...Huck Finn in American High Schools The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, also known as “Huck Finn,” is an iconic and well-known classic that is part of the curriculum in high schools throughout the United States. Huck Finn, as one should easily guess, is the protagonist of the entire book. Huck faces many challenges throughout, from his faked death to get away from a lonely life and abusive father, to his internal struggle of turning Jim in. And because of its historical accuracy and moral actuality, it should be a continued required reading in high school curriculums. The setting of Huck Finn is before the Civil war, roughly 1835-1845, when slavery was still legal in the recently independent United States. Any slave not freed by his owner was hunted down and white domination was frequently practiced and seen. When Huck faked his death towards the beginning, was also when Jim, the Widow’s slave, fled. Whites and...
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...fiction and nonfiction, it is difficult to categorize Mark Twain as an author. According to Neil Schmitz, Mark Twain was, “a southern humorist gone over, not just a deserter, a dissenter, but a literary scalawag, a southern writer in unionist discourse and narrative” (91). Most people recognize Twain’s brief, witty, straightforward proverbs that are often quoted today. He also wrote many novels, a few nonfiction books, a plethora of short stories, and essays. Mark Twain uses a variety of rhetorical devices including carefully chosen, colorful language, satirical tone, and unique symbolism to entertain and to enlighten his readers about the moral dilemmas and the beauty of the America he knew. According to Ernest Hemingway, all of American literature comes from one great book, Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain, Huck Finn vii). Although this statement may seem hyperbolic, it does indicate the important place Mark Twain holds in American literature. Early Nineteenth century American writers tended to try to write like English writers with flowery, ostentatious language (Schmitz 100). Twain’s writing style was innovative when it was written and is still absolutely unique. He writes with simple prose and careful word choice. Each word is carefully selected and each sentence is meticulously crafted. Twain writes, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning”...
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...My literary critique on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is focused on the confusion of the message being given to the reader do to the conscious struggle between right and wrong, an example of that would be the decision of stealing from Ms. Watson and freeing Jim, or not stealing from Ms. Watson and leaving Jim as a slave. Huck did decided that even though stealing from Ms. Watson would surely send him to “Hell” he still went with his gut and freed Jim, But with that later in the story shortly after Ms. Watsons death Huck and Jim found out that in her will she had freed Jim anyways. The ending of that situation in this story is what I choose to critique because of the cloudy message that is being given to the reader. It does not support...
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...Name Course Course Instructor Date Parent figures in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn In Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck indirectly searches for a home among the different characters, with whom he interacts. The theme of parental figures is core to this piece of work. There are different characters, which represent parental figures. These are important to Huck, as they help to shape him into a man. The characters that are a representation of parental figures include Jim, Mr. Grangerford, Miss Watson, Judge Thatcher, and Widow Douglas. According to De Koster, these are seen to play an important role in different aspects in the development of Huck, thus are a personification of parental figure to Huck (56). This essay therefore, argues for the theme of parental figures in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Parents are important in the life of a child. Their presence and involvement in the life of their children contributes positively to the growth of the children. However, when parents are absent during a child’s growth process, or are irresponsible, and do not look after the child, this has a negative impact on the child. Parents ought to be there for their children to count on them. In Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, parental figure is an emerging theme, because Huck, who plays an important role, lacks parental guidance and care. For most of his life, his biological parents are not part of him, and therefore, have limited influence...
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...difference.” (Frost, Robert). This excerpt taken from “The Road Not Taken”, shows the choices, and the consequences of those choices. These themes are present in both 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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...Unruly Society For this essay, I chose to look at the end of chapter 21 and beginning of chapter 22 at which point the scene where Huckleberry Finn watches as Sherburn shoots down Boggs in the street for cursing his name. After which the mob forms to lynch Sherburn and he gives his speech on cowardice. I believe this plays a very important role in the Authors main theme of the moral pubescence of the time. Generally speaking during this period in American history there was no law and order, for the most part crime was handled by the general public and it was usually handled by masked man lynching someone at night mainly out of fear for themselves because if they were to do it during the day everyone would see them and they could be killed for doing it, I think Twain is trying to convey to the reader that most people were scared. During this time there was no organized police force to help people; hence a lot of crimes went unpunished. In this passage Sherburn states, “Why don't your juries hang murderers? Because they're afraid the man's friends will shoot them in the back, in the dark” (Twain, 165). Sherburn refers to the lack of law and to the crowds own cowardice. This time of lawless society was accurately depicted in An Introduction to Policing, by J.S.Dempsey in his first chapter on early policing. “An 1840 New York newspaper reported: Destructive rascality stalks at large in our streets and public places, at all times of day and night, with none to make it afraid;...
