...As Mark Twain's conduit, Tom Sawyer embodies the image of what Twain believes society should be attempting to accomplish, a revoking of social stigmas and reinstating of strong morals. Twain fundamentally believes that the idea that some is superior to another based on color of skin or gender is absurd. Although he grew up in a society where having slaves was normal and women were expected to fit restraining roles, Twain was able to come to the conclusion that everyone deserved to be equal. This notion was not only revolutionary but it was terms for getting him publicly ostracized which is why he disguised this philosophy between the binding of a children’s novel. This excerpt alone explains Twain’s philosophy: He [Tom Sawyer] remembered that there was company at the pump. White, mulatto, and Negro boys and girls were always there waiting their turns, resting, trading playthings, quarrelling, fighting, skylarking. And he remembered that although the...
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...The Credibility of Characters in Twain’s Huckleberry Finn The credibility of a novel is defined as the quality of it being believable or trustworthy. This simply means that the novel provides a story which can essentially take place in the real world. If this were to be the case in a novel, then the many aspects of the story would have to be credible. The novel would have to take place in a realistic setting, for example. Also the events that take place in the novel would have to reflect events which can occur in reality. Other aspects that also need to be credible in a novel are the characters. In such a novel the readers need to be able to relate to the characters. An author that does this successfully with the characters is Mark Twain. In one of his more famous novels, Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain gives credibility to the characters by presenting them with major flaws, which helps readers relate to these characters. These characters include Tom, Huck, and Jim. Tom Sawyer has flaws which come to surface early in the novel. “Because it ain’t in the books so—that’s why. Now Ben Rogers, do you want to do things regular, or don’t you?—that’s the idea. Don’t you reckon that the people that made the books knows what’s the correct thing to do?...No, sir, we’ll just go on and ransom them in a regular way” (p. 12). Twain presents Tom as a character who portrays romantic ideals. When he says he wants to go by the book, he reveals that he is taking many of his ideas from...
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...A response to Mark Twain’s “The Lowest Animal” (1896) By: Thanusha Sritharan Is the human race cruel or just selfish? The human race is one of many distinct species in the world. Human beings share most of their traits and behaviors with other animals. The act of cruelty and violence to one another is one of the behaviors that humans differ from animals. In the essay “The Lowest Animal” (1896), Mark Twain claims that man can be cruel and wasteful in his lifetime. Although his statement does not imply to all humans, the moral sense enables us to do wrong. With the proof of news reports and media it is evident that man is cruel to animals, the society and to their household. When compared to people, dogs are known as a man’s best friend. Even though they are four-legged canines, dogs have a heart like gold. Dogs are also known for their ability to help people with visual impairments. They are very loyal and lovable to their owners and others. A study conducted by Mark Franz states that dogs happen to have a higher level of decency when compared to humans. In Toronto, a 32-year old woman, Alice Marcial, strangled her pet dog Jacob to death. This news article is very relevant to Mark Twain’s quote “Of all animals man is the one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it” (pg.238). Not only do humans find pleasure by inflicting pain on animals but they also engage in public killings as a source of entertainment. Many people in the world...
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...Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs’s Court by Mark Twain, we are shown that slavery and equality were not things that existed in the times that time traveling Hank Morgan visits. Hank is a Yankee born in Connecticut who finds himself in the Court of King Arthur in the year 528, time traveling to many years before his time after being hit in the head. Hank Morgan is an ingenious, resourceful man, filled with realism and common sense, believing in complete democracy, contrasting to the Catholic Church. Hank Morgan demonstrates nineteenth-century equality, progress, and science, placed in a society that is controlled by inheritance, nobility and a dictatorial church with laws, and inhumanity. Throughout his journey, Hank...
