and dangerous. By refusing to conform to standards he does not agree with, Huck relies on his own experiences and inner conscience when it comes to making decisions. As a result, Huck is a powerful vehicle for Mark Twain’s commentary on southern society and

Most people often assume that the aim of civilizations is for humanity to function together, jointly and cooperatively, so that humans produce and experience the benefits of moral people who live and act together. However, in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the reverse is true. The swap in societal stereotypes is apparent in the king and the duke’s production of the Royal Nonesuch as well as Huck and Jim’s pleasant journey down the Mississippi after escaping the family feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepardsons. Leading up to the performance of the Royal Nonesuch, the king and the duke

Twain decries the greedy and materialistic nature of society through the employment of pathos, which highlights the immorality of mankind. When the King and the Duke come up with their master plan to swindle money from the grieving Wilkes family, Huck realizes how avaricious they truly are. On page 164 Huck describes the way the King fools the crowd into believing he is a good person, “The King works

Those with the power to speak remained silent--as complacent in the oppression of African Americans as the slave-drivers of years past. The vices of such a society were candidly ignored; indeed, struggling for the rights of others seemed futile. Direct action was social (and, where lynchings were quietly ignored by the law, literal) suicide, yet writers like Mark Twain took to the pen to spread their messages for equality and criticisms on society. Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a fictional tale of a young boy’s adventure. However, this innocuous veneer, much like the Gilded Age itself, hides a deeper, darker theme of the pitfalls of modern society, presented in a mockingly lighthearted, sarcastic tone. As Huckleberry Finn matures throughout his journey, his idealization of what it means to be ‘sivilized’ is battered and broken down into a far more cynical view, revealing Twain’s own criticisms of

The act of questioning society is one that many maturing young adults go through as they try to understand civilization. In the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, we as readers gain perspective into the mind of a young teenage boy who is conflicted between an uncivilized verse civilized way of life. Twain seems to suggest that going through life with a want to be uncivilized is more desirable and fulfilling. Through the language of Huck Finn, Twain suggests that leading a civilized lifestyle is not beneficial to us as human beings.

The people in this church are easily able to give money to pirates, who are known for being crooks and liars, inviting them to stay in their homes as an honor. Thus, Twain shows his disdain for religious beliefs by satirizing their blind faith and gullibility.

Bell, Bernard W. "Twain's "Nigger" Jim." Satire or Evasion? Black Perspectives on Huckleberry Finn. Ed. James S. Leonard, Thomas S. Tenney and Thadious M. Davis. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1992. 124-140. Print.

The hypocrisy of late 1800’s American society is shown in countless ways, page after page in Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Just like Huck, Twain himself saw the flaws and ignorance in humans:

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

The theme of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is that the ideas of society can greatly influence the individual, and sometimes the individual must break off from the accepted values of society to determine the ultimate truth for himself. In Huckleberry Finn's world, society has corrupted justice and morality to fit the needs of the people of the nation at that time. Basically, Americans were justifying slavery, through whatever social or religious ways that they deemed necessary during this time.

There are good examples of natural behavior in the book. Huck used instinct a lot. He almost turned Jim in because society told him runaway slaves are criminals, but his natural instinct saw Jim as a friend who needed help. Jim then did the same when he had a difficult choice to make. He could either book it to Cairo, or take Huck to a doctor. He too saw a friend in need and helped Huck out. Again, Twain uses satire to prove a point. In the beginning of the book, Huck Finn appears to be nothing more than a simple, uneducated boy who goes on crazy adventures. At the end of the book, however, you can see that he uses his natural instinct to help him out. Although society has told him that slaves are nothing more than objects, he comes to know and treat Jim as a friend and person. He had numerous opportunities to turn him in, but didn't. In contrast, the seemingly "civilized" people turn out to be the ones who let society tell them what's right and what's wrong, instead of going with their heart like Huck did.

Sometimes making a stand for what is right, especially when it is totally against the customary beliefs of your society, is not an easy accomplishment. In the novel Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the main character Huck encounters many situations where there is a question of morality. Considering the traditional protocol of his society, Huck has to choose either what his conscience feels is right versus what the customary public views are. In many cases Huck goes with what his conscience feels is right, which always is the proper selection. Ironically, what Huck believes in, unapproved of in the 19th century, is the basis of accepted beliefs in our modern world. Huck lives with the

Part of the absurdity of civilized society that Twain depicts is that society's accepted rules