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...The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn follow countless boyhood adventures between the rambunctious young boys, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. While Twain’s novels depict long playful summer days spent in the sun, his work is far from children’s literature. Twain’s novels include dark adult themes such as death, ignorance, physical punishment, deceit and most prominently, racism. Twain modeled both novels based on his own life experiences growing up along the Mississippi River (Frost), hoping to mirror how one's surroundings influence their character development, furthermore shaping who they will become. To do so, Twain creates a world of struggle for his protagonists,...
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...Keondria McCollums Mrs. Hogan English-11 21 March 2012 Samuel Clemens Thomas Nast known as The Father of American Caricature influenced the world with his humorous way to address serious situations. Known for his famous campaign against New York City’s political boss William Maegear Tweed, he devised the Tammany tiger, popularized the donkey as the symbol for the Democratic party, and popularized the elephant for the Republican party. He also crated the “modern” image of Santa Claus. He was even known to have re-elected Lincoln in 1864, and Lincoln himself commented that Nast was his best recruiting sergeant. Likewise, many people are influenced by comedy, more than any other type of style. With great fame, Mark Twain, much like Thomas Nast, portrayed a comedic writing style to draw in the attention of his audience. Influenced by himself, and many areas of his life, such as his home, jobs, and experiences, Mark Twain greatly impacted American literature with his humorous commentaries on reality. Twains early life transformed him into the man we know today, was born November 30, 1835, in the small town of Florida, Missouri. He was the sixth child of John and Jane Lampton Clemens, who originally named him Samuel Langhorne Clemens .When Samuel was only three, his parents' seventh and last child was born, a son named Henry. A year after that, the family moved to Hannibal, Missouri. In 1847, Twains father died when he was only 12(Twain 12). By this time, there were only four...
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...The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the sequel to the Adventures of Tom Sawyer. This book was written during 1883 and took place during the early 1800’s, in Mississippi with a young boy named Huckleberry Finn. He lived with Miss Watson and would occasionally see his father Pap who was known as the town drunk. Huck soon becomes fond of one of Miss Watson’s Slaves, Jim, who later escapes at the same time Huck makes a run from his abusive father and coercive school life. Huck makes an escape from his fathers cabin and sets off during moon rise to Jackson Island where he meets Jim, a run-away slave of Miss Watson. Miss Watson was planning to sell him for 800 dollars and he wouldn’t be able to see his family. This bond between Huck and Jim began...
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...Life is constantly testing one’s morality. Morals apply to personal character and showcase ones opinion of good and bad human actions. In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, Huck is just a confused thirteen year old boy growing up in the racist American South. He is the son of an alcoholic and is often misunderstood. Those around Huck consider him to be immature, such as Ms. Watson who acts as a caretaker for Huck throughout his father’s absence. As a child, Huck is able to view the world differently than all the adults around him. His experiences throughout his adventures down the Mississippi river force him to question the things society has taught him. During this adventure, he tends to care more about the opinion of others than his own, however his opinion changes in time. Huck’s biggest test of morality is his relationship with Jim, the escaped slave of Ms. Watson. Huck has always been taught that slaves and those of color are below him just because he is white. This is an internal moral struggle for Huck, because he knows to society he is “wrong,” but to him their friendship makes it “right.” The concept of being wrong in the eyes of society and making it right goes beyond just Huck and Jim’s bond. The relationship that Jim and Huck develop over the course of the story is important because the experiences that they share teach Huck to think for himself, allowing him to trust his morals. Huck has grown up in an environment in which Jim...
