Satire is defined as the use of irony, sarcasm, or exaggeration to expose and criticize human folly or vice. Mark Twain’s, Huckleberry Fin, is a novel that in order to be fully appreciated and understood must be seen as a work of satire. Twain uses satire in an attempt to both mock aspects of society as well as jeer at the American people. Why twain uses satire . Religious hypocrisy, a need for war and unnecessary fighting, cowardice of the average man.
One aspect of the novel in which Twain uses satire is the idea of family feuds. Mid-way through the novel, Huck meets young Buck Grangerford. Huck soon learns of an everlasting feud existing between the Grangerfords and the neighboring family, the Shepherdsons. Buck explains to Huck his fierce hatred for the Shepherdson family, but also that he truly doesn’t know why there is a feud or how it came to be. The reader finds out that the two feuding families essentially switch off killing members of the opposing family. As Huck experiences first hand a skirmish between Buck Grangerford and Harvey Shephardson, in which Buck tries to shoot Harvey, he asks Buck what Harvey had ever done. Buck responds with, “Him? He never done nothing to me(120).” Confused, Huck then asks what he wants to kill him for. Buck answers, “Why nothing- only it’s on account of the feud(120).” In this instance, Huck questions the logic behind such foolishness. He is young, but he understands that this feud has no point. He represents Twain’s own questioning of man’s preoccupation with brutality, and his illusion of false honor and chivalry. Taken at face value, the few Shepherdson-Grangerford scenes seem nothing more than a meaningless cameo on Twain’s part, however with closer inspection, we see the true motiv...
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...ing what big things you’re going to do(158).”
Sherburn scorns man for his inability to act bravely without the presence of a mob or the safety of anonymity. This scene is easy to disregard as simply another attack on the illusion of the Southern gentlemen. Sherburn is a respected Colonel who cold-bloodedly murders a harmless drunk. However, upon further exploration, we realize that Twain uses Sherburn’s pompous lecture on human nature to represent his own contempt with the state of mankind. He goes on to say, “A mob don’t fight with courage that’s born in them, but with the courage that’s borrowed from their mass, and from their officers(159).” Twain uses Sherbern’s speech to condemn the people of Bricksville, and to give voice to Huck’s disgust with their horrific behavior. While it’s difficult to applaud Sherburn for his brutal murder of Boggs, it is nevertheless
The use of violence used by Twain in his novel is when Huck and his friend, an escaped slave Jim, are separated from one another after a storm on the river. Huck survives the storm and swims to shore. He then finds the Grangerford’s household and stays with the family. Because of Huck’s positions he is stuck in the middle of a feud the Grangerfords have with an opposing family, the Shepherdsons. Huck time spent with the Grangerfords causes him to grow a close relationship with Buck but while fighting with the other family, Buck is shot right in front of Huck and dies in the river. "I ain't a-going to tell all that happened- it would make me sick again if I was to do that," (Twain 115). The violence portrayed in this scene is horrifying that
At one point, Huck’s father attempts to kill him in their home. “Bye-and-bye he rolled out and jumped up on his feet looking wild, and he see me and went for me, he chased me round and round the place with a clasp-knife, calling me the Angel of Death and saying he would kill me…” the reader by this point has developed their opinion of Huck, and must think to themselves, in what way twain has described the father. Twain has manipulated the father's language to show how the white father in the white dominated culture, is worse than anyone
The chapters dealing with the Grangerford and Sheperdson feud allow Twain to satire aspects of civilized culture. The main aspect he satirizes is the feud itself. The Grangerfords being the representatives of civilization, Twain reveals the senseless brutality and needless slaughter involved in their arbitrary concept of honor. For Twain, such a feud goes against his common sense and anything that violated his common sense was crazy. The feud has gone on so long hat the people don’t even know why they are fighting; yet, embedded in the feud are artificial concepts of civilized behavior. For Example, Mr. Grangerford tells Buck that he shouldn’t shoot from behind the bush but he should step out into the road to kill a Sheperdson. Also there is a sense of irony because why would such a civilized family be in a feud that they can’t remember the origin of. Another aspect of it is the Grangeford’s use of hypocrisy. The Grangerfords were “church goers” and in one sermon given by Mr. Grangerford he speaks of brotherly love, this while feuding with a family for a reason they don’t even remember.
During the first episode, the mob wants to lynch Sherburn for killing Boggs. Then, during the second episode, the crowd of the circus enjoys watching a man dangerously fail at riding a horse. In Huck’s perspective, he did not like experiencing both episodes because he disagreed with the amount of violence that is occurring. The mob represents humanity and its wrongness. Twain demonstrates how humanity follows what other people do and their weakness by not voicing their opinions. Instead of people walking against the crowd, humanity follows suit of everyone else even when they know what they are doing is injustice.
Huck witnesses the depravity of human nature when experiences the feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons. After Huck and Jim get split up on the Mississippi River, Huck spends some time living on the Grangerford’s estate. He befriends a Grangerford named Buck, and the two of them spend a lot of time together. Buck explains that the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons have been feuding for years, although no one quite remember why. Huck does not understand the point of a feud. Buck goes on and explains, “A feud is this way: A man has a quarrel with another man, and kills him; then that other man's brother kills him; then the other brothers, on both sides, goes for one another; then the cousins chip in -- and by and by everybody's killed off, and there ain't no more feud. But it's kind of slow, and takes a long time” (Twain 107). Huck cannot comprehend the point of a feud, especially since in this case Buck cannot pinpoint the cause of the feud. Later, Buck died from gunshots from the guns of the Shepherdsons. Huck is devastat...
