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The relationship between religion and morality
The relationship between religion and morality
The relationship between religion and morality
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Allusions are used to emphasize ideas and themes an author presents in a novel, and to further understand its deeper meaning. Given that the bible is a prominent authority in societies, it helps an individual differentiate right from wrong, which is the internal conflict the main character, Huck, from The adventures of Huckleberry Finn, combats in his journey. Throughout his trip, he encounters well-intentioned Christians, deceived by religion into accepting slavery, demonstrated by Twain’s portrayal of religious hypocrisy. Twain alludes to the Old and New Testament in order to highlight the role religion had in the character development of Huck Finn and themes, such as, a civilized society and society’s conflicting acceptance of racism. …show more content…
Twain’s allusion to Cain and Abel in a civilized society implies society’s hypocrisy in the teachings of gospels, further conflicting Huck’s decision of being “sivilized” like Ms. Watson or to be free in Nature, due to society's behavior, especially behavior towards racism. The allusion to Cain is presented in Huck’s father, he says, “Every time he got money he got drunk; and every time he got drunk he raised Cain around town; and every time he raised Cain he got jailed. He was just suited” (26). Huck’s father raises “Cain” by being aggressive and supposedly murdering. Huck doesn't want to live with father that treats him like a slave nor believe in a blind religion like Ms. Watson, especially since she is a hypocrite of her religious old testament teachings because she too is a slave owner. Therefore Huck escapes and uses his Cain-like father as a scapegoat for his fake murder. While escaping, Huck encounters the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons’ deadly family feud. Both families go to the same church and hear a sermon about “brotherly love” (Twain 184) and it is observed that in mass “ the men took their guns along…[and] kept them between their knees” (184). The relationship between the families parallels to Adam and Cain as they offer gifts to God. The two Families pay their respect to God by going to mass, but demonstrate hypocrisy since they don't act on the teachings they learned of “brotherly love”, because the families kill each other in the end. The Grangerfords represent the mindset of Cain and act on it since the families end up having deceased members. Twain’s allusion to the old testament serve to demonstrate how uncivilized religious southerners were further pushing Huck far from civilization. Twain’s allusion to The Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes, show characters in a southern society can be deceived with the use of religion.
Huck encounters the King and the Duke, two greedy men who use Jim, Ms. Watson’s slave, for money. In the novel Huck, the duke and the king stop at a preaching, and see how a community is enlightened by a preacher. The preacher recites part of the Beatitudes in a high platform, just as Jesus did on the Mount, "Oh, come to the mourners' bench! come, black with sin! (amen!) come, sick and sore! (amen!) come, lame and halt and blind! (amen!) come, pore and needy, sunk in shame! (a-a-men!) come, all that's worn and soiled and suffering! -- come with a broken spirit! come with a contrite heart! come in your rags and sin and dirt! the waters that cleanse is free, the door of heaven stands open -- oh, enter in and be at rest!"(134). The preacher says all stated above will be free in Heaven which brings all sorts of emotions to the crowd, therefore the King and Duke take advantage of the preachings, “He[king] went a-charging up on to the platform, and the preacher he begged him to speak to the people, and he done it” (135). The King creates a touching story in which he supposedly is motivated to be faithful in order to trick the people into offering him money. This observation further pushes Huck from the civilized Southerners. Furthermore, Twain demonstrates how evil men can use religion, a socially accepted practice, to deceive society into accepting certain inhumane
behaviors. To conclude, Twain uses biblical references in a hypocritical manner to demonstrate how evil men used religion and the bible as defense into accepting slavery. Huck Finn sees many times how this practice is used as he travels with Jim and views Southerners hypocritical values, such as Ms. Watson and The Phelps, both religiously devoted families owning slaves. These allusion are further used to develop the character of Huck. Huck Finn matures at the end of the novel, and although he can’t rid himself completely from civilization he tells his religious teachings in his conscious to “go to hell” (361) because he’d like to save his friend Jim. This gesture is the only one in the novel where a character does a Christian thing; love thy neighbor- Jim, the slave.
Huck Finn does not fully understand religion. The widow tells him he can ask God for whatever he wants so he thinks of religion as asking God for specific items. Religion is actually a more spiritual concept, and Huck is not mature enough to realize this. This is apparent when he mentions “Miss Watson she took me in the closet and prayed, but nothing come of it. She told me to pray every day, and whatever I asked for I would get it. But it warn't so. I tried it. Once I got a fish-line, but no hooks. It warn't any good to me without hooks. I tried for the hooks three or four times, but somehow I couldn't make it work. By and by, one day, I asked Miss Watson to try for me, but she said I was a fool. She never told me why, and I couldn't make it out no way.” This tells us that Huck is very confused about religion and takes things very literally. Huck was not brought up in church, so he knows little about God and religion. Another time when Huck took something too literally was when he went to Tom Sawyer's group to "rob and murder" people. Huck fully expected there to be real elephants and “A-rabs” at their destination. Tom Sawyer just wanted to pretend this was the case, when Huck actually was preparing himself to see elephants.
While staying with a farming family, Huck’s partner, known as “The King,” sold off some slaves that he swindled away from the family. While the slaves were crying and saying goodbye to each other, Huck thinks that “I couldn’t a stood it all but would a had to bust...if I hadn’t knowed the sale warn’t no account and the niggers would be back home in a week or two”(Clemens, 234-235). While traveling with Jim down the Mississippi, Huck’s transformation on his outlook on slaves is drastic. He no longer sees Jim as “Miss Watson’s big nigger,”(Clemens, 22) but as a
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel written by Mark Twain during the late 1800’s (Mintz). The book brought major controversy over the plot, as well as the fact that it was a spin-off to his previous story, Adventures of Tom Sawyer. This book has remained a success due to Twain’s interesting techniques of keeping the audience’s attention. Chapters eleven and twelve of “Huckleberry Finn,” uses a first person limited point of view to take advantage of the use of dialogue while using many hyperboles to add drama to entertain the reader by creating description within the story without needing to pause and explain.
