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The adventures of huckleberry finn literary analysis
Analysis of adventures of huckleberry finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn analysis
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Mark Twain set a new standard for American literature when he wrote the novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Mark Twain was a prolific writer during the late 1800’s and has been described as the “Father of American literature”. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is arguably one of the greatest American works of literature written and after two centuries it is still read throughout the world. This novel is about a young boy named Huckleberry Finn and the different adventure that he goes on with a runaway slave named Jim. Together they learn that society is flawed in all of its rules and they should be free from oppression by running away and living away from society. Over the course of the story Huck experiences many of the social problems that occurred during that time period and it was way of Mark Twain voicing his opinion on it. One of the social issues that was presented was the role of the father figure within a child’s life. Huck mother’s was nonexistent in the book, so he was always with his father. His Father, Pap, was a serious alcoholic and would often beat on Huck when he was drunk. This lead to feelings of
During this period of time the family structure was different from what it is today. During this time period the father were characterized as the head of the house and a strict authority figure. Father during this time were, “described as distant, morally instructive, and condescending, as too much affection was believed to lead to parental indulgence, ruining the character of children.” Morever it was the fathers’ job to prepare the children instead of being an active member of their lives. Twain captured much of this theme of parenting in Huckleberry Finn, but he also put his own twist on how Pap’s behavior. Ultimately, because of Pap, Huck saw the world in a different light than other characters in the story, such as
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).
Alcoholism is another human weakness that Twain satirizes in his novel, constantly accentuating the drunk and violent behavior of Huck's father in a negative manner. For example, Pap says, "I was just about to go and vote myself if I warn't too drunk to get there," (Twain 27) with a racist remark, implying that he will never vote anyway just because the government let one very intelligent black professor vote.
Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the greatest American novels ever written. The story is about Huck, a young boy who is coming of age and is escaping from his drunken father. Along the way he stumbles across Miss Watson's slave, Jim, who has run away because he overhead that he would be sold. Throughout the story, Huck is faced with the moral dilemma of whether or not to turn Jim in. Mark Twain has purposely placed these two polar opposites together in order to make a satire of the society's institution of slavery. Along the journey, Twain implies his values through Huck on slavery, the two-facedness of society, and represents ideas with the Mississippi River.
Huckleberry Finn: A Father Figure &nb Mark Twain, the author of Huckleberry Finn, has written a story that all will enjoy. Huck is a young boy with not much love in his life, his mother died when he was very young, and he had drunk for a father. Huck lives with the widow and she tried to raise him right. While at the widow's, Huck went to school and learned to read and write. The widow also tried to civilize him.
Mark Twain uses characters that are very similar to him as a person. Huck's father, Pap, is a person like Twain. Pap is a drunken man that is very temperamental. He tells Huck of all the things that Pap feels is nonsense. Pap is always trying to be a powerful figure in Huck's life. Mark Twain probably uses Pap in the book to show readers that he is the same type of person. Twain uses this book to show that he is racist person, and used Pap to show that he is a power thirsty person as well.
Mark Twain, in his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn describes two different “Jims:” one being Huckleberry Finn’s biological father, and the other the slave of Miss Watson. Each of the characters are developed throughout the context of the story leading the audience to determine which Jim serves as a better father figure to Huck. Through Twains narrative, Jim Finn or “Pap” becomes infamous for his abusiveness toward Huck. Jim the slave serves as Pap’s antithesis throughout the story however; he is a benevolent man and helps Huck change his morals that have been instilled in him by Pap. It is the compassionate man, Miss Watson’s slave, who obtains the qualities that allow him to be considered Huck’s “true father” over Pap.
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.
Huck embarks on his journey within the novel due to innocently feeling a need to be liberated from his situation. At the beginning of the novel, Huck has the naive view of not wanting to be “sivilize[d]” (1). As Huck is raised by Widow Douglass and Miss Watson, he eventually is told “why
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
A “true father” can be described as one who displays paternal qualities, substituting an individual’s real, less nurturing father. This figure can be anyone that spends a lot of time with a younger individual, becoming a role model for him or her. In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain presents many leading figures that impact Huck’s life, including Pap, the Duke, the Dauphin, and Jim. Most of them serve as negative influences on Huck, taking advantage of him for their own selfish purposes. However, some of these figures teach Huck principles and morals to live by, and impart important values needed to make proper decisions. Jim, an African American slave, is one of Huck’s role models, allowing the reader can easily identify Jim as a father figure. He provides like a real father for Huck, caring for him, as well as listening to his ideas and teaching him, proving that Jim is Huck’s “true father.”
Studying the novel points out moral issues of the 19th century that cannot be overlooked. This was a time that society created this hypocritical concept of morality that was clearly evident throughout the The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as Huck is influenced by different factors including his caretakers, Jim, Tom, the duke and the dauphin and even the raft one could add. By attempting to uncover the realities and better meanings of the world, Huck molds his own values and morals, but at the same time he creates an identity for himself that is not based on the ideas of those around him.
In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain a young boy by the name of Huckleberry Finn learns what life is like growing up in Missouri. The story follows young Huckleberry as he floats down the Mississippi River on his raft. On his journey he is accompanied by his friend Jim, a runaway slave. Throughout this novel Huckleberry Finn is influenced by a number of people he meets along the way. Huckleberry Finn was brought up in an interesting household. His father was rarely ever home and if he was, he was drunk, his mother had passed away so Huck had no one to really look out for him or take care of him. Huckleberry had the life that many teenagers dream of, no parents to watch you or tell you what to do, but when Huckleberry finds himself in the care of Widow Douglas and Miss Watson things start to drastically change. Widow Douglas and Miss Watson are two relatively old women and think that raising a child means turning him into an adult. In order for Huckleberry to become a young man, he was required to attend school, religion was forced upon him, and a behavior that was highly unlike Huck became what was expected of him by the older ladies. Not to long after moving in, Huckleberry ran away. When he finally came home he respected the ladies wishes and did what they wanted, but was never happy with it. When Tom Sawyer enters the picture, he is the immediate apple of Huckleberry's eye. Huckleberry sees Tom as the person that he used to be and was envious of Tom's life. Huckleberry saw freedom and adventure in this young man and soon became very close friends with him. Huck then joins Tom's little "group" to feel that sense of belonging and adventure that he misses out on due to living with the two older ladies. Soon enough Huck realizes that all of Tom's stories are a little exagerated and that his promises of adventure really are not that adventurous. Tom gives Huckleberry a false sense of excitement and eventually Huck leaves Tom's gang. Later on Huckleberry 's father, Pap, enters the story and tries to change everything about Huckleberry that the two women have taught him.
The above analyzes Huckleberry Finn as a person, as a moral example, and as a revolutionary. Huckleberry (without even knowing it) led an attack on slavery and moral injustice. Mark Twain’s satirical genius allowed him to produce The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This novel addresses many problems such as social injustice, race relations, and relation to society. Consequently Huckleberry Finn is still an extremely important work of literature today and will remain as such far into the future.