Mark Twain's Pessimistic Views Exposed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain's Pessimistic Views Exposed in Mark Twain's Pessimistic Views Exposed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, through examples of hypocrisy,

racism, and greed, shows Twain's pessimistic view of society and

corruption of the human race as a whole. This novel documents the

travels of a young boy by the name of Huckleberry Finn, and a runaway

slave named Jim as they attempt to explore and escape their homes

because of their own respective reasons. The plot of this novel is

very simplistic, however the view of Mark Twain's pessimism regarding

society as a whole is revealed through various characters and

situations. The idea of hypocrisy by society is Mark Twain's first

instance of pessimism.

The general view of each of the townspeople is that they live in a

civilized society. The continual use of the word civilized causes a

sense of arrogance or cockiness as to the fact that society thinks

that it is so supreme over other life. Mark Twain does not believe

that being civilized makes one a better person and that it is the

inner soul that creates a good person. For example, the townspeople

believe they are superior, but beneath the surface, they are all

selfish, arrogant, hateful people. Any of the people in town can be an

example of this as they believe that they are better than any of the

slaves that they own. Jim, on the other hand, is Twain's portrayal of

a kind and gentle hearted soul and this shows his pessimism towards

the hypocrisy of society in the fact that it again illustrates the

wrong belief that civilization makes you superior. Jim is a better

human being than the majority of the people that are living in the

town. Racism is another ideal that Mark Tw...

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... continually. Right then we can see the effects of his

greed. In the aftermath though, Twain decides to show the severity of

an outcome of greed by causing the death of Pap. Death is always

caused by greed, whether it is death of the physical body or

moralistic part of the personality.

Mark Twain's pessimisms of society are portrayed through his beliefs

on hypocrisy, racism, and greed. After more in depth characterization

of Twain's beliefs on society, it is safe to assume that he believes

not in outward appearances or social standing, but that the true

person is inside the body, the soul makes up whether we are of high

class or low class. Twain was a man beyond his time in the fact that

he realized the true meaning of life and that one should not judge a

book by its cover. To truly understand a person, one must look to the

abstract ideas of their life.