Satire In Huckleberry Finn Essay example - 977 Words

According to Ernest Hemingway, All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. Along with Hemingway, many others believe that Huckleberry Finn is a great book, but few take the time to notice the abundant satire that Twain has interwoven throughout the novel. The most notable topic of his irony is society. Mark Twain uses humor and effective writing to make The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a satire of the American upper-middle class society in the mid-nineteenth century. The first aspect of society Twain ridicules is its attempt at respectability. Huck Finn, a boy referred to as white trash, has grown up totally believing what society has taught him. Society attempts to teach the†¦show more content†¦The Grangerfords were a very nice family, but obsessed with a 30-year old feud with another family, the Sheperdsons. The pretense of virtue that the families present is soon seen. Next Sunday we all went to churchÂ… The men took their guns along, so did Buck, and kept them between their knees or stood them handy against the wall. The Sheperdsons done the same. It was pretty ornery preaching Ââ€" all about brotherly love, and such-like tiresomeness; but everybody said it was a good sermon, and they all talked it over and had such a powerful lot to say about faith and good works and free grace and preforeordestination. (page 109) Although the Grangerfords and Sheperdsons are willing to attend church and learn about brotherly love, they never question the principle of a feud. They are not even sure why they are having a feud, how it started, or who started it. The irony in this is quite evident when both families seem completely comfortable with their quick changes from displays of pious behavior to the continuation of killing of each other. Twain also exposes the deplorable concept of slavery by allowing Huck to view Jim as an equal person. As the novel proceeds, Huck and Jim continue their voyage down the Mississippi River and become close friends. Huck eventually has to decide whether or not to turn Jim in to Miss Watson. Â…And I got to thinking over our trip down the river; and I see Jim before me all the time: in the day andShow MoreRelatedSatire in Huckleberry Finn1820 Words   |  8 PagesChapters 1-4: Superstition In chapters 1-4 of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Twains characters tend to get worked up over the silliest of superstitions. In the second chapter, when Huck accidentally flicks a spider into a flame, he, â€Å"Was so scared and most shook the clothes off [him]† (Twain 3). He counters the burden that the dead spider will bring by performing plenty of even more odd acts like turning around while crossing his breast and tying up a lock of his hair to wardRead MoreExamples Of Satire In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn1183 Words   |  5 PagesSatire in â€Å"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn† It is hard to fathom how such a serious lesson can be taught by using satire. Somehow Mark Twain accomplishes this through his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The main characters in the novel are a runaway boy named Huckleberry Finn and a runaway slave named Jim. In the story, Huckleberry Finn is mostly referred to as â€Å"Huck.† The story is about Huck, a boy who fakes his own death and runs away from home because of an abusive father. To escapeRead MoreHuckleberry Finn and the use of Satire Essay1109 Words   |  5 Pages Huck Finn and the use of Satire Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been controversial ever since its release in 1884. It has been called everything from the root of modern American literature to a piece of racist trash. Many scholars have argued about Huck Finn being prejudiced. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses satire to mock many different aspects of the modern world. Despite the fact that many critics have accused Mark Twain’s novel of promoting racismRead MoreHuckleberry Finn - Satire to Criticize Society1242 Words   |  5 PagesThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain himself says, â€Å"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.† The side of majority in most cases can refer to the norms of society, in which Twain claims is where you wouldn’t like to be. That is because Twain’s views society as feeble in weak. He sees society at an almost hypocritical view, which can be seen through his great Ame rican classic. In Mark Twain’s novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain satirizesRead More The use of Satire in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay869 Words   |  4 PagesThe use of Satire in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn In his novel the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, published in 1884, Mark Twain uses satire frequently as a medium to display his feelings on a range of issues related to society at that time. Throughout the book he ridicules many aspects of society, including the prevalent views on slaves and religion, and their social structure. Even though the novel was set fifty years before it was published, the themes still held true for contemporaryRead MoreTheme Of Satire In Huckleberry Finn949 Words   |  4 PagesMark Twain uses satire to bring forth the argument of the innocence and the intelligence in children. Satire is showing the use of irony and humor throughout the text, Twain uses that through Huck Finn as a child who has been through several tough experiences, such as his fathers beatings, and moving from place to place not having a home of his own. This brings together the conflicts Huck has faced and his safe places in the world. Mark Twain shows satire during Hucks adventuress, which will seemRead MoreSatire in Mark Twain ´s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn750 Words   |  3 Pageswhat makes someone morally â€Å"good† or morally â€Å"bad,† most people can agree that caring and compassion are good qualities while intolerance and selfishness are bad qualities.   Mark Twain uses satire in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to amplify the good and bad qualities of people.   Adventures of Huckleberry Finn exposes Twain’s thoughts on human nature by showing undesirable qualities of people in the racist white people and showing preferable qualities in the African-American slave, who is a victimRead MoreSatires of Education in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain891 Words   |  4 PagesIn The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is not educated, but through his adventures he proves himself to be more quick-witted by outsmarting the educated people throughout the novel. Huck was not raised in what you would consider a â€Å"proper home† and as a result of that he has a lack of education. Huck’s pap was the town drunk and for a short period of time, in paps absence, Huck was taken in by Widow Douglas as an attempt to civilize him. The Widow put Huck into school and shortly after his admissionRead MoreThe Use of Satire in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain595 Words   |  2 Pagesendure the same treatment for how they act. In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, uses the literary device of satire in order to ridicule the ignorance of Americans in the late 1800s. Twain uses irony during the mishaps of Jim throughout the story to comment the clear fact that people at the time judged others by their race and not by their actions. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jims personality is a strong influence toward the personality of Huck, withRead MoreEssay on Prejudice and Racism in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn833 Words   |  4 PagesPrejudice and Racism in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn      Ã‚   The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is an excellent example of racism in literature, because it uses language describing African Americans which goes beyond satire.   It treats them as objects and perpetuates stereotypes. It does not expose and deal with racism, as many advocates of its reading claim, but encourages an attitude of superiority that is unnecessary and intolerable. In order to rid