The question still remains, what truly determines whether a book is a classic or not? “Merriam-Webster.com” defines classic as “an example of excellence” or “considered one of the best of its kind.” Therefore, the so-called classic must be able to pass the test of time and be read in the same admiration throughout generations. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain is one of these “classics.” The novels everlasting excellence is proven throughout by its plot. Twain does a remarkable job of conveying clear details of his plot through dialogue and describing locations and situations. For example, the main character, Huckleberry Finn, talks in such a fashion as too show the difference between uneducated southerners back then and “educated” people in today’s time. When Huck says, “Yes-en I’s rich now, come look at it. I owns mysef, en I’s wuth eight hund 'd dollars. I wisht I had de money, I wouldn’ want no,” (Twain 52) this dialogue shows Twain’s ability to manipulate the plot to fit in the characteristics of the time when he wrote the novel. This dialogue shows up consistently throughout the novel, showing the importance and emphasis Twain meant to convey. It is also shown when Huck states, “ 'Quick, Jim, it ain’t no time for fooling around and moaning; there’s a gang of murderers in yonder, and if we don 't hunt up their boat and set her drifting down the river so these fellows can’t get away from the wreck, there 's one of ‘em going to be in a bad fix. But
Many aspects of the novel that initially drew me in ended up staying true to their claim and impressing me even more than I originally expected. For instance, the complexity of the characters, specifically Jim, is simply astounding. To demonstrate, despite being on the brink of achieving freedom, Jim chooses to take the chance of losing it when he refuses to leave an injured Tom behind whilst saying that he “‘doan' budge a step out'n dis place 'dout a DOCTOR, not if it's forty year!”’ (Twain 275). This not only depicts Jim’s selfless nature, but also portrays the full extent exactly how far he is willing to go for his friends. To elaborate, his original reason for abandoning his mistress was in order to achieve freedom for himself and his family. However, after learning to cherish the time and memories he and Huck have spent together on the raft, Jim risks failing to achieve his one goal in order to make sure his friends are safe. Another prominent feature of the novel is the method in which they address the topic of racism and slavery. Again portrayed through the character Jim, Twain interweaves threads of racism into his actions and speech in order to depict the social hierarchy of the time period. To illustrate, although his personality can attribute for certain aspects of his actions, the audience truly learns to recognize the effects of institutionalized racism when Huck reveals that
In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck struggles to conform to society’s views and expectations. Society pressures Huck Finn into earning a standard education, but through his worldly knowledge and common sense, he can view the world differently than the people around him. Through his perspective on Southern society, Huck struggles to accept the moral beliefs that have been instilled upon him at birth because he befriends an African American slave. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain effectively uses the motif of dead bodies to suggest that truth finally reveals the inconsistencies in society through Huck’s common sense.
Throughout history, and even into present times, racism appears as an all too common societal concern. From slavery and discrimination to unequal rights, African Americans’ long history of mistreatment led to the desire and craving for freedom. In Mark Twain’s adventure novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, such motives from pre-emancipation era African American slaves become evident. In the novel, the characters’ attempts to leave the shackled south for the non-restrained north in hopes of freedom become justified. By analyzing and understanding how society feels about African Americans based on the geographical locations of the Southern United States, the Mississippi River, and the Northern United States, the reader comprehends the influential drive behind the desire to escape racism.
Year after year The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is placed in the top ten banned books in America. People find the novel to be oppressing and racially insensitive due to its frequent use of the n-word and the portrayal of blacks as a Sambo caricature. However, this goes against Mark Twain’s intent of bringing awareness to the racism in America. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is classified under the genre of satire and is narrated by a fictional character named Huckleberry Finn. The novel takes place in the south during the year 1845. With his abusive father, and no mother, Huck is left feeling lonely, and as if he has place to call his home. So he decides to leave town, and on in his journey where he encounters a slave he’s familiar with, Jim, who is also running away. This story captures their relationship and growth as they face many obstacles on their way to freedom. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn satirizes people’s greed and violent behavior by mocking the stereotype of southern hospitality.
Mark Twain penned his famous novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1884 and it quickly became one of the most banned books in America (Sova). The popularity of the novel as a teaching tool as well as the call to ban this book continues today due to the novel’s theme of racism. In the novel, Mark Twain utilizes satire to show his “contempt for slavery and any racist morality that would uphold it” (Battaglia). Twain’s ability to humorously make a political point regarding the treatment of African Americans in America, provided a platform for discussions in classrooms across the country regarding racism. Twain could not have foreseen that racism continues to be a relevant issue in American society in 2016. Ethnocentrism, or the belief in the inherent superiority of one’s own culture remains a predominate opinion in many white Americans. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s successfully procured rights for African Americans, but it did not eradicate racism. Instead, in American society today, covert racism replaces the overt racism Mark Twain depicts in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In addition, continually evolving media and technology perpetuates ethnocentric ideals as well as racism and discrimination in America. Finally, ethnocentrism in America creates racism and discrimination beyond African American to include all minority groups. Racism persists in America due to the acceptable culture of ethnocentrism.
Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, certain characters help influence the development of Huck’s morality immensely. For instance, Jim gave Huck a sense of loyalty and respect, Meanwhile Huck’s father and the con men Huck encountered allowed him to see how not to treat others and what not to value. With all these influences weighing on Huck, he was able to progressively learn how to choose between the rights and wrongs amongst the decisions made by himself and others around him. Huck’s moral development as a character is mostly credited to himself in learning how to analyze situations and people in his life and deciding whether or not they keep strong values and morality.
