Critical Analysis Of Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry Finn: Two Critical Points of View Mark Twain had a prolific and illustrious career as one of the great American novelists. What is most exciting about his work is how he uses satire to confront and address the prevalent issues in society. At the age of fifty, Mark Twain published Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a satire which was later known as the “Great American Novel.” In a satire, the protagonist and his or her counterparts portray a serious situation, often a real world issue, in a comical light. In this case, the novel explores the life and the journeys of a young teenager, Huckleberry Finn, and a slave, Jim. Throughout the course of the novel, Jim’s role becomes prominent as a father figure to Huck. Jim is
David L. Smith thought that Huckleberry Finn was an anti-racist novel, despite the language and descriptions that Twain used when referring to Jim. Smith is referring to that race status that was prevalent during the time period in which Twain wrote the novel. Toni Morrison would agree that “race” meant white supremacy because of the last scene in the novel with Tom Sawyer and the attempt to free Jim. Freeing Jim would have been a menial task, however, Tom wanted to create an elaborate plan with unnecessary obstacles in order to free Jim. This scene showed that Tom did not care about the actual freeing of Jim because he took all these unnecessary steps and because he knew that Jim was already free. Morrison and Smith both believed that Tom did not “free” Jim immediately because Jim was black. Smith thought that this novel was anti-racist despite the use of the “n” word because Twain portrayed Jim, a black man, with traits that a stereotypical black man would not possess. In addition, Twain went on to portray Pap, a white man, with the traits that a stereotypical black man would possess. The portrayal of these two characters by Twain indicates that this novel is anti-racist. Although Twain uses the “n” word, he uses it to prove a point and show the readers what society thought about black people during the time period. Twain attacks racism and tries to break down the racial
Smith are correct in their criticisms. They both believe that Tom Sawyer’s unnecessary steps in his plan to free Jim is an example of realism and was Twain trying to portray obstructions to civil rights. However, Toni Morrison does not think of this novel as anti-racist, but she does not think of it as racist. Morrison does not really talk about the usage of the “n” word, although she does talk about the racial stereotypes that Twain uses to diminish the idea of Jim being a father figure to Huck. Twain could have made Jim nearly the same character without adding the minute details of him acting like a stereotypical black person. For example, if Twain did not portray Jim as naïve and almost stupid because of the jokes Huck played on him, Jim would have been a perfect father figure for Huck. Smith argued that the good connotation of Jim outweighs the bad. Throughout the novel, Twain shows the reader that Jim exhibits the traits of compassion, thoughtfulness, self-sacrifice, and even wisdom. “Jim exhibits all the qualities that “the Negro” supposedly lacks,” (Smith 4,5). Although Morrison agrees with Smith in regards to the traits that Jim possesses, Morrison thought that Twain portraying Jim as unintelligent and naïve at some points in the novel in order to debunk an idea was nearly racist and not