MARK TWAIN’S MESMERISING MISSISSIPPI
Dr. RALLAPALLI HYDERALI,
Head, Dept. of English,
S.T.S.N. Govt. UG & PG College,
Kadiri, Ananthapuramu District, A.P., hyderrallapalli@gmail.com Samuel Longhorn Clemens is not so well known to the world as the beloved Mark Twain, author of such American classics as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Innocents Abroad, The Prince and The Pauper, Life on the Mississippi and so on. Twain as a boy, young pilot and as a writer has spent his greater part of life on the river Mississippi. The river enthralled and mesmerized Mark Twain to the extent, that he even has got his pen name from the river depth measuring terminology. People all over the world love and revere
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In technique and structure and characterization “Huckleberry Finn” is for ahead of ‘Tom Sawyer.’ Huck’s narration of the story in the vernacular is something that has rendered the book vital and significant. Unfortunately the book has been misunderstood. The Concord Library Committee felt that the book was rough and coarse. An American reviewer could not check his exasperation and regarded Huckleberry Finn as, “An incarnation of the better side of the ruffianism that is one result of the independence of American.”2 Even then, this novel has a compactness and unity, with a dominant central factor holding the different pieces together. One who peruses the novel feels that the Mississippi River is the central factor, the thread that ties the various parts of the novel holding it together, preventing it from falling to …show more content…
The most important of these is Huck’s fight from the camping, restraining “civilizing” attempts of Miss Watson and the cruelty of his father. This soon becomes something more dynamic as it blends with Jim’s flight from the fetters of slavery to the dazzling prospects of freedom. At a certain point very early in the novel Huck’s flight and Jim’s get interwoven and become one theme, inseparable. The second element in the novel “Huckleberry Finn” is the keen social satire through which Mark Twain exposes the hypocrisy blood thirstiness and moral decadence of the various parts of the United States. Now, these places he has chosen are the places enshrined in the river Mississippi, that Huck and Jim are likely to stop at while drifting on their raft the towns along the river. The third major element is the shaping of Huck’s character. We see how in all these three elements the Mississippi is an integral part, functioning as something indispensable to each. Thus the river is an important character in the novel. The author, Mark Twain almost shaped it as a guardian or a god to protect the fugitives, Huck and Jim. This fact was well appraised by T.S. Eliot when he puts it about the river as “I do not know much about gods, but I think that the river is a strong brown god in the Twain’s
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered one of the ‘Great American Novels’ and is taught in American high schools all over the globe, but is nonetheless a difficult book to read and comprehend. This difficulty arises from two main problems. Firstly, Socratic irony is evident throughout the novel and it is important for the reader to grasp and make sense of that, which throughout the novel becomes gradually more difficult. And secondly that in order to be able to comprehend the novel, the reader must be prepared to place the novel in a larger context literary and historically. However, these obstacles can be dealt with and surpassed.
The novel by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, analyzes many subjects of social importance during the Gilded Age in America, or the last 19th and early 20th centuries. These include race, class, greed, exploitation, and stereotypes. It is the coming of age tale of a young boy named Huck, who as a victim of domestic abuse, leaves his home and became friends with a runaway slave called Jim. The tone of the novel ranges from bitter to cheerful, suspenseful to angry. The novel features pure and original language which is hard to comprehend at times, however it is used to symbolize the many controversy’s facing America in the era in which it was written.
In Mark Twain's novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," the protagonist, Huck Finn, undergoes a transformative journey that shapes his character and challenges societal norms. Throughout the narrative, Huck evolves from a carefree and naive boy to a morally conscious individual who grapples with complex issues of race, morality, and personal freedom. This character study will explore Huck's development through three key aspects: his independence and defiance of societal norms, his moral growth and empathy, and his struggle for personal freedom and autonomy. Through these lenses, we gain insight into Huck's complexities as a character and the profound impact of his experiences on the Mississippi River. At the beginning of the story, Huck is portrayed as a carefree and adventurous boy
Huckleberry Finn is also lifted into great literary status by Twain’s compelling use of symbolism. An example of this symbolism is the Mississippi River. Throughout the novel, the river symbolizes life’s journey and, eventually, Huck’s natural integrity. It represents a place of ease and safety for both Huck and Jim. There is a major difference between their life on the river and their life on the land. On the river, life for Huck is peaceful and easy yet not without its dangers, whilst life on the land is most often cruel, demanding, and deceitful. Another example is how life on the raft is a paradox because, even
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a coming of age novel set in the 1840’s in St. Petersburg, MO. Although written 20 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, America, especially in the south, was struggling with racism. The novel contains many thought provoking themes such as racism, social class, morals, and conforming to society’s expectations. Perhaps, one of the most important themes of the book is Huck’s refusal to conform to society’s rules or to be “Sivilized” by Widow Douglas. Throughout the novel Huck proves to the reader that staying true to himself rather than conforming to society’s expectations will allow him to live a more satisfied life.
