Is Huck Finn an Effective Piece of Satire
Sam Embree
Block 3
“Is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn an effective piece of satire?”
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain follows the story of a young white boy, Huckleberry Finn, as he travels down the Mississippi River. Twain uses the experiences of Huck as he travels down the river to comment on society. His opinions of many topics are given by satirizing other characters or events. An element this satire that twain uses is the depiction of the characters in a humorous manner. Throughout the novel the use of this satire is clear and express Twain’s opinions on American culture in the antebellum period. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an effective piece of satire on American culture during the 1800s. Twain satirizes feuding, Pseudo-intellectualism and Greed in his story. During one of the adventures of Huck, he learns what a feud is, Twain uses this experience to ridicule the idea of a feud. He chooses two families’, the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons, to depict this feud. The Grangerfords seem to be very high class by having an elegant house and servants for all the family members. Huck observes, “It didn't have an iron latch on the front door, nor a wooden one with a buckskin string, but a brass knob to turn, the same as houses in town…There was a big fireplace that was bricked on the bottom, and the bricks was kept clean and red … same as they do in town.” It is clear that the Grangerfords have a very nice house that is comparable to those in town. However, as the story progresses it is revealed they have an ongoing feud, which involves senseless deaths and manslaughter in their concept of honor. The feud the Grangefords have with the Sheperdsons has gone on so long that they don’t even know why it started. Their story suggests such a feud is crazy and against common sense. Buck Grangerford defines a feud as when “A man has a quarrel with another man, and kills him; then that other man's brother kills him; then the other
Block 3
“Is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn an effective piece of satire?”
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain follows the story of a young white boy, Huckleberry Finn, as he travels down the Mississippi River. Twain uses the experiences of Huck as he travels down the river to comment on society. His opinions of many topics are given by satirizing other characters or events. An element this satire that twain uses is the depiction of the characters in a humorous manner. Throughout the novel the use of this satire is clear and express Twain’s opinions on American culture in the antebellum period. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an effective piece of satire on American culture during the 1800s. Twain satirizes feuding, Pseudo-intellectualism and Greed in his story. During one of the adventures of Huck, he learns what a feud is, Twain uses this experience to ridicule the idea of a feud. He chooses two families’, the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons, to depict this feud. The Grangerfords seem to be very high class by having an elegant house and servants for all the family members. Huck observes, “It didn't have an iron latch on the front door, nor a wooden one with a buckskin string, but a brass knob to turn, the same as houses in town…There was a big fireplace that was bricked on the bottom, and the bricks was kept clean and red … same as they do in town.” It is clear that the Grangerfords have a very nice house that is comparable to those in town. However, as the story progresses it is revealed they have an ongoing feud, which involves senseless deaths and manslaughter in their concept of honor. The feud the Grangefords have with the Sheperdsons has gone on so long that they don’t even know why it started. Their story suggests such a feud is crazy and against common sense. Buck Grangerford defines a feud as when “A man has a quarrel with another man, and kills him; then that other man's brother kills him; then the other