Racist Trash vs. Deeper Reading How many years have passed since public discrimination against blacks ended? How many times have you personally heard someone make fun of someone because they are black within the past five years?
In the Novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck can seem dumb and naive at times. This tends to occur when he has to pretend to be someone else so he can conceal his identity from others. For instance, when Huck is pretending to be a long lost relative of the Wilks family that lived in England along with the Duke and the King so they could con them and make a big profit by inheriting the family's wealth. Then one day in the house on the day of the funeral of Peter Wilks, Mary Jane asks Huck if he's ever seen the king before and Huck forgot “his identity” and Mary Jane quickly becomes skeptical of Huck. She says to Huck, “Why, how you talk -- Sheffield ain’t on the sea”(175). Huck goes on to question what Mary Jane heard
Mark Twain uses several metaphors throughout two opposite episodes to expose the reality of humanity.
The introduction to Twain’s essay includes a flashback to create the frame of the essay and establish the themes. He uses imagery to really set the scene and emphasize its importance. Twain makes it obvious from the beginning that his audience is very broad, his tone is calm and reasonable. He is using this essay to show that people rely on public opinion, and that people conform in order to be in the majority. In the introduction, he lays out his plan very clearly and proceeds to plead his case.
While traveling together down the river Huck and Jim, accompanied by the king and duke, came to a stop after passing their original destination, Cairo, during the night. While at the stop Huck overheard the king and duke put out a reward for Jim. Huck knows that if Miss Watson finds the reward notice, he will return back with Miss Watson.Therefore she will sell him elsewhere. When faced with this difficult situation Huck decided to write a letter to Miss Watson, however, after finishing his final sentence he realizes how Jim contains similar emotions and feelings as him and other caucasians. Huck yells after tearing up the letter “All right then, I’ll go to Hell” (Twain 31). This action supports the individual's right to think differently from mankind and express their free will or ability to choose how they interact with others. Huck treats a person of color equally when Jim discusses his relationship with his family and his past. While listening to Jim talk about his family, Huck understands that Jim cares about his family as much as a white person does and so he says “I knowed he was white inside” (Twain 30). This interaction between Huck and Jim signifies that Huck sees Jim as equal despite the racial bias set forth by mankind's stigma around different races. This scenario accurately supports Twain's idea of equality and fair treatment for all
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is the story of a young southern boy and his voyage down the Mississippi River accompanied by a runaway slave named Jim. Throughout the journey Huck and Jim face numerous obstacles and encounter a variety of interesting characters. These experiences help Huck to develop physically, intellectually, and most importantly, morally. Throughout the long expedition, readers can observe Huck’s transformation from an immature boy with poor values and ethics, to a matured young man with a moral conscience and a heightened sense of what is right and what is wrong despite what society says.
In his novel, The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain applies his thoughts upon societal hypocrisy by using the characters to convey their religious entitlement as a societal norm rather than focusing on the true moral teachings that Christianity implies. Throughout the book, Twain adopts a sentimental yet humorous tone to portray the characters’ ironic behavior towards biblical teachings and their reason for going completely against them.
Mark Twain’s masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through much criticism and denunciation has become a well-respected novel. Through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy, Huckleberry Finn, Twain illustrates the controversy of racism and slavery during the aftermath of the Civil War. Since Huck is an adolescent, he is vulnerable and greatly influenced by the adults he meets during his coming of age. His expedition down the Mississippi steers him into the lives of a diverse group of inhabitants who have conflicting morals. Though he lacks valid morals, Huck demonstrates the potential of humanity as a pensive, sensitive individual rather than conforming to a repressive society. In these modes, the novel places Jim and Huck on pedestals where their views on morality, learning, and society are compared.
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.
Together with Pap, the King and the Duke do their share to put putrid moral ideas into the immature mind of Huck. The King and the Duke earn their living pulling scams on their fellow Americans. For instance, they advertised the "Royal Nonesuch" as a "thrilling tragedy" and charged the farmers in the area fifty cents to come and see it (121). But, the entire production consisted of the King walking around on all fours naked. They had promised a good show to the crowd, the King and the Duke did not think it was wrong to give the crowd nothing except for an empty pocket. The message they sent to Huck is that it is acceptable to cheat and lie.
Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered the great American Novel with its unorthodox writing style and controversial topics. In the selected passage, Huck struggles with his self-sense of morality. This paper will analyze a passage from Adventures of huckleberry Finn and will touch on the basic function of the passage, the connection between the passage from the rest of the book, and the interaction between form and content.
Religion is sarcastically reflected in Huckleberry Finn by Twain’s sense of storyline and the way his characters talk. A predominant theme, and probably one of Twain's favorites, is the mockery of religion. Twain tended to attack organized religion at every opportunity and the sarcastic character of Huck Finn is perfectly situated to allow him to do so. The attack on religion can already be seen in the first chapter, when Huck indicates that hell sounds like a lot more fun than heaven. This will continue throughout the novel, with one prominent scene occurring when the "King" convinces a religious community to give him money so he can "convert" his pirate friends.