In the novel, The Republic of Imagination, by Azar Nafisi, Nafisi offers up the notion that the definition of an American hero is someone who is not afraid to go against society's norms and have different views or ideas then others. Huck Finn is seen as American hero in the way that he is willing to stand up for what is right and fight for that. Huck is always able to conquer the odds and separate right from wrong. He recognizes the horribleness of slavery and goes against societal norms in a time when doing so could get you into a lot of trouble. An interpretation of Nafisi's view of the American Hero is that she is saying that being different and being a nonconformist can be a good thing. If Huck hadn’t decided to go against the societal …show more content…
norm that slaves are people's property and should not be allowed to be free, he would have never been able to save Jim and do the right thing. In a quote Nafisi claims that the American hero is “Wary of being uncivilized.” What she is claiming in this statement is that they are cautious not to become too much like other people and are okay with going with the flow. They are the kinds of people who are okay with being a little different and not having a problem with it. Nafisi is stating that the American hero is a person who is okay with standing out in a crowd and having their own ideas. Nafisi's definition of being an American hero is true because it brings up all of the characteristics many well-known leaders in the past and present have tried to embody.
This definition of being an American hero is someone who really believes in the well being of others and is unafraid and willing to take a stance on something that may not be what society traditionally agrees with. Most heroes are the kinds of people who stray from the path. Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X are all considered to be American heroes. They all have one thing in common: they took a stand against injustices, regardless of the consequences, in order to change the world for the better. What Nafisi is saying is that a hero can simply be a normal person in remarkable circumstances, who despite having many things stacked against them, triumphs in the end and does the right thing. This is something that Huck embodies. Despite having no education or family to take care of him he learns to fend for himself and overcome anything thrown at him. He uses his wits to get him out of sticky situations and manages, through everything, to reach his goal of freedom in the end of the novel. Nafisi's classification of an American hero is one that is accurate because it talks about the essential components of what it means to be a true
hero. A remarkable American hero would have to be Rosa Parks and this is because she was not afraid to take action when there were so many injustices going on around her. She is known as the “mother of the civil rights movement.” This all started when she refused to leave her seat on a bus in Alabama so a white passenger would be able to sit. When she refused to do so, she was arrested and the case went on to be heard in the Supreme Court. It was decided that such segregation and racism was unconstitutional and unfair. All of this eventually started the Civil Rights Movement. It is amazing how one person can commit a seemingly small act and then start a huge chain reaction and change the world for the better. Her act of defiance became a crucial symbol of the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa, even after her death, has become an international icon for her efforts to end racial segregation and is well known all around the world for her act of courage.
A hero puts other people before themselves and is admired for their qualities, courage, and achievements. A hero obtains knowledge throughout their journey of helping and healing. From Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huckleberry begins his journey with his first dilemma to save a slave, Jim. Huckleberry Finn begins to transform into a courageous hero when he learns the value of a human being.
A Persuasive Essay to end the Teaching of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in High School Curriculum
Huckleberry Finn: A Father Figure &nb Mark Twain, the author of Huckleberry Finn, has written a story that all will enjoy. Huck is a young boy with not much love in his life, his mother died when he was very young, and he had drunk for a father. Huck lives with the widow and she tried to raise him right. While at the widow's, Huck went to school and learned to read and write. The widow also tried to civilize him.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character finds himself living in a society that does not suit him. Everywhere he looks there are people who value things that he sees as meaningless. Huck Finn feels trapped and begins his journey down the river in an effort to find someone or some place that will bring him happiness. Almost immediatly he finds this person in the form a run away slave. In this story, Huck and Jim are against the entire world, and every person they come in contact with has the potential to destroy their plans of happiness and freedom. Under these circumstances Huck is forced to tell many lies, but the only one he regrets is the one that he tells Jim. The biggest and most harmful lie Huck tells is when he fakes his own murder in his fathers shack. He goes through a great deal of trouble to make sure that people believe that he is dead, and it is not until the end of the novel that it becomes known to the people of his home town that he is actually alive. He had been a likable young boy, and people in the town had thought highly of him. This is evident from his relationship with adults like the widow and the judge. Jim even tells him 'I'uz powerful sorry you's killed, Huck, but I ain't no mo, now'. (1292) Based on Huck's consistent concern for others, it is likely that he would have written home to inform them that he was still alive if it had not been for his situation with Jim. However, he does not want to risk doing anything that might get Jim captured, so he writes no letter. Huck finds himself working against the world. He is not an immature boy that tells lies just for the sake of doing so, but rather he tells them in order to protect himself and also Jim. In the instance where he dresses up like a girl and speaks with the farmer's wife in an effort to find out what is being said about their situation, the information that he gets ultimately saves them from the capture of a building search party.
Is it possible for certain lies to be considered justifiable? Everyone has told a lie at one point or another in their life. While growing up, society is taught that honesty is the best policy but it is hard to know at what point a lie crosses over from justifiable, to an evil action.
When people think about heros it is a person in a cape flying into burning buildings to save people or fighting a villain to save the world. According to Oxford Dictionary a hero is a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. This shows how just normal people can be qualified as heros. A book that exemplifies this is To Kill A Mockingbird because it is filled with people that went out of their way to help others or the society as a whole. A person who did this in particular was Atticus Finch. Atticus Finch was a hero because he fell under the definition and was admired for his courage, achievements, and noble qualities.
