The man’s dark complexion made him different. His back wore mangled scars from the burning of old bloody ropes, while his spirit was permanently disfigured by the white man’s harsh mistreatment. The cries of his wife and daughter seemed to be a scratched record that continued to play in his head. As the color of his skin was inevitable, the man slowly drowned in the monstrous ocean wave of slavery and inhumanity of the white man. In Mark Twain’s novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he incorporates several scenarios where the theme concept of man’s inhumanity to man is displayed. Twain develops this idea through Pap’s cruel acts towards Huck, the foolish feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons, and the Duke and King’s dishonesty …show more content…
with others. First, Twain portrayes Pap as an abusive man who acts in an unfatherly manner which is instigated by the jealous he feels towards his own son.
Huck’s uneducated father forces him through threats of violence, “I’ll give you something better-- I’ll give you a cowhide,” (29) to immediately renounce his schooling. His disapproval of Huck receiving an appropriate education demonstrates how heedless he is towards his son. Pap is outraged and jealous by the thought of his son being educated as he believes this will make Huck superior, “you think you're better’n your father” (28). Therefore, he is cruel to Huck. Afterward, Pap decides to kidnap Huck and keep him captive in a worn down windowless cabin. Huck claims that Pap “was gone for three days,” (35) leaving him without any food or water. Pap’s inhumanity towards Huck is the most impactful as a father should be loving of their …show more content…
son. Secondly, the feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons demonstrates how humans are willing to murder children in order to win a feud whose purpose has been forgotten throughout the years "what was the trouble about, Buck?--land?....I reckon maybe - I don't know...well, who done the shooting?--was it a Grangerford or a Shepherdson?...laws, how do I know? It was so long ago” (162). In this scene, Twain conveys the savagery of both families as they both commit such sinful actions from a young age without a reasonable justification. Thirdly, Twain emphasizes that the King and the Duke’s greed for money is the reason for their dishonesty and merciless actions towards others.
When the uncle of the Wilks girls dies, the King and the Duke decide to scam them by pretending to be related to their deceased uncle in order to receive his inheritance. The Duke and King’s uncompassionate scam towards the lonesome young girls “they hadn’t ever dreamed of seeing the family separated or sold away from the town,” (262) shows how cruel a man is willing to be in order to become wealthy. The author also develops this major concept through the Duke and King’s betrayal of Jim. These men view Jim as an object and decided to sell him despite how kind and loyal Jim has been to them. Their inability to value human life causes them to do inhuman things, “they could have the heart to serve Jim such a trick as that, and make him a stale again all his life, and amongst strangers, too, for forty dirty dollars”
(301). Ultimately, Pap’s jealousy causes him to acts cruelly towards his son, the Duke and the King’s greed leads them to become dishonest, and the families’ foolish feud leads them to kill innocent people in order to maintain their reputation. Twain deliberately includes these scenes to clearly express the theme concept of man’s inhumanity to man. Inhumanity has been done by man himself than any other of nature’s causes.
Huck Finn thinks about his father in an unusual way. Huck does not like his father, which makes sense because his father is a greedy drunk, however Huck still looks up to his father as a role model. Pap is not a good role model for Huck because of his history of abusing Huck and his random disappearances. When Pap tries to gain custody of his Huck, the judges side with him just because he is the father. This is shown when Huck says “The judge and the widow went to law to ge...
Huck’s situation is so extreme (the mental and physical abuse from Pap) that he cannot take it anymore. He does what he thinks is best; Huck listens to heart rather than his conscience. In order to get away from Pap, Huck organizes an elaborate plan to arrange his own death and run away – both denounced by society - from the prison cell (cabin) and Pap. Huck, for the first time in his life, had felt what it is like to be free: “The sky looks ever so deep when you lay down on your back in the moonshine; I never knowed it before” (Twain 46).
As they travel together, Huck learns more about Jim and realizes that the common stereotype of black people is wrong. He sees that there is no difference between Jim and any white man he knows except for skin color. Despite risking his life and overcoming many difficulties, Huck succeeds in freeing Jim. Focusing on racism, alcoholism, and mob mentality, Mark Twain uses his enthusiastic writing style to satirize these three traits throughout the novel. Although the book contains many words full of vivid disgust towards black slaves, it also shows that there is more to people than looks and race, emphasizing the importance of beliefs and character.
... His statement shows his selfish attitude and his depravity to rob orphan girls of their property without remorse. Also, the King and Duke committed the worst act of selfishness in the novel when they sold Jim back into slavery for forty dollars. Duke's comment on the selling of Jim, "Fact is, I reckon we'd come to consider him our [King and Duke's] nigger; yes, we did consider him so-goodness knows we had trouble enough for him"(Twain 275), shows that they will not help anyone without getting something in return, and that they did not view Jim as a person to respect. & nbsp;
Pap is Huck’s father, but Huck does not like him because he is abusive, a drunk, and does not treat huck good at all. Still he taught Huck so much in his life. One of the things he teaches Huck is how to borrow, “it warn’t no harm to borrow things if you was meaning to pay them back some time”. But of course he would never pay them back. Pap also teaches Huck that you don’t need to go to school, but Pap is just afraid that Huck will become smarter than him.
