Huck Finn Marxist Analysis

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain revolves around the main characters Huck and Jim. It is the story of their journey together, escaping the strict regimes and their horrible lives in St. Petersburg. There are many criticisms about how accurate the book is in displaying race, history and morality. Many critics focus on the ending of the book and how it is comparatively flawed in relation to the rest of the book. Leo Marx, an emeritus professor of American cultural history, criticized the consistency of the novel’s plot and the change in Huck regarding heroism and confidence. Marx’s critique on both subjects can be supported, and furthermore Marx’s discussion on Huck’s minimal change in confidence by the end of the novel can be

compared to his small change in his fundamental beliefs in regards to race.
Marx’s argument that some scenes in the novel are not logical and realistic can be thoroughly supported. He explains Miss Watson’s stand on slavery and how she initially wanted to sell Jim into slavery and because of this, Jim ran away. Around the same time, Huck runs aways from Pap and fakes his death. Since both of this events occurred during the same time, Miss Watson believes that Jim killed Huck. Marx argues that Miss Watson “in short, is the Enemy” (Marx 293). Her structure in raising Huck and “her greed provides the occasion for the journey in the first place” (293). At the end of the novel, it is not logical for Miss Watson to free Jim, especially because she thinks he has killed Huck. Twain makes little effort to describe Miss Watson’s change of heart and the reason behind freeding Jim. This sudden event causes the ending to lose its credibility and have less accuracy. Another illogical event occurs when Huck and Jim are sailing to Cairo. Jim is escaping slavery and he is desperately in search of Cairo, Illinois. There is a strong fog on the second night of their journey that makes Huck so “sick and scared I [he] couldn’t budge for most a half a minute” (Twain 95). It causes Huck and Jim to miss Cairo. Although there was low visibility, it is unbelievable that both Huck and Jim could have missed something that Jim has so keenly been looking forward to. It is also not unrealistic as to why they would travel further south into more slave territory. Disordered events in the plot cause the novel to lose accuracy and credibility as stated by Marx in his criticism.
In addition, Marx’s critique on Huck’s growth in confidence is supported, but his argument can be extended to Huck’s minimal growth regarding his views on race as well.

Throughout Huck and Jim’s journey, Huck is in charge. All of his experiences gathered during the journey allow him to develop into a strong and mature person by the middle of the novel. However, by the end of the novel when Tom returns, Huck becomes his “helpless accomplice, submissive and gullible” (Marx 295). Marx argues that Huck does not grow and he instead returns to being the boy who had once been playing robbers with Tom’s gang in St. Petersburg. This regression from maturation causes the ending to be weak and have no closure. In comparison, Huck’s views on racism do not fundamentally change. Throughout the novel, Huck has moral dilemmas if he should turn in Jim back into slavery or not. Huck is about to sail onto shore to tell on Jim but when Jim says that he’s thankful for Huck and their friendship “it seemed to kind of take the tuck all out of me [him]” (Twain 102). Huck’s personal connection with Jim allows him to feel differently about race for a while. However, he returns to having moral dilemmas later in their journey. When Huck is writing to Miss Watson about Jim’s fleeting, he feels ashamed for helping a slave escape slavery, but then he suddenly remembers all of the memories him and Jim had together on the raft and rips the sheet. He says, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell” (Twain 201). Huck does repeatedly question the purpose of slavery but he doesn't not fully reject the idea of racism. He constantly regresses back to feeling ashamed for helping Jim, thus his ideals on racism do not fundamentally change just like Huck’s minimal growth in

confidence.
Marx’s criticisms on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are very accurate and well discussed. The novel contains faulty plot errors and weak overall maturity of Huck by the end of the novel. Recent heavy criticisms on this novel have proved that slavery is still a significant topic of discussion today. In addition, other critics review controversies in the book regarding gender and sexuality. These discussions shed light on how issues from fifty years ago are still major debatable issues today. Arguments about race, gender or sexuality are inevitable and they can be applied in any context.

Works Cited

Marx, Leo. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Boston: Bedford, 2004. Print

Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Boston: Bedford, 2004. Print