As a US Citizen we conform to regulate and maintain the foundation that connects us as a whole. The whole is made up of multiple people who share the same values, and is necessary in a long term successfully running society like the USA. But in times of change, we must stand out as individuals and refrain from the collective unit in order to redirect the long-term path of society. Time and time again displayed throughout history, men and women have departed from the collective whole in order to change their surroundings. Often it’s these type of individuals, such as Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King, and Bill Gates; who revolutionize the world they live in.
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the main character Huck, is introduced to a black slave named Jim. As the story develops, the idea of standing out as an individual is present. In the society in which Huck lives in, there is an enormous stigma surrounding “niggers” like Jim. Huck develops a relationship with Jim and stands out as an individual by refraining from treating him like the rest of the town would. Huck’s individualism is the spark that leads to a small-scale example of community change. Refusing to treat Jim as a slave, Huck sets an example to the readers about standing out as an individual and neglecting to conform to societal norms. However, the opposite is shown in a nonfiction story by George Orwell called “Shooting An Elephant”. In this story, a police officer is met with a distress call of
The book introduces Huck as the first person narrator which is important because it establishes clearly that this book is written from the point of view of a young, less than civilized character. His character emerges as a very literal and logical thinker who only believes what he can see with his own eyes. In this section Huck’s life with the Widow Douglas and her attempts to raise him as a civilized child sets up the main theme of this book which is the struggle or quest for freedom. Huck’s struggle for freedom from civilized society is paralleled by Jim’s struggle to escape from slavery. Irony as a key literary
Throughout all of his adventures Jim shows compassion as his most prominent trait. He makes the reader aware of his many superstitions and Jim exhibits gullibility in the sense that he Jim always assumes the other characters in the book will not take advantage of him. One incident proving that Jim acts naive occurs halfway through the novel, when the Duke first comes into the scene "By right I am a duke! Jim's eyes bugged out when he heard that..." In the novel, Huck Finn, one can legitimately prove that compassion, superstitious and gullibility illustrate Jim's character perfectly.
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
Along the path of self-discovery, challenges constantly present themselves as opportunities to grow intellectually and as a chance to succeed. Often times, the use of personal judgment and self-understanding is necessary in order to overcome these challenges. In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck experiences difficulties which compel him to use his moral judgment. Huck, a young boy in search of freedom, is accompanied by a runaway slave named Jim as he embarks on a treacherous journey down the Mississippi River. During his adventure, Huck must determine the fate of the runaway slave. However, as his relationship with the slave deepens, he comes to realize this task is far from simple. Huck faces this life-defining yet
Living in the 1800's wasn't an easy task. There were many hardships that a person had to endure. In the novel, The Adventures of Huck Finn, the author Mark Twain portrays the adventure of a young boy. Huck, the young boy, goes on a journey with various dilemmas. The novel starts off in Missouri on the Mississippi River. Huck is taken from his guardians by his father and then decides to runaway from him. On his journey, he meets up with his former slave, Jim. While Huck and Jim are traveling down the Mississippi River, they meet a variety of people. Throughout the novel he takes on many different tasks which help shape his moral conscience. Taking on a new friend which society
Huck Finn's relationship with slavery is very complex and often contradictory. He has been brought up to accept slavery. He can think of no worse crime than helping to free a slave. Despite this, he finds himself on the run with Jim, a runaway slave, and doing everything in his power to protect him. Huck Finn grew up around slavery. His father is a violent racist, who launches into tirades at the idea of free blacks roaming around the countryside. Miss Watson owns slaves, including Jim, so that no matter where he goes, the idea of blacks as slaves is reinforced. The story takes place during the 1840's, at a time when racial tensions were on the rise, as northern abolitionists tried to stir up trouble in the South. This prompted a
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the greatest, most daring novels in the world. Mark Twain’s style helps to realistically portray early America. Mark Twain tells the story through the voice of Huck, the very kindhearted main character. Everything that Huck says reflects the racism and black stereotypes typical of the era. This has lead to many conflicts from readers since the novel was first printed. However, the story has inspired some. James W. Tuttleton says in an article he wrote that “Huck Finn is regularly denounced as racist trash” (The San Francisco Chronicle [1885] 6) . Yet, again to oppose that is a quote by a reader, “Anyone who is
A boring lifestyle is never appealing to an imaginative child. In Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, Tom is a young child who dreams of an exciting and adventurous life outside his small town. Although while his dreams become more and more ambitious so does his reality. The sudden change in events soon begin to change Tom’s life. As Tom’s small town attracts a criminal everything Tom wishes for begins to come true only in a corrupt way that he never imagined. With all new to keep up with Tom is forced to mature and develop as a character along with those around by leaving behind his childish games and accepting reality. Twain uses character development in Tom and Huck Finn to create unique and special characters.
