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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn analysis
mark twain impact on literature
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn analysis
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Mark Twain
Though popularity associated with the American frontier and life on the Mississippi, Samuel Longhorne Clemens --Mark Twain—actually spent many of his happiest and most productive years in and near New York City. Mark Twain was, without question, the finest sastirist of his time. Through his writing, one can see as deeper morality than most of his time held. Twain wrote the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1885. His novel of Huckleberry Finn was no exception; he used his gift of satire to show the flaws of the people around him. He contrasted the illusion of freedom to realitity, ignorance with enlightenment, and what is percieved as good to what is truly good. Since its publication it has always seem to be in trouble. It is known as one of the greatest books ever written and also one of the most racists books ever written. Many people felt that it was similar to a history lesson of a hands on account of what life was like in Mississippi. On the other hand people felt it is derogatory toward African-Americans. It is still frequently in the news, as various schools and school systems across the country either ban it from or restore it to their classrooms.
The social classes that Twain portrays in this novel are extremely slanted, and they are not just about racism. It’s more like a rich-poor issue, which is illustrated by Huck and Jim (poor) versus the upper-class townspeople (rich). The upper-class people are racist and keep slaves. Huck, being part of the lower class, is not racist and makes friends with the slaves. Basically, Twain’s opinion is that they are wrong and separationalist. He continually portrays the upper-class people as immoral, unintelligent, and bigoted. On the other hand, the lower-class people, such as Huck and Jim, are portrayed as clever, moral, and self satisfied. Of course, Huck and Jim end up as heroes, successful in their quest for freedom.
The illusion of freedom is a powerful one. It allows people, in this case,Huck, to rest in a false sensew of control over one’s own life.
The children of Rex and Rose Mary Walls were those raised on nature, not nurture. Jeanette’s first memory is that of boiling hotdogs at the age of three, catching on fire and being hospitalized. When she returns home with her family, she is once again boiling hotdogs with the praise of her mother, “Good for you. You’ve got to get right back in the saddle. You can’t live in fear of something as basic as fire” (The Desert II;15). When most children are learning their ABC’s, Walls’ was
However, as I continued to read the story I began to wonder if maybe Connie’s life was not in any way parallel to my own. I have a younger sister where she has an older sister, but that is where the similarities end. Her mother is always telling her that she should be more like June, her older sister. It seemed to me that June living with her parents at her age was unusual, but the fact that she seemed to enjoy this and was always doing things to h...
The author begins her message with the title of her work, which conveys the idea of passages of time in life. The phrase "where are you going" suggests a time in the future, and the phrase "where have you been" evokes the past. Oates' message continues through the plot and characters. The basic elements of "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" are rooted in a true story of a 1965 crime. Occurring just a year before Oates' 1966 story was published, the "parallels between [th...
Though thoroughly distinguishable, the short stories “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates and “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri present wide opportunities for one to compare and contrast literary elements. The two works, published within thirty years of one another, may be compared through the common theme of appearance versus reality, which is furthered through analogous instances of sexual symbolism, and contrasted through dissimilar settings and plot lines.
Through Arnold Friend, Connie learns that her rush to grow up is foolish and that she is trying to jump into a world that she knows nothing about and that could be potentially dangerous. She ultimately releases her dream and clings to her family as never before, realizing that their firm grasp on her is not for their benefit, but her own. Joyce Carol Oates?s vivid description of Arnold Friend carries the most emotional freight, as the evil behind his apparent glamor brings about Connie?s change. Though he takes the outer appearance of a normal boy, everything about his behavior suggests that he is the Devil himself in disguise.
Joyce Carol Oates' short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" written in the late sixties, reveals several explanations of its plot. The story revolves around a young girl being seduced, kidnapped, raped and then killed. The story is purposely vague and that may lead to different interpretations. Teenage sex is one way to look at it while drug use or the eerie thought that something supernatural may be happening may be another. The story combines elements of what everyone may have experienced as an adolescent mixed with the unexpected dangers of vanity, drugs, music and trust at an early age. Ultimately, it is up to the reader to choose what the real meaning of this story is. At one point or another one has encountered, either through personal experience or through observation, a teenager who believes that the world is plotting against them. The angst of older siblings, peer pressure set upon them by their friends, the need for individualism, and the false pretense that at fifteen years of age, they are grown are all factors which affect the main character in this story.