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...B 2/28/10 Detective Satire In John S. Whitley’s article, “Mark Twain and the Limits of Detection,” Whitley argues that Twain, the author of Pudd’nhead Wilson, deliberately deviates from the most important characteristics of detective fiction in order to convey the limits of the genre. Whitley writes that the ending of detective novels restores harmony to society. However, Pudd’nhead Wilson ends in tragedy. Whitley also remarks that Pudd’nhead Wilson’s murderer, Tom, avoids execution, differing from most detective literature. Whitley also says that the reader knows the murderer throughout the novel, another rule broken for detective novels. As a result, Whitley argues that Twain’s deliberate evasion of the detective novel characteristics shows the limits of detective fiction because of Twain’s certain circumstances. Whitley correctly interprets that Pudd’nhead Wilson stands as a parody of a detective novel. Twain’s novel contains many examples of satire made to criticize society, people, and a lot of other things. Also, at the end of the novel exists an overly dramatic court scene, hinting at satire of detective novels. In his article, Whitley remarks that Pudd’nhead Wilson “needs to be understood as a serious, indeed, tragic parody of a detective story” (Whitley 55) and “is deliberately allowed to work against its normal function as a detective novel” (Whitley 56). He suggests that Mark Twain intentionally avoids parts of the standard mold of detective novels...
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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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...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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...Slavery in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Metaphor Over the past three centuries, only a handful of American authors have achieved such success that their work continues to be read and studied decades, even hundreds of years after their deaths. Mark Twain achieved this success by writing some of the greatest novels American literature has ever seen. Arguably his most famous work, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn essentially revolutionized American literature. One might say that Twain initiated the transition from romantic epics to more realistic-based tales. A second profound American author, Ernest Hemingway, even said, “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn,” (Hemingway). Within this work, Twain uses some topics that were very controversial at the time to present an even more insightful idea. While one of the main issues in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is slavery, Twain uses it as an allegory for the struggle, that still exists today, between an individual’s conscience and society’s norms and ideals. In this novel, the setting and time period during which it takes place plays a significant part in the overall plot. Though Twain wrote this novel in the 1880s, several years after the Emancipation Proclamation, he chose to set the novel a few decades before the Emancipation Proclamation. In choosing this, he enabled himself to highlight slavery as one of the main issues of the novel. During the time when the...
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...Abbie Elliott Compare how Mark Twain and J.D. Salinger present the theme of rejection in extracts from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye. The extracts I have chosen see the central protagonists both rejecting society. In the extract from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is discussing how Widow Douglas is trying to civilize him through educating him and dressing him in smart and respectable clothing. Huck rejects ‘civilized life’ and fears the rules and conformities of society. Likewise, in the extract from The Catcher in the Rye, Holden has been expelled from Pencey and gets the train to New York, where attempts to flirt with one of his classmate’s mothers. Here Holden also rejects the expected social norms. This is because he has been treated like a dissident and a disappointment for most of his life, but he functions under the attitude that the problem lies within the ‘phony’ society and their expectations of him. Rejection is an occurrence in both novels, however, the difference being Huck was brought up with no education, no understanding of social standards and no rules imposed on him. Now he has been forced into a civilized life which he dreads. On the other hand, Holden has been educated and disciplined from a young age and he appears to be well behaved. However, later on in the novel we discover he pretends to be someone he not and very often breaks social norms. Both writers present the theme of rejection by aiming to portray a young...
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...The Influences of the Society In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, I encountered a Dynamic character who struggles against society and its effort in civilizing him. Huck has to make the decision of his life to follow through with society and turn in Jim (slave) or protect him and help him escape. When Huck makes the decision to not go along with society and tears up the letter to Miss Watson it shows Huck's moral development and the moment shapes Huck as a whole because it shows you to do what you believe is morally right rather than following society’s values. As Huck is writing the letter to Miss Watson, he makes the decision to tear up the letter. Huck rips the paper and says to himself, “Alright then, I'll go to hell.”(pg 162)This is such a striking comment to read because as Huck chooses to go to hell, he has given up to the concept of an ethic of right and wrong. Huck has deserted the world of contentment and comfort to make a righteous choice. He has come to a realization that it's time to do what he believes is right no matter the consequences. Huck concludes that he is going to hell because he is helping a runaway slave escape, which society has taught him to be a sinful action. This shows Huck's moral development is progressing as...
