How Does Mark Twain Use Distortion In Huck Finn

In works of literature distortion is used to transform themes or ideas into a part of the story. While themes can be obvious at times, distortion is best done when the hidden meanings are seen as a surprise afterwards.. Case in point, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn provides distortion effectively, without bearing down on the story itself, and still tying into the overall themes of the work. Mark Twain disguises his political thoughts on society in the events of his novel, as well as through his characters and their actions.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn takes place in the late 1800s, around the 1830s to 1840s. Twain sets the story in the Southern region of the United States. With this novel taking place prior to the events of the

Civil War, slavery and discrimination were still being practiced. Along with that, it is important to note that the novel itself is categorized as fiction. What makes said fact such an important one, is that everything in the novel is considered fictitious, somethings that could never happen, and are purely coincidental if they did. Events take place in this novel that are only written for the reader’s entertainment. Actions made by the characters are things that wouldn’t happen in real life, according to society at that point in history. Obviously some are plausible, like a child faking their death, but other actions to be stated as fictional , ties into Twain’s use of distortion to send his message across.
The fictional actions made by the fictional characters are affected by the fictional choices they make. Some actions are performed as rising actions, or as character development. Such character development can be seen in the titular character himself. A brief description of Huckleberry Finn: A white, hard headed young boy, who is raised by society to be discriminatory. Why, that could be any young scamp from the 19th century, judging by that description. What makes Huck stand out so much, aside from the rather unfortunate first name? Why isn’t it called The Adventures Of Billy Johnson? Finn doesn’t stand out to a great extent.
The boy goes outside and participates in some adventures and shenanigans with his rambunctious gang of fellow hooligans. While his father beats him, and Finn is a frequent face in town, there’s nothing that necessarily separates him from any other boy his age. He isn’t really something to be distorted, so what was Twain thinking? It’s true, Huckleberry Finn is an average everyday boy in the 19th century. He was, until he ran into Jim. Prior to that point in the novel, the events of the story presented so far could have very well been just a description of Twain’s child, or even excerpts from a journal. Everything up until that point was realistic, to society’s standards. There was nothing out of the ordinary, that a boy in that time period wouldn’t do. Then comes the encounter with Jim. Okay, but who is Jim? Why is he so beneficial to the story, and its use of distortion?
Getting this out of the way, Jim is an African-American man.

With the story taking place pre-Civil War, its depictions of African-Americans and slavery at the time are, for lack of a better term, accurate. Discrimination is heavily involved in the story, in the plot itself, as well as in the actual text. Not to mention, Jim is a slave, a run away one at that. It goes without saying that the discrimination of people of color in the novel are true to life as well. In fact, during the introduction of Jim’s character, Finn makes sure to give his opinion on him. His opinion of which is not pleasant. Since Finn is a white boy raised in the South, his thoughts on individuals of color are akin to society’s at the time. When the two finally cross paths, and learn each other’s motives for being where they are , it is safe to say that Finn is fairly shocked. He is traveling with a runaway slave, which is the equivalent to housing a fugitive in this point in

history.
Now is when distortion truly starts to happen.

When Finn finds out about Jim’s situation, he decides to let him be. The two of them accompany each other during their journey, and begin to form a friendship. With the reminder that they are from different classes and races to society, the choice to become friends is something that is unreal in the real world, at the time being. However what is truly unrealistic is Finn’s decision, or lack thereof, to turn Jim in as soon as possible. This is when the story starts to become fictional, according to 19th century America. A white person letting a runaway slave continue running away, let alone refusing to turn him in is blasphemy. In 19th century America, you were supposed to be as discriminatory as humanly possible. In 19th century America, those of color are like a car or a house, just property to invest in. You weren’t supposed to befriend or show much compassion to anyone of color if you were white. Yet here comes Huckleberry Finn bonding with runaway slave Jim. This action continues to affect the story’s events further down the line. Cutting to sometime after the pair initially embark on their journey, the two are making their way , when they are nearly seen by some criminals. While the crooks themselves don’t play an important part, the actions Finn performs are. He briefly thinks of turning Jim in, and considers abandoning him. The reason why this is necessary to point out, is that Twain is using Finn’s conflict to help with

the distortion in the novel. Finn’s inner conflict is distorting the audience’s expectations. What is realistic and what is fictional becomes hard to tell.
Finn’s inner conflict actually plays a major role in the story, with it being a recurring plot device. Finn has no reason to care for Jim, yet he continues to. When Finn jumps off the raft to trap the criminals, he eventually loses Jim. With Jim being a runaway slave, there is absolutely no explanation on why Finn should bat an eye at Jim’s separation from him. Yet, instead of ignoring the event, Finn begins to worry for Jim’s safety. There is no need to make a fuss over someone he’s constantly belittled, who was more of a burden to him in the first place. This hypocrisy continues throughout the story.
When the pair meet two con men, Finn brings up Jim and how to disguise him if he is left alone. However prior to that, the boy was mortified when he realized he was essentially freeing a slave, who now wanted to free his family. His morals tend to conflict with his roots. He was raised a certain way, and going against that is equivalent to breaking the law. Yet he has now befriended the slave, and they look out for one another. This conflicting ideology culminates near the end of the story. Huck and Jim get separated once again, but this time Jim is taken back into town to get turned in. When Finn finds out, he proceeds to have a lengthy battle in his psyche. Should he try and save Jim, and risk going to Hell? Or should he let Jim be, and go to Heaven? This happens after he initially wondered about turning Jim in. Eventually he decides he’d rather be in Hell and goes off to save his friend.
Now while that is all good and dandy, how exactly does distortion come into play? Why is it used in the novel? Through the use of the pair’s unlikely friendship, distortion is effectively being used. To reiterate past points, the main theme of the story is the unlikely friendship the two make. They are from two different worlds, classes, and races. There is no need for them to be friends. Keeping in mind the circumstances in which the story takes place, it is actually frowned upon for friendships like that to happen. Furthermore, the events of the story are, as stated, fictional. This is important because this explains why events like those told in the story are ignored, because to the common eye, it’s still a story.
No matter how triggering the actions of the characters were to the audience during its initial release, it was still fictional. There’s no reason to hate the events of the novel if it was all fictional. Therefore the symbolism remains hidden. There’s not much evidence proving that Twain was against slavery, from the book alone. All the events of the story are just fictitious. By making all the criticisms to slavery in the book fictitious, it hides the actual themes of the story well. The book being fictional also keeps major backlash from being too harsh, while unknown to others, it is actually telling something else entirely. Twain spreads his beliefs and criticisms of society’s actions towards slavery, or lack thereof, in the novel, but because it is purely fictitious, it goes under the radar. Those that are able to catch on learn from it, while those that don’t are reading a novel.