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Individualism In Mark Twain

Decent Essays

To be an individual is to do things on your own, when people can depend on their own self and prefer to work or do things without others. These are some examples that show individualism in different ways. Depicted in Mark Twain's, satiric Bildungsroman novel, published in 1844, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck exposes the flaws in Antebellum society on the Mississippi River. He has authored this novel to criticize society, because of hypocrisy, racism, slavery, and pursuing a “moral education”. Mark Twain is stating one of the reasons people are individuals, and when they do not conform to society's expectations they get judged, and treated horribly. As in, the next poem Whitman states why people were not able to be individuals. In Walt Whitman's free verse poem, “Song of Myself”, published 1855, from the collection Leaves of Grass, he emphasizes that all individuals are created equal because everything is made of atoms as illustrated in the graveyard scene. Whitman's purpose for composing his poem was to inform that slavery was corrupted and could not escape society, they did not have a chance to become who they wanted to be. This poem connects to the next text in the way of giving examples how they fought for individualism. James McPhersons, author of What We Fought For, nonfiction historical letters and accounts coming from the Northern States, during the civil war, confirms what happened during the war and helps people get a better understanding of the war. McPhersons purpose is to inform the audience of the hardships the soldiers endured during the war, how they ended up fighting, and if they wanted to or not. As portrayed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain reveals Huck’s character to be uneducated; as a result, Widow Douglas wants to civilize Huck because she cares for him, but he wants to be an individual. In the end what is to be learned is that people if they want, should be let to do their own thing and not be forced to be someone that they are not. The author describes that “...regular and decent the Widow was in all her ways; so I could not stand it no longer I lit out”. This example proves that Huck was not taught to have manners and

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