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...Eddie Langston ENG 125 Introduction to Literature Instructor: Demeterius Meyers Assignment 1 10/04/2013 Why I hate literature. Well the other day I was busy exploring the depths of literature, appreciating it's glory and ability to spread around thoughts and ideas. But out of nowhere, I stumbled upon a most disturbing piece of information. Apparently, there are places where you can go and read books. That's right. Some depraved lunatics had the idea to go and create buildings where anybody can check out books, read them, and then return them. Only for the cycle to refresh itself. And the worst thing, it's absolutely free. That's right, whoever wants to can just waltz in there and borrow any book they like. It's ridiculous! Now, some of you might be wondering, " Man why are you so against the library? It's a good place...isn't it?" And I can proudly and correctly respond to you ignorant buffoon,"NOT AT ALL!" The library's primary function is and has always been to check out books. Books, and a lot of them literature. Now, some of these books are alright. But the majority of them are so dangerous, that every single book should be banned altogether. Books, especially literature, are filled with dangerous ideas. They are filled with radical thoughts that corrupt our innocent youth, experimental adults, and senile elderly. If it's non-fiction and stated to be true, with various credible sources, people can take the facts and reject them outright. It may surprise you, but...
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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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...“I have noticed my conscience for many years, and I know it is more trouble and bother to me than anything else I started with.”(Mark Twain) People are often advised to follow their conscience because by definition it is “Our sense of moral right and wrong.”(Oliphant) It is a moral faculty or sense that leads individuals to believe that actions are morally wrong or right. Yet it can lead on person to choose war and another to feel this is morally abhorrent. There is a lot debate regarding where the conscience comes from, whether it be by a God given ability which is pushed forwards by biblical teachings, or from the sense of guilt we feel when we go against our conscience according to Sigmund Freud. “The Conscience is a difficult notion to understand and even more difficult to explain how it operates,” (Richard Gula) therefore there are many definitions of conscience and there are many philosophical theories about conscience and it connection with moral decision making. Firstly an argument for the conscience, which is the voice of God, comes from Augustine of Hippo, who said that “Men see the moral rules written in the book of light which is called Truth from which all laws are copied.” (De Trinitate, Augustine of Hippo). He was a theologian and believed that the conscience is God’s love poured forth to human beings, thus it is when God speaks to the individual, therefore he is arguing that the conscience is the voice of God and it reveals itself in solitary moments thus is not...
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...of young children are often be referred to as a villain for trying to feed them foods they don't like, but the intention of that action is to ensure the health of the child. This is mainly how conflicts will start because each person, no matter the villain or the protagonist, base their actions on what they believe are to be correct. Take Hitler for example, he did not think of himself as a bad person, in fact, Hitler only did he did what he did because he believed that he was benefiting the earth. Meanwhile, the rest of the world, along with history books perceive him as the cruelest man in the past Millennia, because we believe what he did was morally wrong. While words cover only the shell of one’s personality and is used to make an impression, the action of one tells the truth about their character. Actions never lie and as Mark Twain once said, “Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as...
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...Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Thousands of moral stories are continuously being read to children throughout the years. Those stories are used to educate, motivate and inspire them while their heart is still “pure.” The purpose of those stories is to change children and their behavior before they are forced to. They are being spoon fed by what society thinks is “right” and what they expect them to follow. So, what if there was a child who never had the chance to learn about being “moral”, could this child still make the right choices? In the book, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain tells a story through the eyes of an imaginative, free-spirited young boy, Huckleberry Finn. Throughout the book, Huck is frequently faced with different dilemmas which force him to make life- altering decisions. He is relentlessly required to choose between “right and wrong” questioning his personal views on what he thinks is acceptable. Although he is being portrayed as a carefree and wild young boy who just craves adventure, he is actually reasonably mature in the choices that he makes. Although he seems like a child, he makes quite mature choices when faced with hurried decisions. He bases his decisions on what is practical, not what he FEELS is right. He is clever and cunning despite what other people see him as, which is wild and out of control. Huck is only a boy who, as imperfect as he is, still cares and has feelings towards others including slaves as opposed to the rest of society...
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