Examples Of Humanity In Huckleberry Finn

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Recommended: Literary analysis of the adventures of huckleberry finn

Humanity Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is commonly taught to high school juniors as a classic. Although the book is notorious for its racial slurs, stereotypes, etc., Twain manages to use harsh, truthful topics from American history to exploit the true meaning of humanity. Therefore, I believe that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should remain as part of the curriculum taught to high school juniors. In the novel Twain allows for Huck’s morality to change multiple times. When Huck and Jim are on their way down the Mississippi River they come to a town called Cairo. Jim is feverish with the excitement of being so close to freedom, whereas Huck is feverish because he recognizes that he is helping Jim, a runaway …show more content…

The two are obviously being chased so Huck decides to help them lose the dogs that are after them. The men then join Huck and Jim on their adventures. The two men tell Huck and Jim that they are a King and a Duke from a small town, Huck realizes that they are simply con men but decides to go along with their story to keep the peace. One day they stumble upon a desolate town, where they find a preaching going on under some shacks with a crowd of people surrounding. The King and the Duke spot the opportunity to make some money. The King lies to the crowd trying to show the hardships of being a pirate in the Indian Ocean. He goes on and on about how he has gone through horrible things and now has no money to continue his journey. When the King finishes his story the crowd is emotional and wants to help this pirate by giving him money. They shout, “Take up a collection for him, take up a collection” (132). Twain uses evangelism, the zealous preaching of a gospel in order to collect money, chicanery, the deception of trickery, and sentimentality, the displaying of excessive emotion, in this scene to show that the crowd is thinking in the moment and makes a poor decision that would not normally be made with a little extra caution and or thought. Twain uses satire in the book to get across the point trying to be made that all humans no matter what …show more content…

Racism is a substantial part of this book and although it was normal for people to be racist in this time period it is unacceptable now. The “n-word” is used frequently in the book and the literal meaning of the word is a term used for a member of any dark-skinned race. Although this term is derogatory now it was normal for an African American to be called the “n-word” during the time of the book. I do believe that the “n-word” when used by an authoritative adult, such as a teacher, children can be offended and it could affect the way some view their teacher and of course the book entirely. This being said I do not believe that the whole book should not be taught over this racist

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