Huckleberry Finn & Mark Twain: Opponents of Civilization

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Huckleberry Finn & Mark Twain: Opponents of Civilization
Countless American authors have attempted to tackle controversial topics and portray them in a thought-provoking way. Arguably the most successful of these authors was Mark Twain. His works are lined with his strong opinions, which often proved to be at odds with the accepted rules and customs of society relevant to the time. Huckleberry Finn is based around Twain’s harsh opinions of civilization, and greatly emphasized with instances of hypocrisy, cruelty, and social satire.
For Huck, civilization was synonymous with restriction. He viewed civilization as a harsh imprisonment that forced people to conform to society’s opinions of what was right. Although Huck was only civilized for a short time, he felt the need to escape from such restriction, his reason being that he had been in civilized long enough to know that he cannot stand it. Civilization, and the judgment that comes with it, made Huck feel trapped and uncomfortable. It kept him from living a life free from rules and other people defining his behavior. His strong f...

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