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.
James McPherson, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain all state and indicate the importance of freedom, independence, and individualism throughout all the excerpts. Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Satirical novel, 1884, Huck exposes the flows of white society in the Antebellum south. Twain’s novel discusses racism, slavery, and hypocrisy of “civilized society” is to show how they are doing wrong to individuals. Walt Whitman's free verse poem “Song of Myself”, Leaves of Grass in 1855 illustrates when someone passes away life is reincarnated and becomes something better such as grass, air, or soil. Whitman’s purpose for composing this was to inform that death is a forturate thing and not something to fear for. James McPherson,
Huckleberry Finn is the main protagonist in the story he is a young boy at the age around 13 to 14 years old he is a very adventurous and mischievous all throughout the story from friends in the book he goes by the nickname hug but constantly has conversations with his conscience as he struggles to find out what is wrong and what is right and society.
Huck’s relationship with Miss Watson, the lady that raised him, is another example of Twain’s opinion of family structure. Miss Watson’s goal was to “civilize” Huck, however, Huck hated that. Being civilized is a metaphor for leading a normal life -- she attempted to fit Huck into a normal family mold. As the novel progressed, Huck changed his views on what constitutes a family, therefore rejecting the idea of being civilized. Huck knew that at that moment he was choosing to abandon conformity, and he says, “...because I’d got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it.” Twain uses this moment to reject society’s views about family, and to use Jim as Huck’s new family, the new person that Huck will stand up for.
As human beings, we all have the right to be our own independent individuals; we are all entitled to our own beliefs and rights under the constitution and declaration of independence. Throughout all the writings studied by different authors, they all reflect the spirit of individualism in the wake of cultural and political change. Depicted in Mark Twain's satiric novel,The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the 14 year old advocate huck exposes the hypocrisy of white society's morals during his childhood in the Antebellum South widow douglas his care taker attempts to civilize him by trying to save his soul, because she believes that she has to help him live a better mannered life like herself but, he will not conform to society he rather be himself. The author's purpose for authoring his writing is to inform individuals about racism also to show individuals that it is wrong and how people use religion as an excuse to justify it. Illustrated in Walt whitman's poem ¨Song Of Myself¨ from book Leaves of Grass the poet explains that every individual has a purpose and a journey they must follow and find, also that every individual is made up of the same things so there should be no reason for anyone to feel belittled.the author's main purpose for writing this was to get individuals to enjoy life and not fear death. James McPherson published a nonfiction novel called What We Fought For to help Americans understand why Union soldiers fought against the
In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, Huck Finn, the protagonist, epitomizes a self-reliant individual as defined by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essay, “Self-Reliance.” In “Self-Reliance,” Emerson describes four main qualities that a person must demonstrate in order to be considered self-reliant. Emerson states that in order to be self-reliant, a person must maintain his own values even if they oppose the values of society. Likewise, a person’s actions must be rooted in his own moral sensibilities, as opposed to society’s moral standards. Additionally, Emerson argues that a person who is self-reliant does not thoughtlessly submit to a religion because religion hinders independent thought. Lastly, Emerson explains that the significant value that society allots to property, inhibits self-reliance, as individuals grow to depend on their property instead of learning to be self-reliant. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim, an escaped slave, raft down the Mississippi River in hopes of reaching freedom. Throughout his journey with Jim, Huck Finn proves to be a self-reliant individual according to the standards that Emerson details in his essay, “Self-Reliance.”
Jim and Huck are ahead of their time. Huck and Jim are part of an ordinary community during the Gilded Age. Yet they are members of a parallel world that isolates them from the rest of society. They go against the expectations and rules that society has laid out in front of them. Because this book is narrated by Huck, it illustrates his constant internal battle of flipping the ordinary world upside down. But with Jim by his side he is able to accomplish and defy the odds. As a hero Huck must go through the many stages of the archetype, the ordinary world, call to adventure, crossing of the threshold, tests, ordeal, and return with the elixir.