Connie was tired of the life she was living and, she was ready to make decisions for herself and to deal with the consequences for them. She knew that if her parents found out about her going to the diner that she would be in trouble. Connie did not care about the consequences for her actions. She felt like it was time to grow up and be a woman. She wanted to start to experiment with her sexuality. Connie wanted boys to start to notice her and talk to her. Connie thinks that guys could be her savior by helping deliver her from the pressure and anxieties from her sister and mother. Her going out on her own makes her realize that she does not have to please anyone, only herself. When Connie and her friend went to the diner she met this guy Arnold. Obviously being with Eddie for three hours in a dark alley and diner was not the best first move for her. This is the one decision that will change her life forever. This was probably the first guy that gave Connie some attention. So obviously she is going to soak him up and just...
Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to expose the hypocrisy of racism and religion in society. He clearly displayed how blacks were stereotyped, devalued, and considered to be inferior to whites. He showed how people associated themselves with certain religious beliefs, but only practiced those beliefs at their own convenience. Unfortunately, the issues Twain wrote about still exist in today’s world. Society has made some progress; however, overall, not much has changed since Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Throughout time children have worked myriad hours in hazardous workplaces in order to make a few cents to a few dollars. This is known as child labor, where children are risking their lives daily for money. Today child labor continues to exist all over the world and even in the United States where children pick fruits and vegetables in difficult conditions. According to the article, “What is Child Labor”; it states that roughly 215 million children around the world are working between the ages of 5 and 17 in harmful workplaces. Child labor continues to exist because many families live in poverty and with more working hands there is an increase in income. Other families take their children to work in the fields because they have no access to childcare and extra money is beneficial to buy basic needs. Although there are laws and regulations that protect children from child labor, stronger enforcement is required because child labor not only exploits children but also has detrimental effects on a child’s health, education, and the people of the nation.
In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Oates wants to show a more intellectual and symbolic meaning in this short story. Oates has many symbolic archetypes throughout the short story along with an allegory. Oates uses these elements in her story by the selection of detail and word choice used. Oates does this because she wants to teach her audience a moral lesson.
To begin, the author uses the experiences of Connie to portray to the readers that this could, in fact, be a trashy daydream. This is shown through the quote “But all the boys fell back and dissolved into a single face that was not even a face, but an idea, a feeling, mixed up with the urgent, insistent pounding of the music and the humid night air of July” (Oates
Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”. Backpack Literature. An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy & Dana Gioia. 4th ed. New Jersey: Pearson, 2006. (323-336). Print.
The most ubiquitous allegory found in the piece is seen in the relationship held between Connie and Arnold Friend, which has a religious nature about it. In the same way that the Devil manipulated and convinced Eve to take the apple, Arnold has a rather cogent way of persuading Connie to leave her house and join him. The “sweet talk” that Arnold employs on Connie is the equivalent to the temptation of the Devil when he lured Eve into taking the apple. Another strong comparison in the aforementioned allegory is the similarities found between the Devil and Arnold. “I know your name and all about you, lots of things” (Oates par. 48). Arnold’s all-knowing perspective of Connie is synonymous to the Devil’s total knowledge of Eve. Oates uses this rather powerful allegory to depict the dangerously unpredictable vulnerability of Connie. By ending the story in the manner in which Oates did, she reveals her resentment for Connie’s vulnerable nature that could have ceased to exist had Connie taken the initiative to establish her
Connie is only concerned about her physical appearance. She can be described as being narcissistic because "she had a quick, nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirror or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right" (Oates 148). Connie wants her life to be different from everyone else's in her family. She thinks because she is prettier, she is entitled to much more. She wants to live the "perfect life" in which she finds the right boy, marries him, and lives happily ever after. This expectation is nothing less than impossible because she has not experienced love or anything like it. She has only been subjected to a fantasy world where everything is seemingly perfect. This is illustrated in the story when Connie is thinking about her previous encounters with boys: "Connie sat with her eyes closed in the sun, dreaming and dazed with the warmth about her as if this were a kind of love, the caresses of love, and her mind slipped over onto thoughts of the boy she had been with the night before and how nice he had been, how gentle, the way it was in movies and promised in songs" (151).
Connie has the need to be viewed as older and as more mature than she really is, all the while still displaying childlike behavior. She shows this childlike behavior by “craning her neck to glance in mirrors [and] checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right” (Oates 323). This shows that Connie is very insecure and needs other people’s approval. Although on one side she is very childish, on the other side she has a strong desire to be treated like an adult. This longing for adulthood is part of her coming of age, and is demonstrated by her going out to “bright-lit, fly-infested restaurant[s]” and meeting boys, staying out with those boys for three hours at a time, and lying to her parents about where she has been and who she has been with (Oates 325, 326). “Everything about her ha[s] two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home” (Oates 324). Even her physical movements represent her two-sided nature: “her walk that could be childlike and bobbing, or languid enough to make anyone think she was hearin...