“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, Mark Twain provides a “notice” in order to dissuade readers from expectations met by other story archetypes. To do so he purposely develops a plot, that is neither clear nor seeks to satisfy a particular notion. Twain weaves a tale that appears to have a concrete purpose, yet the story never reaches a definitive point. The audience is lulled into the mindset that the novel will reveal its true design, only to be met with a feeling of utter dismay. It is a messy collage of Huck’s human experience where realism takes precedence over the romantic appeal readers want to experience. Twain provides twisted romantic themes in hopes that the reader will realize the realism and ugly truth of that time.
A novel structured on the theme of morality, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain focuses on Huck Finn’s multifaceted growing up process. Huck, through his escapades and misfortunes is obliged to endure the agonizing process from childhood to adulthood where he attains self-knowledge and discovers his own identity. Throughout the journey down the Mississippi River, Jim, Ms. Watson’s runaway slave, accompanies Huck, and is later joined by two con men. It is during this journey that a great moral crisis in Huck’s life occurs where he must make a painful decision as to whether he is going to give Jim up to the slave hunters or notify Ms. Watson about Jim’s whereabouts and assist him to
During the latter nineteenth century, the famous author Mark Twain, less commonly known as Samuel Clemens, produced The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. A few years prior to the publishing of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain released possibly his most famous book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which is very much an adventure novel. In the early chapters of Twain’s sequel, it appears that¬¬¬¬ The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is another adventure novel, and that it is just following a different character from Twain’s earlier world of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. However, it is quickly realized that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is in fact not an adventure book for the youth, but a much more mature story with a large amount of symbolism and satire. This novel by Mark Twain follows the life of a young boy, Huckleberry Finn, as he rides down the mighty Mississippi River on a makeshift raft. Along the way, the boy runs into many various challenges, or episodes, which seem to hinder his progress down the Mississippi. Deep satirical and symbolical meaning can be found in each of these episodes, as Mark Twain was known to love satire and to enjoy making fun of all aspects of life and society. Many have praised The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a “great American novel” due to many conventional themes that they try to find in Huck’s ‘adventures’. The Adventures of Huckleberry
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain (1884) is the story of Huck’s maturation as he runs away from the suffocating environment of civilization and the societal beliefs of the Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson, and finds himself forced to take care of himself while helping the escaped slave Jim evade capture. The Mississippi River acts as a catalyst for Huck’s development of a mature conscience and independent mind and represents freedom for both Huck and Jim. This essay will explore and analyze the many changes that occur to the major characters Huck and Jim on their journey down the Mississippi river and the transformation of Huck Finn’s immature to mature conscience. In the novel’s beginning, Huck is characteristically
The River in Huck Finn is an extremely important aspect of the novel. The river is a source of transportation and live but it also causes many issues for Huck and Jim when they are trying to go up. The reader learns about how peaceful the river can be, how dangerous it can be and how important it is to the life of those who live in the South. The River is a source of life for humans, animals and plants alike and it is a huge influence of life on those who live by it but it also causes destruction in its wake as well.
A timeless classic about the adventure of a young boy floating down the Mississippi River, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a satire on established attitudes and values, particularly racism. Set at an easy reading level, this novel tells the epic adventure every young boy wishes he had. Not just Huck Finn’s coming of age story, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is much more than what meets the eye. Peeled back layer by layer, it reveals messages that many overlook while reading. In particular, the significance of the run away slave, Jim, is undermined by many who read it. Jim has become one of the most controversial characters in American literature. Although, he is depicted as simple and trusting, maybe too trusting, Jim’s qualities
In the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain juxtaposes two environments that tackle many different aspects of life. From Christian reforms, domestic abuse, and slavery to reflective solitude and liberation, Twain brings together a plethora of obstacles for the main character Huckleberry Finn and his companion Jim to encounter and assimilate. The two contrasting settings depict intermingling themes of the repressive civilization on land, the unrestricted freedom on the raft, and the transcendentalism that Huck and Jim experience during their escape from captivity towards liberation.
In �The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn�, the Mississippi River plays several roles and holds a prominent theme throughout much of the story as a whole. Huckleberry Finn and Jim are without a doubt the happiest and most a peace when floating down the river on their raft. However, the river has a much deeper meaning than just a compilation of water. It almost goes to an extent of having its own personality and character traits. The river offers a place for the two characters, Huck and Jim, to escape from everybody and even everything in society and leaves them with a feeling of ease. In the middle section of Huckleberry Finn, the river takes on more of a concrete meaning and will be discussed more so in the paragraphs that follows.
The following paper will briefly show arguments, and conclusions within the writings of Mark Twain’s story Huckleberry Finn. I will discuss the various themes that Mark Twain is bringing to light within his story. This paper will show how Mark Twain uses those themes within the story, and how they are specifically used. I will also briefly discuss the life of Samuel Clemons, the author known as Mark Twain, and give the reasoning behind choosing the name of Mark Twain when writing his novels. Themes of escapism will be discussed.