The Concept of Race in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Within his criticism of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Gregory Fowler uses examples from both the book and Mark Twain’s own life to discuss the different ways in which racism has morphed. Instead of analyzing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn critically and solely, Gregory Fowler critically analyzes parts of the book and its effect to prove the different ways in which slaver morphs through the uses of allusions, exemplifications, and anecdotes.
Fowler’s opening paragraph consists of an exemplification that immediately supports his opening sentence. He uses Mark Twain’s experience in Versailles, told in The Innocents Abroad, to prove how people tend to focus on what is the “good past,” while the past that shamed the people is either shunned or is put in a light that makes a bad past look good. In addition to Versailles, Fowler uses the example of the Holocaust museum to illustrate his thoughts. In illustrating his defense of the issues with race, Fowler uses both stories of Mark Twain and Malcolm X, explaining how their backgrounds created racism based on the obstacles they faced in their lives. Fowler exemplifies Twain’s life as one of ordinary American youths growing up in the early 1800’s, in which the feeling of superiority over African-Americans was considered a normal thing, and shows this obstacle as something difficult to overcome. The exemplification of Malcolm X’s life is depicted as one of an angry man tired of being seen as inferior to other based on the color of their skin. In any case, these examples show that conquering racism is much more difficult than it may seem, on both sides.
In like manner, Gregory Fowler also uses allusions to prove his thesis. In the beginning of the essay, he alludes to mul...

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...wler uses critically analyzed examples from the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and its effect on the public in order to prove the different ways in which slavery had morphed through the use of exemplifications, allusions, and other rhetorical devices. This is proven in the use of multiple other examples besides Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and even the use of excerpts from the book, which its only purpose is to justify Fowler’s thesis. The use of anecdotes, exemplifications, and allusions were more used to support Fowler’s point, and not to analyze the book. Despite being called a criticism, Fowler’s piece on Adventures of Huckleberry Finn seems more like essay that uses examples from the book to support his point.

Works Cited

Gregory Fowler, "'If I Warn't Too Drunk to Get There …: On Race," in Journal of American & Comparative Cultures, Spring 2001, pp. 49-58.