In the book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck rejects "sivilized" life. He dreads the rules and conformities of society such as religion, school, and anything else that will eventually make him civilized. He feels cramped in his new surroundings at the Widow Douglas's house. He would rather be in his old rags and sugar-hogshead because he was free and satisfied. He felt out of place when he tried being "sivilized" because he grew up fending for himself and to him it felt really lonely. Huck Finn grew up living in the woods and pretty much raised himself because his pap was a drunk. He never had a civilized lifestyle and he believed that his way of living was good enough for him. He was free to do what ever he liked and that is how he learned to live. He did not believe in school because all you need to know to live is not found in a book that you read at school. He believed that you learned by living out in the wild. Huck would rather be an individual than conform to society. Huck would rather follow his heart then his head and because of this Huck is ruled as a bad person because in society your suppose to use your head. Huck is being penalized for his beliefs and he does not want to be apart of a lifestyle that does not support his ways. For instance his choice not to turn in Jim shows that Huck understands why Jim is escaping. Huck sees Jim as a friend not as a slave and so he truly is able to see that society's way of treaty Jim is wrong. Huck is portrayed as a boy who sees life at face value and not by the set "standards" of the "sivilized" society. The rejection of the "sivilized" lifestyles shows that Huck does not agree with it rules. Because of this, he is able to see life from different perspectives. He can sympathize with all the class in society. He learns to figure out what is morally correct and wrong. Through out his journey down the river, Huck is able to learn more about himself and others.
Mark Twain, who is a realistic fiction writer, incorporates satire and humor in his writing, including Archetypal elements to modify how the reader interprets the story. He uses many archetypal characters like Huck and Jim who both can be argued as the heroes. They both have good intentions and help others. Mark Twain portrays Jim as a deeply caring and loyal friend. Jim becomes a father figure to Huck, helping him realize the human face of slavery. Twain Portrays Huck as a young and naive boy who has been under the wrong influence for a long time. Another archetypal element that Mark Twain uses is Jims Quest for freedom. This was a quest for most all African Americans, to run away north so you could be free. But Jim was one of the few who was brave enough to do so; that’s he can be classified as the hero in the story. But Jim’s life is not too bad compared to historical records about the lives of slaves. Even though he had to struggle for his freedom, he didn’t have any good reason to leave. His life contested of helping round and not doing hard enduring work like some of the other slaves. The way Jim’s life is portrayed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Mark Twain criticizes the life of African Americans at the time.
Ransomed? Whats that???.. it means that we keep them till they're dead (10). This dialogue reflects Twains witty personality. Mark Twain, a great American novelist, exploits his humor, realism, and satire in his unique writing style in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain, born in 1835, wrote numerous books throughout his lifetime. Many of his books include humor; they also contain deep cynicism and satire on society. Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, exemplifies his aspects of writing humor, realism, and satire throughout the characters and situations in his great American novel.
Since its release, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, has stirred up much controversy, most recently, over the book’s excessive usage of the word “nigger.” The topic has been debated by a broad range of scholars, ranging from authors to professors, to students alike, with both sides providing bold claims in support of their viewpoint. On the side arguing against Twain’s use of the N-word, there are arguments made stating that the word is offensive, inappropriate for the classroom environment and that the word, itself, is unnecessary for one to truly understand the novel. Opposing these arguments, those who support the use of the racial epithet state that removing the word would have more negative effects than positive, nor will
The Development of Identity in Huckleberry Finn. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry, by Mark Twain, the main character enters into a transitional period of his life. This character, Huck Finn, faces many situations in which he is forced to deal with decisions that foster within them the ability to bring about change. Since transition is the process of entering change, Huck is searching for an identity that is truly his own.
The book Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, has many themes that appear throughout the text. One such theme is that people must live outside of society to be truly free. If one lives outside of society, then they do not have to follow all of its laws and try to please everyone. They would not be held back by the fact that if they do something wrong, they would be punished for doing it.
“The situation of the orphan is truly the worst, you’re a child, powerless, with no protectors or guides. It’s the most vulnerable position you can be in, to see someone overcome those odds tells us something about the human spirit. They are often depicted as the kindest or most clever of characters.” Michelle Boisseau describes how important these types of characters are. In a Sunday Times article, she states that a lot of the stories and novels are considered to be apologues about orphans becoming the hero of the book. Huck’s story is quite like this subject. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel written by Mark Twain, it’s about a boy named Huckleberry Finn, who sets out on a journey to discover his own truth about living free in nature, rather than becoming civilized in a racist and ignorant society. Mark Twain implies that Huck Finn resembles more of what he believes is right rather than what society surmises from him. Twain reveals this through the themes of satire, racism, and hero’s journey, which he uses constantly through out the book.
There were many heroes in the literature that has been read. Many have been courageous and showed their character through tough times. Through these tough times they were forced to make important decisions and this is where you get the real idea of who is deserved to be called a hero. The most influential though of all these was Huckleberry Finn. Through the innocence of childhood he is able to break through the societal pressures that are brought on him and do right.
When I think of an American Hero I immediately think of someone who is strong, intelligent, handsome, and daring. Upon closer examination, many different qualities than these become apparent. Courage, honesty, bravery, selflessness, and the will to try are just a few of the overlooked qualities of an American Hero. The definition of heroism changes with the context and time. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines heroism as "heroic conduct especially as exhibited in fulfilling a high purpose or attaining a noble end; the qualities of a hero". Heroes of the past are not necessarily heroes of present time and vise versa.