...American Literature 23 November 2009 Analytical Essay of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, was written by Mark Twain and originally published in 1884 during a time when slavery was prominent in the United States. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the story regarding the interracial friendship between the two main characters, Huck and Jim. Huck is a young white male who is on the run, making his getaway from his abusive father. While escaping the life he lived, his adventures take him down the Mississippi River. Jim is a black escaped slave, making the same journey along the Mississippi River as Huck, making his way to freedom. As they experience different adventures on their travels along the Mississippi River, Huck and Jim form a very unique friendship. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn became a book that both revolutionized American literature and became a book at the center of literary debate (Webb). Many people regard The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as one of the greatest novels in American literature; others think it celebrates racism and should be banned from our schools. “In recent years the racial (and racist) implications of every aspect of the novel have been subject to critical debate, as have questions about the racial beliefs of the author”(Levine 95). The reason for the wide spread debate is mainly due to the books vernacular use of the word “nigger” and, although some argue that the novel is extremely racist, it is...
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...Huckleberry Finn discovers the kind of person he will turn out to be while being given the opportunity to make decisions about what is right and wrong. The novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, follows the adventures of a young boy named Huck Finn and his pal Jim (a freed slave) through the Mississippi River. Throughout the novel, Twain employs a series of rhetorical strategies to create a message through Huck’s character development, relationships, and interactions with others. Through his use of colloquial language and dialect, imagery, and tone, Mark Twain conveys that slavery harms everyone. Throughout the course of the novel, Twain uses colloquial language as well as dialect to demonstrate...
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...The Use Of A Satire The expedition taken by two people down a stream, is seldom consideration of as anything more than not only an adventure. However, Mark Twain uses his book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, to search and make fun of many problems facing American community. Huck, the leading character, seems to be an untutored young boy who is continually under impression to submit to the "civilized" aspects of nation. Jim, who run with Huck, is a fugitive slave searching freedom from the mankind that has rejected it to him for so farreaching. In his book, Twain uses sarcasm to show many of "civilizations" problems. In the opening of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain interdict his auditory from verdict a cause, virtuous, or delineate. In secondhand oratorical strategies such as sarcasm, ferrous, and satire he defiance the peruser to examine for deeper meanings not only in the Notice, but throughout the whole book. His intention was to emit Life on the unveracious ideals that environment typify as versed through the view of inexperienced youth. The ironical events that interdict Huck from being a energetic nature allude to the defectiveness of hidden religion in people. Twain uses sarcasm to show the contention between enslavement and Christianity. As the peruser we see Miss Watson as a pretender. Huck remark this when he inquire to puff but is not tolerated to even though “she took snuff, too; of course that was all right because she done it herself” (2)...
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...Huck Finn: Comparing and Contrasting the Controversies Surrounding Banning Books The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, deemed one of the great American novels, was published by Mark Twain in 1884. From the start, this novel has sparked a lot of negative criticism. There were heated debates among critics, and in schools debating whether or not to ban this controversial piece of literature. In today's society, this book still offends sensitive readers, because it was written in a time when people were not sensitive to the plight of African Americans. Just a month after it was published, The Concord, library in Massachusetts banned all copies stating that it was “Not suitable for trash.” (Ruta1) It was believed, that racism was at the heart of this book, and the content was, and still viewed as being harsh. Louisa May Alcott was a popular author who served on the very first library committee in Massachusetts, where The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was banned. She voted against this book from being sold, read or viewed. Criticizing Mark Twain saying that "Huck should not sweat. He should perspire." (Ruta1) Other libraries began removing their copies stating that it is inappropriate for children to read. The number of concerned citizens continue to debate on this subject today. Derogatory words are seen throughout this story in reference to showcase the difference between the two classes, white verses black. This book not only celebrates an unlikely friendship between...
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...experiences. Some of these characters he admired and some he did not. Still, all of them make these two books a great read to all people. Let us look at some of these characters he portrays in the story of Huckleberry Finn. The novel of Huckleberry Finn was written at the end of the Civil War, at the time slavery was coming to an end. The southerners did not want to give up slavery as they needed these men and women to attend to their farmland, as this was their main source of income in the south during this time. After this war, Congress amended the Constitution to abolish slavery but this did not hold up in all of the states. This book is written from this time period. The first character to be discussed is Huck himself. Twain has portrayed Huck to be an intelligent and thoughtful individual. A young boy of 13, whose father is a drunk and leaves for months on end, eventually dying, leaving Huck homeless, dirty and hungry. An elder widow takes Huck into her home and tries to reform him; gives him schooling and religious training that he never got with his father. Huck is too set in his ways to stay here and would rather be living on the streets than conform to the rules of the widow. Once again he goes on his own, meeting up with different individuals. Twain fits in with this character as he grew up in a poor family, his father’s investments never panned out the way he’d intended. Secondly,...
