Hypocrisy In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

Twain uses irony here when Huckleberry Finn asked the widow to let him smoke. Huckleberry wanted to smoke, and asked the widow if he can, but the widow did not allow him. It is not unusual for a religious and moral hypocrites like the Widow Douglas to think that smoking is unreligious. The Widow believed that smoking is a mean practice and was not considered clean. Yet it is hypocritical that the Widow Douglas smokes and consumes tobacco herself. The Widow Douglas represents the definition of hypocrisy. Twain offers this example as an example of social criticism in the book. This is ironic and humorous because Twain satirizes not only the idiocy of the Widow Douglas's action, but also the "sivilzed" society and people that surrounds Huck.