The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn : Rhetorical Analysis Essay

People often hesitate to accept what they do not understand. In the absence of love and compassion, it is no question that fear, ignorance, and hatred, all contribute to a melting pot of negativity in the world. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, is about the love and friendship cultivated by a young boy and a black slave on the Mississippi River. Despite the pair’s differences, they are able to endure the struggles and difficulties that the toilsome journey brings. Mark Twain, in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, emphasizes the shift in Huck’s view towards slavery by contrasting Huck’s initial tone of reflectiveness to his assertive tone, both collectively addressing the issue of racism in society.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a satire written by Mark Twain. The novel is based on the series of adventures that the protagonist, Huckleberry Finn, and his companion a runaway slave named Jim go on. In the novel, the protagonist, Huck Finn's mind is pulled in conflicting directions by two compelling desires.

Occasionally there are times when it is more beneficial to do what is necessary or useful to you as opposed to doing what's right. Huck Finn is met with a similar situation when he is stopped on his raft and he is forced to conjure up a lie to defend Jim. After the situation has been resolved, Huck decides that he "wouldn't bother no more about it, but after this always do whichever come handiest at the time".

Part of the reason that makes Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain a masterpiece is because of the way he forced the readers to fondle the details to find a greater meaning. He places details in the language for the readers to further their understanding of the characters and get a good feel for the setting of the novel. Twain places a heavy emphasis on Jim’s dialect, he does this by making Jim’s speech hard to read and digest. He does this to show Jims place in society, his level of education, and to show how most slaves during the time period talked. Twain also uses his language to show how slaves were treated in different states and to show the amount of education they receive. For example

Be that as it may, while Huck needs to recognize his association with Jim, he can separate himself in different ways. To begin with, he can call him a "nigger" - a word whose derivation Huck likely knows nothing about. At that point he can fill the word with importance, with the implications he gained from his Pap: about the unconscionable lives that niggers lead; how their extremely nearness can aggravate a terrible circumstance; and how connecting with them can recolor a decent man's whiteness. "It was by the well-known axiom, 'Offer a nigger a bit of leeway and he'll take an ell,' " Huck says. "Here was this nigger which I had on a par with fled, coming appropriate out level footed and saying he would take his youngsters - kids that had

Satire can be found everywhere around us, not just in our English classes. For instance, satire can be found in many television shows, newspaper articles, comics and many other places. Satire is used to criticize people`s stupidity or foolishness among many different issues through the use of irony, humor, and other rhetorical strategies. In other words, its main purpose is to mock a certain subject or person to expose the main issue to the audience. For instance, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Twain demonstrates the use of various rhetorical strategies, such as ironic and humorous language to satirize southern society`s hypocrisy toward education, religion and racism.

Mark Twain published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with sardonic references to acknowledge the errors in his society. During Twain’s time period, the U.S. government and the media slowly began to convince their citizens that they were veracious, however he sought to reveal that they were actually deceptive. Twain was determined to inform the American people about how apathetic the government leaders were, how the judicial system served injustice and how the media would indoctrinate anyone that listened to them.

A major theme of the novel is the hypocrisy and double standards that are evident in the society surrounding Huck. This trait is found especially within Christian and religious types in the novel. Twain shows almost every good Christian in the novel as having a generous and kind side, which completely contradicts much of their actions. Twain believes that this hypocrisy is the underlining element that makes religion skeptical. As it is seen in the book, almost every good Christian contradicts himself or herself in some way. Perhaps Huck's first example of this was when the Widow Douglas did not allow him to smoke, as it was a mean practice. However, “she took snuff too; of course that was all right, because she done it herself” (Twain 2). Another example was the Grangerfords. Huck described this family as very nice and kind and even considered Buck a good friend. But once again, the hypocrisy of religious types was bound to come into play. These same people are slave owners and have a feud with a similar family, the Shepherdsons for reasons they don't remember. Perhaps the biggest example of this hypocrisy was when Huck went to church with the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons. As Huck explains, “the men took their guns along, so did Buck, and kept them between their knees.... it was pretty ornery preaching all about brotherly love” (Twain 83). It is obvious that the two families had their guns in their laps while the preacher talked about

stranger's door, a woman answers and lets Huckleberry inside. They begin to speak and the topic

As a resounding anti-slavery supporter, Mark Twain discreetly presented his views to readers in his novel "The adventures of huckleberry Finn". Even though it was published after the time of governmentally condoned slavery, its setting was that of the pre-antebellum south, where a young white boy is conflicted by the social norms of slavery and facilitated racism. And through the main character's confrontation with said norms along with the seemingly "Human" actions/emotions of his run away companion, Mark Twain successfully created a rebuttal to contradict society's rational behind slavery. However, he did not openly refute the practice of slavery in the novel. And since at times he showed multiple actions backing up the insignificance of

Mark Twain pokes fun at numerous social institutions in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to show the irony in what he had observed from these institutions. He uses the humor so those reading the classic could hopefully see things how he sees them. The use of satire is effective in getting his thoughts across to the reader. For example, Twain's stance on slavery could be deciphered by what Huck says in reference to slaves and slave-owners as well as feuds and civilizations. The irony and humor that Twain uses in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is successfully used when talking about slavery, family feuds and civilization versus natural life.

In "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Mark Twain uses satire to mock many different aspects of the modern world. Throughout his trip down the Mississippi, and even prior to leaving St. Petersburg, Huck encounters a variety of people and situations that are designed to scoff at the American people. Twain employs satire in order to criticize human behavior in society, demonstrating societal hypocrisy and just how easily people conform to mob mentality.

This innocence allows Twain to satirize religious sentimentality and superficiality with abandon. Miss Watson and Widow Douglas, Huck's unofficial guardians who try to "sivilize" him, teach Huck the concept of Christianity. The women emphasis prayer and Providence. Huck recalls, "She told me to pray every day, and whatever I asked for I would get it" (10). The literal minded young boy believes that he would receive anything he desires if he prays for it. This is made apparent when Huck states, "I tried for the hooks three or four times, but somehow I couldn't make it work" (11). Further attempts by the two women to explain prayer only leads to more confusion, making Twain's point that religious practices, in this case prayer, do not always make sense. To further this point, Twain includes Huck's confusion over Providence. Each of the women explains the concept of Providence differently, actually contradicting one another. Huck explains what he is taught by saying, "I judged I could see that there was two Providences." Thus, Twain criticizes religious philosophy by creating a scenario whereby the two women, and subsequently Huck, have two juxtapose interpretations of a religious concept. Twain conveys his message of how ridiculous it is for two or more people to have different interpretations of the same religious concept and still claim to practice the same

“All modern 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 good since.” Famous author, Ernest Hemingway, praised Twain. The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tells the story of a runaway boy who encounters an escaped slave. The pair begins an unlikely friendship and even learns life changing lessons while they venture the Mississippi River. Throughout this coming of age novel, Huck must decide on whether to use his better judgement or the morals he was taught growing up. This is a continuation of Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer leaves off with the titular character and his best friend Huck Finn, whom finds stolen money totaling in six thousand dollars. The town Judge, Mr. Thatcher keeps the money and evenly distributes it to the boys all year round. Twain’s Huckleberry Finn incorporates each major theme in American literature; the journey from innocence to awareness, the American dream, land of the frontier, the hero and community.

Another type of humor Twain uses is parody which is portrayed by the character Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer bases his whole life and actions on books and makes simple matters over complicated. An example of this is when he creates an oath for his gang of robbers. It states, “Everybody said it was a really beautiful oath, and asked Tom if he got it out of his own head. He said, some of it,