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...Mark Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The public debate surrounding Mark’s Twain’s Adventure of Huckleberry Finn has fair ground to be disputed in terms of context. However, to band the novel for the use of its language being brought in the text of the story may not be so justified. In order to get a positive understanding, you would have to take into the consideration Mark Twain’s possible motive, and question yourself if his true intention was to just depict the life of individuals along the Mississippi river before the civil war or was he trying to portray a difficult time in American history, and reveal how society in that time contradicted themselves in terms of their own personal morale? Surely, today I would not recommend reading the book to put my child to sleep at night, but I would not band the privilege of allowing other at certain grade levels to analyze Mark Twain’s story, and try to find what his main intentions were. My position would be not to band the novel and to change the words, but to use the book to reference a land mark in American history for older student to learn. In depth, the book has a bigger meaning and valuable lesson to learn about history, life, humanity, morale, society, law system, race and religion. The novel was published in England in December 1884 and takes place forty to fifty years ago from when it was published. Evidently, this took place well before the civil war period and what was mostly disturbingly common in society during...
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...Huckleberry Finn”, is not to start a conversation on race rather; to start a conversation on morality of our thoughts and actions. Twain developed his purpose through a story of Huck and the situations that test him. In the society where he resides a common word is “Nigger” in referring to African-Americans who were mostly slaves. This negative connotative word is what changed the focus away from the main purpose of the book. Twain expressed the true message of the book through Huck's “Adventures”, and how he is tested on his morals. During these Adventures Huck does not act in the stereotypical way expected of a boy in this society. This represents why “ The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn” is not a racist book rather a depiction of a boy in a racist society who choose to pick a different outlook on what is morally right. By considering the use of the word “Nigger” throughout the book, analyzing the adventures that tested Huck, and the relationship that developed between Hick and Jim. To make a stereotypical southern society Twain choose to mock the dialect and common language used. He choose to keep the society in the book as similar as possible to the one that would be seen in real life. This leads to negative conclusions on how Huck was raised and also to question the morality of the book. To dispute this Jane Smiley in “Say It Ain't So Huck” is that the use of this word causes there to be a deeper racism in this novel [pg.3]. Her augment is vaule in the thought that the use of the...
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...the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a story of a Southern white teenager, Huckleberry Finn is being “civilized” by the society's standards, taking place throughout the Mississippi River between 1835 and 1845, years before the American Civil War. While the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, takes place in the early 1900s, following a Southern African-American...
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...Mark Twain left his printing career and settled at Mississippi to work on the river boats. His career as a river boat pilot has influenced him and his sweet remembrances on the Mississippi river are recollected by him through his work The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. His life as a river boat pilot has given him the pen name Mark Twain. He continued his work as a river boat pilot until 1861. He was not permitted to work there any more after the Civil War in the United States of America. The Mississippi was closed and people were prevented from entering the river for travel and shipping. Though he worked for some time in the Cavalry division as Confederate, he turned his attention towards journalism after the call from his brother Orion. Mark Twain’s articles, stories, memoirs and novels illustrated his exploded and irrepressible wit and elegance. He rendered no ear to the polished and refined language but has used the colloquial and familiar slang of the people which allured everyone to read his work. His works has made...
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...Mark Twain: The conscience of a country. When writing, a person’s inner thoughts come to life. It happens whether they mean it to or not. The author might accidentally choose certain words that bring their own feelings to light, or they could come right out and say how they feel. The point is that every author, no matter how good, will project what they believe onto their writing. Mark Twain does this in The adventures of Huckleberry Finn on numerous occasions. In a time of extreme patriotism and narrow-mindedness Twain made the nation rethink their most basic of beliefs. In a bold move, Twain chronicled his beliefs pertaining to religion, slavery, and civilization. Each time his “profanity saving” pen touched paper he acted as the nation’s conscience. Mark Twain, through the use of wit and satire, challenged the most basic of American beliefs for nearly half a century Religion was a common target of Twain. “What put twain off about religion was its bossiness and it’s alignment with corrupt community values…” (Blount 53). In Huckleberry Finn these beliefs are evident in the character of the Widow Douglas. Though she is a professed Christian she takes no stock in the Christian principles of acceptance and focuses instead on the “bossiness” aspect of Religion. The widow was against practices that she took no part in. It could either be that she thought she always did the right thing or possibly that she determined right and wrong. The former of these two options would make her...
