Mark Twain's Satire in Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain's Satire in Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, published in 1885, is the sequel to his novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer published in 1875. Huckleberry Finn tells the bond of friendship between Huckleberry Finn, a southern teenager, and Jim, an uneducated slave, encountering various characters and events as the two escape down the Mississippi River. The setting of the novel takes place during the antebellum era in America, in which slavery and racial prejudice were at the forefront of societal issues. Twain's emphasis on satirizing the flaws in American society makes this a frequently banned novel in the United Staes. The audience of the novel either do not see the satire and believe the novel is racist piece of literature or people recognize the satire and despise the image it places on whites and Americans. Twain utilizes the element of satire by presenting three different examples throughout the novel; racism, through the prospective of Pap, the hypocraful practice of religion as it applies to the Sheperdson and the Grangerford families, and human nature as it is exemplified in a backwards southern town and pitted against an angry mob. Pap's character is introduced in the the early chapters of the novel; his abusive nature and recent return causes Huck to flee with Jim, Mrs. Watson's slave. In chapter five, Pap rants franticly concerning the government's removal of Huckleberry Finn from his custody and the involvement of blacks in the voting process:
"Call this a government! why, just look at it and see what it's like. Here's the law a-standing ready to take a man's son away from him--a man's own son, which he has had all trouble and all the anxiety and all the expense of raising. Yes, just as that man has got that son raised at last, and ready to go to work and begin to do suthin' for him and give a rest, the law up and goes for him. And they call that government! That ain't all, nuther… Why,
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, published in 1885, is the sequel to his novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer published in 1875. Huckleberry Finn tells the bond of friendship between Huckleberry Finn, a southern teenager, and Jim, an uneducated slave, encountering various characters and events as the two escape down the Mississippi River. The setting of the novel takes place during the antebellum era in America, in which slavery and racial prejudice were at the forefront of societal issues. Twain's emphasis on satirizing the flaws in American society makes this a frequently banned novel in the United Staes. The audience of the novel either do not see the satire and believe the novel is racist piece of literature or people recognize the satire and despise the image it places on whites and Americans. Twain utilizes the element of satire by presenting three different examples throughout the novel; racism, through the prospective of Pap, the hypocraful practice of religion as it applies to the Sheperdson and the Grangerford families, and human nature as it is exemplified in a backwards southern town and pitted against an angry mob. Pap's character is introduced in the the early chapters of the novel; his abusive nature and recent return causes Huck to flee with Jim, Mrs. Watson's slave. In chapter five, Pap rants franticly concerning the government's removal of Huckleberry Finn from his custody and the involvement of blacks in the voting process:
"Call this a government! why, just look at it and see what it's like. Here's the law a-standing ready to take a man's son away from him--a man's own son, which he has had all trouble and all the anxiety and all the expense of raising. Yes, just as that man has got that son raised at last, and ready to go to work and begin to do suthin' for him and give a rest, the law up and goes for him. And they call that government! That ain't all, nuther… Why,