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...Sang Basic English Department, Dezhou University, Dezhou City, Shandong Province, China Email: dz_syx@126.com Abstract—Huckleberry Finn is one of Mark Twain’s outstanding masterpieces. Superficially, it tells a story about a 13 or 14 year old boy’s adventures with Negro Jim on the Mississippi river. In fact, it reflects the growth process of Huck through adventures. His growth is embodied by his choice on independence, his change of attitude towards Jim, his moral growth, and the different social roles he plays. Huck’s growth is influenced by the inner and outer factors. On the one hand, friendship, nature and society make up the outer environment for Huck’s growth. They have great effect on the development of his growth. On the other hand, his own instinct and his sound heart finally decide the direction of his growth. Index Terms—growth, the influence of Jim, nature and society, instinct, sound heart I. INTRODUCTION Mark Twain is a giant in American literature. He is a great realist and satirist in late 19th century. His delicate familiarity with children’s psychology, his thorough understanding of Americans and American society, his great contribution to American English and his immense witty humor have won great respect and reputation among the people around the world. Of all the works Mark Twain accomplished in his life, the Adventure of Huckleberry Finn is the most successful. This remarkable masterpiece brings the world prestige to him. It is the combination of simplicity...
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...In Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck sacrifices his reputation in society and salvation with God to help Jim escape slavery; furthermore, this sacrifice emphasizes that personal morality is more important than societal expectations. Throughout the novel, Huck faces a conflict with society and sacrifices his reputation to do what he believes is right. He considers the consequences that will occur if he helps Jim escape and describes that they would, “then think of me! It would get all around that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom” (Twain 212). Huck sacrifices his social standing to help Jim, illustrating his moral development. He realizes that society would look down upon him for helping an African American...
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...Some schools have banned The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from their reading lists in hopes to protect their students from the chaos caused by one word. Unlike those who support censorship, these inviduals believe that replacing the word will not solve the conflict because it will demolish the significance of Jim’s character in the novel. However, they also do not want it to continue to be taught in classrooms because they categorize it as “inappropriate for children”(Lombardi). The racist language displayed in the novel could affect the young children, whom may not understand such a word or its impact. It is like a jack-in-the-box toy that jumps out of the novel everytime one comes across it. But the book itself provides a vluable lesson that all students should comprehend, so then why ban...
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...Valery Rodriguez Huck Finn’s ignorance to slavery and the world around him embodies the norms of society based on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn set time period. His morality begins to develop alongside Jim and grows as he creates a forbidden friendship. The reader is able to capture Huck’s moral development as he recognizes Jim as another person rather than a slave. Throughout the passage, Huck Finn is depicted as a nonmoralistic character and is constantly influenced by those around him. Huck’s father Pap is someone who tries to be influential, but struggles due to the fact that he is a violent and stubborn man who has no desire for change in society. Pap feels that the government is corrupt, telling Huck “It was ‘lection day, and I was just about to go and vote myself if I warn’t too drunk to get there; but when they told me there was a state in this country where they’d let that [black man] vote, I drawed out.” (27) He continues on ranting to Huck about the corruption of the government, reflecting how his father brings these ideas to him that the advancement of a black man in society is unethical....
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...Conformity & Civilization in Huckleberry Finn A main issue in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the conflict of conformity and civilization. From the beginning of the novel, Huck struggles with what he thinks of society while living with Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. As the story elevates, Huck goes to live with Pap and develops further opinions about society. Many of Huck’s values are tested when he escapes to live with Jim on the river on the search for their freedom. Arguably, Huck learns the most about society from his adventures on the river with Jim. Huck’s moral development over the novel advances in many different stages, while different people and events influence Huck. Huck’s first exposure to the idea of trying to civilize someone is while living with Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas. Huck may have utterly despised the idea of living with them at first, but after a while Huck started to rather like the idea of having proper clothes and being clean. Although he started to like some aspects of living with them, it is not to say he completely enjoyed all the aspects of his new life. Huck found a lot of discontent in the moral convictions in his new life. The Widow told Huck “to pray every day, and whatever I asked for I would get it.” Huck knew this wasn’t true, commenting “but it warn’t so. I tried it” (Twain 8). Additionally, Huck didn’t see how it was right for Miss Watson to say that smoking was bad while she snuffed. Huck did not know whether he agreed with...
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