In the novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain, it is evident that civilization corrupts, rather than improves human beings. Huckleberry was brought up in with the accepted methods and ideals of society. He would face aspects like slavery, corruption and prejudicy on a daily basis, but still chooses his own individuality over society. Throughout his life, Huckleberry would solely rely on his own instincts and sense of right to guide him through life. He continues to follow his sense of right, not knowing that his instincts are more morally correct than those of society. Living in this type of environment, it would be expected for an individual to fall accustomed to society, but Huckleberry did not. He rose above the norms of society. Sometimes the people we least expect are the most humane of all.
History has proven itself again and again with the simple fact that social classes dictate how human lives are treated. The major aspects in life are directly impacted by what social class someone is in. This dictates many things including who this person affiliates himself with and what kind of quality life that person will live. This is very evident in Antebellum South. Slavery is at its peak in this time, and half the population are slaves. In the book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck and Jim travel down the Mississippi River, and encounter a lot of the aspects of the Antebellum South. Because of the society Huck has grown up in, he often feels that he is superior to his traveling companion, Jim. Throughout the story, Twain creates a division, that widens as the story evolves, between how Huck views Jim and how the reader views Jim as a person. This theme happens in almost every part of the book and it is very clear that Huck underestimates Jim.
Identity is something that separates one person from another. Everyone has his or her own personal identity. To find ones identity you must go through a process that leads you to discover who you are why you are the way you are. One of many themes in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain is the search for Huck’s identity. From living with Miss Watson and being forced to view society as everyone wants him to, to living on him own and finding how he really wants to view civilization; Huck journey to find his identity was successful as he had developed into a mature young boy who turned against society and formulated his own opinion on how the world should be lived. He didn’t need disguises, made up stories, or lies anymore because by the end of the novel Huck was just living as Huck. Most importantly, through Huck’s realization of himself he discovers who Jim is too.
Is it possible for someone to change their views on something that has been instilled in them throughout their life? The novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, follows a white Southern boy, Huck, and his adventures with a slave named Jim. Huck grew up with a drunken, uneducated father, Pap, who constantly abused him when he wasn’t drinking. Ms. Watson, who owned Jim, took Huck in. One night, Pap kidnapped Huck and took him to a secret log cabin. In order to truly get away from Pap, Huck fakes his death and Pap is the one to blame. Coincidentally, Jim also escapes from Ms. Watson at around the same time. Huck and Jim find each other, and Huck agrees to help Jim, a runaway slave. For a southern, white boy to help a runaway
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain we learn about a young boy named Huck Finn and his friend, a slave named Jim, and the adventure they embark on together. The entire book is written in first person dialect and is regarded as one of the most influential fictional writings in American literature. With its popularity comes much scrutiny as well, many feel that the book has a racist element due to the cruel language used throughout. The word “nigger” is used over 200 times leading to “skepticisms and disapproval from whites and, decades later, even harsher criticism from African Americans” (Fikes, 240). Mark Twain demonstrates throughout the book that people 's morals and standards in society during that time period
Since the creation of mankind, nature has provided us with the resources to survive by providing humans with food and shelter, which is why humans view nature as a home. In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character Huck tries to escape to the north with a runaway slave named Jim. While in nature, they learn how to trust each other and develop their own opinions instead of following what society believes is right. In Emerson’s short essay, “Nature”, Emerson describes nature as a place in which it provides protection from all calamities and disgraces. While in nature, he’s able to become relaxed and peaceful. In William Cullen Bryant’s poem, “Thanatopsis,” Bryant writes that although everyone will eventually die, death shouldn’t be feared, but instead embraced. While nature does bring death, it also provides care and a sanctuary, which clears our dark thoughts away. Although nature can often bring sadness, it ultimately provides a hideaway from society; therefore, people should preserve nature because we rely on it.
Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, comes from a pivotal moment in American history. The Civil War has ended, but the country is still facing a great divide. This is also the Realism period, in which writers use heroes to discover the meaning of freedom within the boundaries of moral choices in spite of social conventions. The title character, Huck Finn, is an adolescent in southern America frustrated by attempts to “sivilize” him. Therefore, Huck embarks on a journey to free himself from civilization, yet he continues to find himself stuck between moral and social obligations. While on his quest for freedom and individuality, Huck learns that freedom means making moral choices, even if they defy society’s stipulations.
One thing is well understood is one should never deliberate over religion or politics in specific social settings. Religion is and has always been a topic of serious controversy and indifference. Literature has become a major source of media in which religious sentiments are discussed. The description of one boy, Huck and his adventures allows Mark Twain the chance to convey Huck Finn’s perspective on religion to his readers. In his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses such literary devices as satire, humor, and irony throughout his work to illustrate his distaste for religion and religious conventions. In various scenes in the novel, Twain illustrates his animosity towards religion, as normally serious conventions are portrayed as comical. Huckleberry Finn, the main character, is either directly involved in these scenarios or otherwise a viewer and subsequent narrator of these humorous events.
"All American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since." These famous words by Ernest Hemingway, a world renowned author, go to prove that Huckleberry Finn truly is a literary masterpiece. Even though Huckleberry Finn is classified as one of the best novels ever created does not mean that it is filled with 'butterflies and rainbows '. Throughout the novel there are many negative escapades that are experienced by the characters that show corruption and hypocrisy of society. The protagonist, Huck Finn, is right in the middle of most of the shenanigans that goes on in society. When he is not in the middle of things in society he is in nature where he is able to break free from the negativity of society. Therefore, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses Huck 's experiences within society and in nature to prove that we must return to nature to escape the corruption and hypocrisy of society.