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...Huck Finn Reflection Essay To many, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel. Although I can see why many think this, I myself do not agree. I do not believe that this book is relatable to kids growing up in today’s society. The language used is very outdated and hard to understand for some, the law system had changed dramatically since the book was written and in general the book was just very outdated. Starting from age five children are required to go to school by law. This helps ensure that children are able to speak and write properly and helps set them up for the future. By starting to learn language at such a young age, children show great improvement in forming sentences and using proper sentence structure. In Huck...
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...“It's not as bad as it sounds.” (Huckleberry Finn) Compare how the theme of outsiders is presented in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, D.B.C Pierre’s Vernon God Little and Sylvia Plath’s Ariel. Throughout the history of literature, the idea of an outsider unable to find his place within society is explored frequently in all three texts. The theme of the outsiders is presented in all novels but separated due to the different time periods in which they were set, thus resulting in controversy and criticisms making it difficult to find a place within literature. Mark Twain’s ‘Huckleberry Finn’ is the story of a young boy, Huck Finn, who is faced with a restraint enforced upon him by society and later acknowledges this restraint once he comes to the realization that there is no escape from the society. ‘Vernon God Little’, like Huckleberry Finn, is also a story of a young boy framed as an accessory in a High School Massacre and is rendered to be an outcast in a society which revolves around manipulation and gullibility. Both Pierre and Twain portray the limitations and issues placed upon a young boy growing up in society. Sylvia Plath was viewed as a feminist icon, her collection ‘Ariel’, adopts the theme of outsider, as she believed women were classed as second-tier in a male dominant society and posed as a response to patriarchy in which oppressed women. The three texts intertwine in the portrayal of the outsider and act as a commentary on the societies in which these writers...
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...Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain, who is a realistic fiction writer, incorporates satire and humor in his writing, including Archetypal elements to modify how the reader interprets the story. He uses many archetypal characters like Huck and Jim who both can be argued as the heroes. They both have good intentions and help others. Mark Twain portrays Jim as a deeply caring and loyal friend. Jim becomes a father figure to Huck, helping him realize the human face of slavery. Twain Portrays Huck as a young and naive boy who has been under the wrong influence for a long time. Another archetypal element that Mark Twain uses is Jims Quest for freedom. This was a quest for most all African Americans, to run away north so you could be free. But Jim was one of the few who was brave enough to do so; that’s he can be classified as the hero in the story. But Jim’s life is not too bad compared to historical records about the lives of slaves. Even though he had to struggle for his freedom, he didn’t have any good reason to leave. His life contested of helping round and not doing hard enduring work like some of the other slaves. The way Jim’s life is portrayed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Mark Twain criticizes the life of African Americans at the time. During times of slavery, every African American in the south was either a slave or a free African American. “She treated me with respect” (Twain 5). Jim said when he was asked about how the Widow Douglass treats...
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...exactly is racism and why does it continue to be a problem? Racism is defined as “the belief that members of different races possess specific qualities or abilities and that those qualities mark them as either inferior or superior to another” by Gale Student Resources and Context. Racism affects any individual of a certain race, however in America, this issue has mostly affected African Americans, who’s ancestors were once bound...
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...Essay Title: Analyse the language of the final chapter of ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ to show what is revealed about characters and themes Huckleberry Finn is an American Novel written by Mark Twain which was published in 1885. It is one of the first books ever to be written in dialect. In this essay, I will be specifically focussing on the final chapter of the novel and will be showing how the language reveals key points about the characters and themes. Throughout the novel, Jim is constantly referred to as a ‘nigger’. However Huckleberry calls him by his real name, Jim. This shows how Huckleberry values Jim more as a person compared to other people. It shows how spending all this time together has made a special connection and bond between them. Jim has been a father figure to Huckleberry as well as a friend for the whole journey and it plays a powerful role in the novel. In the final chapter, it is very clear to see that Tom Sawyer is an imaginative individual who is adventurous, and is obsessed with wild plans taken from the plots of adventure novels. This is shown when Huck says “And then Tom he talked along and talked along, and says le’s all three slide out of here one of these nights and get an outfit, and go for howling adventures amongst the Injuns…” The use of the adjective ‘howling’ when describing the adventures shows how wild Tom is as a person and a character in the novel. He wants to experience the extreme and nothing less. It is obvious to us that...
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