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Twain’s main characters depicted the societal issues of racism in the South. Huck Finn, a poor white boy, and Jim, an African American slave, both encounter situations that cause these characters inter turmoil because of the societal standards of the time. According to Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,
The subject this book revolves around slavery, and how white folks’ mindset on black people was popular at that time. Their mindset involved treating black people as inferior to them, and how to them, they were not even considered human but property. Twain also shows how sometimes a fourteen year old boy (Huck) was more morally correct towards treatment of black people than many adults of his time. Twain presents this in a humorous way with its serious points. The issue is obvious throughout the story and makes the reader wonder how even “good” characters treate...
Throughout his voyage down the Mississippi, Huck has various arguments with Jim, which force him to question the facts that he has been taught from a white society. These serve as metaphors addressing different beliefs that are disputed amongst the rivaling races. Huck and Jim quarrel about “King Sollermun” (Twain 266), who threatened to chop a baby in half. Jim debates that Solomon had so many children that he became incapable of valuing human life. Huck then defends what he believes to be “de wises’ man dat ever live’” (266) by explaining to Jim that he has “‘clean missed the point’” (267). Huck’s subsequent comments relate Jim’s conclusion about Solomon and his view of white treatment of blacks as infinitely replaceable bodies. Instead of bickering, Huck “went on talking about other kings, and let Solomon slide” (267).
The family feud between the Grangerford and Shepherdson families is an example of how fear and prejudice influence man’s unfair treatment of man. When Huckleberry Finn is separated to the
Before Huck sets out on his raft adventure, he is exposed to the values and morals of his poor, drunken father. Pap Finn instills a "Southern race prejudice" and leads Huck to believe "that he detests Abolitionists" (374). Huck comes into conflict with this philosophy as he journeys on the raft with Jim. He can not decide if he is wrong in helping Jim escape slavery or if the philosophy is wrong. The education of Huck also stirs some values from Pap. When Pap tells him that education is useless, Huck is confused because the Widow Douglas told him that education was important. As a result, Huck's values towards education are uncertain. Pap Finn, as a figure of the lower class, does his part to confuse the growing morals of his son.
Almost immediately we are introduced to the drunken, deranged man who is Huck?s father, Pap. Pap is an alcoholic who roams from place to place buying up booze and sleeping wherever he can. Huck has never viewed him as a real father figure because Pap has almost never been there for Huck, except when he is ?disciplining? him. Pap is uneducated and disapproves of Huck attending school. Pap tells Huck, "you're educated...You think your're better'n your father, now, don't you, because he can't?" (14) Huck puts up with Pap?s numerous beatings because he does not want to be the cause of any more controversies between himself and Pap. Huck explains, "If I never learnt nothing else out of pap, I learnt that the best way to get along with his kind of people is to let them have their own way" (95). Pap?s addiction to alcohol is how Twain views the affect that alcohol can have on a person. He believes that alcohol is a money waster, can affect the sanity of people, and how it can turn even decent men into complete scoundrels.
In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Pap is a horrible parent to Huck, and constantly berates him. When he hears about Huck's new 6000 dollar fortune, he comes back to town to get back his son and the money. He is furious when he finds that he cannot get the money, and he becomes even more enraged when he finds out that Huck is going to school and living a civilized life. He says to Huck
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is considered a classic novel from the realism period of American Literature that accurately depicts social conventions from pre-civil war times. Despite this reputation as a historical lens of life on the Mississippi River, elements of blatant racism overshadow the regionalist and realist depictions. Huck Finn does not promote racism because all derogatory or racist remarks are presented as a window to life during the 1850s, in a satirical context, or to show Mark Twain's moral views on racism. Huckleberry Finn accurately presents the mistreatment, abuse, and hatred that African Americans faced in pre-civil war times. Huck Finn portrays racism as a part of life and as a social normality accepted by most people.
...e end of the novel, Huck and the reader have come to understand that Jim is not someone’s property or an inferior man, but an equal. To say that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a racist novel is absurd, but there are always some hot-heads claiming that the novel is racist. These claims are not simply attempts to damage the image of a great novel, they come from people who are hurt by racism and don’t like seeing it in any context. However, they must realize that this novel and its author are not racist, and the purpose of the story is to prove black equality. It is vital for the reader to recognize these ideas as society’s and to recognize that Twain throughout the novel does encourage racist ideas, he disputes them. For this reason, and its profound moral implication, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be removed from the literary canon. [1056]
Ignorant, though intelligent in his own way; uncivilized by nature and habit; grubby, inadequately fed, yet still possessing a “heart of gold”; is the essence of a rebellious rapscallion and a lovable underdog, Huckleberry Finn. Throughout the story he wishes to run away from his homes and flee his lives. Both Pap and the widow (his guardians at the time), while diametrically opposed in nature, do not really listen to him, appreciate the intelligence he has, or respect his wishes. “The Widow Douglass, she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me…” (Twain 5). Throughout the beginning of the novel, the widow and Miss Watson attempt to reform him, and rather he behave as a miniature adult. Huck doubts their abilities and resists growing into a civilized member of society every chance he gets. From the other side of the spectrum, Pap does the exact opposite, but still without considering Huck’s feelings. As children or teenagers, it is safe to say that we have all had a rebellious streak and have experienced an oppressive authority figure, parental ...