After the Civil War and through the nineteenth century, local color literature was most dominant in American literature. From the very beginning, within the first few pages, or even sentences, the evidence of local color prevails in the novel of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by “Mr. Mark Twain” (106). Local color is defined by Donna Campbell of Washington State University as “fiction and poetry that focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features particular to a specific region.” The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the greatest examples and reveals all the characteristics of local color writing. The first characteristic of local color writing is setting. The setting is the most fundamental element of the story. It is geared towards the emphasis of the limitations nature imposes; settings are usually isolated. The settings and the metaphors and life lessons it imposes are crucial to the development of the story and its characters. At the beginning of the adventures Huckleberry (Huck) and Jim set out on, the two runaways find each other at Jackson Island. The uninhabited, remote location, is the beginning of the struggles the two face. The pair are isolated for much of the novel upon a raft down the Mississippi River in hopes to make it to Cairo, Illinois, “[but], the second night a fog begun to come on” and separated the two temporarily putting them past their desired destination (154). Generally, the larger idea of the
“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is a piece of fiction that is so strongly written it can be conceived as the truth. Mark Twain’s ability to paint a clear and realistic picture of the Southern way of life in 1885 is unparalleled in any author. The story of Huckleberry Finn is one that gives ample opportunity for interesting sights into the South at that time. The story consists of Huck and a runaway slave, along with two men and Huck’s faithful friend Tom Sawyer and some points of the novel, floating down the Mississippi’s shores and encountering different feats of Southern culture, tragedy, and adventure. A nice example of Twain’s ability to turn an event on a river into an analysis of Southern culture is a fun bit of the story where Huck
In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain in the 19th century is about a young boy named Huck Finn and Jim, a runaway slave who go on an adventure. The two travel on a raft along the Mississippi river creating a bond and making memories. Mark Twain presents Huckleberry Finn as a dynamic character who at first views Jim as property and eventually considers Jim as a friend, showing a change in maturity.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a significant book in the history of American literature that presents readers with the truth of our past American society in aspects such as speech, mannerisms, and tradition that we must embrace rather than dismiss by censorship. It is a novel that has been praised and proclaimed America’s “first indigenous literary masterpiece” (Walter Dean Howells) as well as one that has been criticized and declared obscene. It has undergone much scorn and condemnation as a novel and many feel that it should be censored. This, however, is not the way it should be. Huckleberry Finn is a masterpiece and, as a matter of fact, it is one on many levels. The story itself, though
Transcendentalism can be observed throughout the text of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and through the text textbook examples of Transcendentalism can be seen from the cast of characters and Huck himself and the situations/adventures that he gets himself into throughout his journey, a journey which enables him to develop his Transcendental ideals.. Transcendentalism is a vital part of The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. By reading and studying the content of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn it is perceived that Transcendentalism is a prevalent influence that can be attributed to plot and the motivations of the Protagonist.
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.
In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain juxtaposed events in American society to demonstrate to the reader contrasts between different levels of class and race in society.
Mob mentality is the way an individual’s decisions become influenced by the often unprincipled actions of a crowd. Mark Twain penned The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain grew up in America’s southern states during the early 1800’s, a time in which moral confusion erupted within the minds of humans. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 's protagonist is a young boy named Huck who freely travels along the Mississippi River. Throughout his journey, Huck’s morality is tested as he is subjected to corrupt issues that were common in Twain 's life. One of the complications displayed in the novel includes the violent and impulsive aspects of mob mentality. Mark Twain is able to reveal the immoral nature of mob mentality through outraged and haughty tones within the novel.
Mark Twain was a celebrated writer during his lifetime and is still today long past his death. One of Twain’s famous works titled, “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is a prime example of local color writing done during the 19th century. Twain’s novel shows the average person what life and the people in rural America are like. The story takes place in a gold mining camp in Calaveras County, California during the 1850s. Out west was still very rural and full of many different types of characters. Additionally, most people who lived out there had an accent and verbage similar to that of the modern day southern United States. The characters themselves show the type of place Calaveras county was, with the main character Smiley being
The grasping novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is written by the author Mark Twain. It is set in St. Petersburg, Missouri, on the banks of the Missouri River. Considering this novel was most likely written in the mid 1800s, people are treated differently than others depending on their skin color, gender, or religion. Twain wanted the protagonist, Huck Finn, to make a point of equality. This is made obvious when Huck befriends an African-American house slave, Jim. Equality is a strong message in this novel: from the color of your skin, to your reading level, to your social class. Huck has very strong opinions and feelings about everyone he encounters.
Worlds collide as two unlikely companions join forces on a quest for freedom. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, details a picaresque storyline following the harrowing escape of Huck, a young boy, from the claws of his abusive father, and Jim, a runaway slave, from the looming threat of the slave trade. Twain, using the Mississippi River as the main setting of the novel, ingeniously applies the art of satire and irony to depict the hypocrisy of the era through the many adversities that the two companions face along the way. Conveying a serious message in an entertaining manner, the satirization of greed, religious hypocrisy, and society in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn unite to form the overall theme of human
The story of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is not just a great example of a classic piece of American literature, but it is also a great example of regionalism in American literature in more ways than just one. Twain heavily uses dialect to portray both where and when the story takes place to the point that in today’s time its use can be viewed as offensive to some people. Since regionalism is all about the setting of a story the descriptions of the setting do a lot to show off regionalism in the story of Huck Finn. Though the characters are constantly moving around the river is one of the constants, and the many places visited and sites viewed along the river all fall under examples of regionalism in the story. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain explores
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is, indeed, a magnificent piece of work. Having said that, Mark Twain wrote this book with qualities that, without a doubt, classify it as a regional text. Twain illustrates specific features of the South such as geography, culture, dialect and characters, which, in turn, aid in adding flare to this notable style of writing.
On the other hand, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn showcases class issues while demonstrating Jim’s humanity and encouraging us to see him as a kind person who cares for friends and family, and in that regard he is no less human than his white counterpart, Huck. What Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and American Salvage reveal is that even despite varied time periods of turmoil, in landscapes that may be historically or geographically unfamiliar, a commonality remains across regions and chronology. Regional literature will always be relevant because even in a world that in increasingly “flattening” with technology and universalism, there are always traits found within each of us that are historically and regionally unique. Reading regional literature is an act of pulling at those remnant threads to unravel the complexities of cultural difference; in doing so, we both appreciate how the structures of tangles came to be and also how we are ultimately made of the same
What have you heard about Mark Twain or this novel? What else have you read by Twain?
In the explanatory text before the story, Twain explains the dialect of the characters, “the Missouri negro dialect; the extremest form of the form of the backwood South-Western dialect; the ordinary “Pike-County” dialect; and four modified varieties of this last.” The dialect is accurate to each role the character plays, making the text as real and relatable as possible. The use of diction that fits each character, time period, and location is another way in which The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn becomes a novel to fit the idea of realism.