How Does Twain Use Satire In Huckleberry Finn

Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality"(Poe 1). A child's perception of reality is influenced by those around them. Huckleberry Finn had an impressionable thirteen year old mind filled with the morals, thoughts, and values of many. Leading a very unstable life, there was never a contingency that Huck would develop his own perception. One day, Huckleberry faked his own death and ran away from his oppressive father. Joining runaway slave, Jim, Huck was now able to see the hypocrisy of the world. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain used satire to criticize the various social institutions of antebellum America.

To begin, children learned religion by force. Raised to believe the convictions of the church, the boys only retained certain lessons. "Ben Rogers said he couldn't get out much, only Sundays, and so he wanted to begin next Sunday; but all the boys said it would be wicked to do it on Sunday, and that settled the thing"(Twain 20). The boys were aware that Sunday was a Holy day. Although, they never knew killing in itself was wrong. After reading this, parents were probably more specific with their children about the church's values.

Furthermore, Twain emphasized Miss. Watson's and

the Widows faith in God. Religion is a set of common core values shared by all who partake. "By and by they fetched the slaves in and had prayers and everybody went off to bed" (Twain 13). The slaves believe in the same God, but are segregated based off of their appearance and status. According to their values, Christians believe that all who believe in the faith are united in the Body of Christ and all people are made in the image of God. In addition to this, people are all the same and people cannot receive different treatment because of their social standing or physical characteristics. In 1884, readers may have reevaluated their treatment of blacks. Although slavery was banned by the thirteenth amendment, blacks were still treated as social pariahs by whites.
In addition, the U.S. Judicial system comes up with and enforces laws that are supposed to protect its people. In some cases, they make decisions that seem morally right. Although, one "morally right" decision put Huck in a worse situation than he was already in. "The judge and the widow went to law to get the court to take me away from him and let one of them be my guardian; but it was a new judge that had just come, and he didn't know the old man; so he said courts mustn't interfere and separate families if they could help it; said he'd druther not take a child away from its father. So Judge Thatcher and the widow had to quit on the business" (Twain 31,32). When Pap was given custody, Twain proved through horrible beatings, stolen money, and delusional drunkenness that he was unfit. Now, the government and Judiciary system look thoroughly before making decisions regarding a child's care.
Around the family, a person should feel most safe and secure.

The stereotypical role of a father is to protect his kin. Huck did not have this family dynamic, for his mother passed and his estranged father was an abusive drunk. "Pap he hadn't been seen for more than a year, and that was comfortable for me; I didn't want to see him no more. He used to always whale me when he was sober and could get his hands on me; though I used to take to the woods most of the time when he was around" (Twain 22). No child should feel this way about his dad. Here, Twain was successful in capturing the not-so-pretty side of the " American family". Social workers are now working harder than ever before to implement stricter laws against

abuse.
Lastly, parents want the best for their children. Adults do not usually feel inferior towards kids. However, Pap felt subordinate and wanted Huck to feel the same way. "Don't you give me none o' your lip," says he. "You've put on considerable many frills since I been away. I'll take you down a peg before I get done with you. You're educated, too, they say--can read and write. You think you're better'n your father, now, don't you, because he can't? I'LL take it out of you. Who told you you might meddle with such hifalut'n foolishness, hey?--who told you you could?" (Twain 30).
In the end, Twains humor established his theme of hypocrisy in civilization. Satire clearly distinguished the points he was trying to highlight throughout the novel. When his ideas were connected, a reader could infer Twain's big picture. It was a prominent vehicle for his criticisms of American society in his work. Twains condemnation of politics, family, and religious intuitions were evident, though his use of mockery and the idea that "Often those that criticize others reveal what he himself lacks"(Alder 1).