The novel is set in the antebellum south, and throughout the course of Huck Finn we see Twain poke fun at the injustices of race relations by exploiting the importance and power of friendship. Twain develops a friendship between a White boy by the name of Huck, and a “runaway” Black slave named Jim. “Dah you goes, de ole true Huck: de on’y white genlman dat ever kep’ his promise to ole Jim.” (Twain Pg. 90) This quote satirizes the views of many White people in the Antebellum South. During this time period when many Blacks were enslaved, and those not enslaved were treated as slaves, it was extremely unusual for a Black person and a White person to be friends at all. It would be unheard of to see the two conspiring, and further - unthinkable that they may have a strong and lasting friendship built on trust and loyalty. Twain contrasts this racial standard by establishing and demonstrating the power and importance of friendship, no matter the color or social status of the persons involved. Huck and Jim defy civil law by becoming the best of friends, thereby letting morality nullify law to illustrate the fundamental moral injustices of race relations in the Antebellum South
	When Huck encounters the Grangerfords and Shepardsons he describes Colonel Grangerford as, " …a gentleman, you see. He was a gentleman all over; and so was his family"(Twain 86). On Sunday when Huck goes to church he sees the hypocriticalism of the families, "The men took their guns along, …The Shepardsons done the same. I t was pretty ornery preaching-all about brotherly love, and such-like…" (Twain 90).
Twain portrays the complete lack of moral fiber in the King and the Duke through their cons and deceit. On numerous accounts, the King and the Duke lie to others exclusively for self-serving and wicked motives. From the first meeting with the King and the Duke, Huck knows that, ?these liars warn?t no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds? (ch. 19), knowledge obtained via the utter disregard for others in the King and the Duke?s scams. Huck?s use of ?fraud? (ch. 19), for instance, highlights the duo?s use of fabricated personas to rob others of their possessions, acts of such low ...
As Huck journeys down the Mississippi river, Twain presents the hypocrisy and immorality of antebellum Southern society. Traveling from his abusive home, Huck encounters criminals, shipwrecks, and even murder before becoming stranded with the Grangerford family. The Grangerfords engage in a bloody feud with the rival Shepherdson family, both sides killing each other for no reason except the continuation of the feud (Twain 127). Although Huck encounters many groups throughout his journey, perhaps none so encapsulates Twain’s critique of society as the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons. Despite the fact that neither family really understands the origins of the feud, they continue to fight, hypocritically ignoring sermons of “brotherly love” heard in a church packed with a veritable armory of ammunition (Twain 129). Twain’s most scathing critique is evident in his cruel depiction of the feud’s body count; Huck experiences the death of Buck, a boy about his age, and the reader hears of the deaths of other Grangerfords, man...
No matter in the past or present, the world never lacks actors and their nauseating affectations can be seen everywhere in life. They are pretending to have all those perfect beliefs and feelings and acting like the greatest people ever while they are really not. Satire is used by Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to depict how all kinds of people say one thing and do another in America in early 1800s, demonstrating that Mark Twain wants readers to be aware of the hypocrisy and ignorance of American society.
Subsequently, Huck continues his journey down the river to another town where he suddenly finds himself staying with the Grangerfords. Huck soon befriends a boy named Buck who tells him all about the feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons. Both have been fighting for over 30 years but neither of them know exactly why they are battling each other. Buck explains, ??but they don?t know now what the row was about in the first place?(180). The tribal ware fare of the families is suppressed with religion.
The conflict between the Shepherdsons and Grangerfords had been going on so long when Huck Finn stumbled into the Grangerford 's home, that Buck Grangerford, who wishes to kill because of the feud, does not know which family started the conflict. Buck wishes to take the life of another human being without reason all because of a long past squabble between his and another person 's family. " 'Did you want to kill him, Buck? ' 'Well, I bet I did. ' 'What did he do to you? ' 'Him? He never done nothing to me. ' 'Well, then, what did you want to kill him for? ' 'Why nothing_ only it 's on account of the feud. '" (Twain Pg. 118). The uncaring way Buck speaks of this and the reasons for this conflict being forgotten come across as comical and shows the reader just how pointless a feud can be. The feud also proves itself to be deadly when Buck and much of his family is killed on account of
Throughout the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn there are numerous crimes. The violence of these crimes is described vividly by Huck, the narrator, which shows their impact upon him. By showing Huck's shock over these events, Twain is showing that there is no real justice in the South, except for the hollow and often inappropriate excess found attempts to obtain personal justice. During these scenes Huck's turmoil reflects what Twain wants the reader to feel. Ultimately, this novel is a sharp criticism of a Southern lifestyle where justice is unobtainable.
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.
Mark Twain establishes satire though logical appeal. He had concrete evidence throughout his writing. He demonstrates logical appeal, so the reader can be more engaged in his humorous advice. For example, as Mark Twain discussed on page 7 paragraph 5-6 “you want to be careful about lying; otherwise you are nearly sure to get caught,” (7). He included