“Among many disparate attempts by scholars and critics to explicate The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, at least two interpretations have met with general acceptance: 1) the feud of the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons...represents a literally fatal flaw in the chivalric code of a decadent Southern aristocracy, and...Huck's desire to escape the strictures of civilization by seeking the relative freedom from social restraint represented by the river and the territories” (Hoy, 17). In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses a satirical approach to initially reveal the truths about the Grangerfords; however, these initial truths build to expose the aristocratic values of a southern family and how their views reformed Huck’s outlook on …show more content…
As Huck hides in the tree, he watches two boys jump into the river and as they swam down “the men run along the bank shooting at them and singing out, ‘Kill them, kill them’” (106). Twain juxtaposes the explicit and the cacophony of “kill them” with the light-hearted reaction of “singing” to reveal the dramatic irony of the situation. Afterwards, Huck recalls, “It made me so sick I most fell out of the tree. I ain’t agoing to tell all that happened--it would make me sick again if I was to do that” (106). Huck’s light tone shifts from admiration and awe to regret and anger in order to demonstrate the dark truths of society. He emphasizes this change through the repetition of “sick” which reveals how Huck’s character changed from the mindless violence. Although, Huck has difficulty recognizing the ugliness of the house, he shows no problem noticing the ugliness of the feud. Later after Huck finds Buck dead, he states, “I never went near the house” (107). This phrase not only suggests a shift in awareness towards the Grangerfords after he experiences them become ruthless killers, but also his further rejection of the kind of civilization the Grangerfords represent. He affirms this rejection by stating, “I...struck through the woods and made for the swamp” (107). The peace of the “woods” and the “swamp”, becomes more apparent to Huck after Twain reveals the acceptance of violence in society. Later, when Huck and Jim reunite, Huck claims “there warn’t no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t” (107). By Huck finally admitting to the cramping and smothering he felt at the Grangerfords, he implies that the freedom of the raft is more appealing to him. The passage also suggests an attitude of regret of ever coming to the Grangerford’s house. As a result, Huck is less
Anna Edgren Sophomore English Period 3 Mrs Burdette 28 April, 2017 Quote Journal #1 Revision Project Throughout the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the readers are able to see the protagonist Huck change his views on society and being able to distinguish right and wrong. The end of chapter fifteen reveals a great deal about Huck and Jim’s relationship. In the chapter, Huck and Jim are on the river on a raft trying to get to Cairo. During this journey, Huck and Jim get separated by the fog when Huck goes ahead to pull the raft.
This piece of text shows that Huck establishes issues with his mental health due to his father’s consistent beating, although he begins to enjoy the idea of being unaccompanied. The cabin is significant for the reason that it motivates him to run off, which was challenging. Huck decides he does not want to go back to The Widow’s house considering he doesn’t want to follow regulations
Summary: Through the voice of Huckleberry Finn, a deep criticism of racism and civilized society’s rules is narrated to the reader as Huck and Jim, escape from civilized society and set sail on a raft down the Mississippi river to slavery-free states. Both characters share a common goal: to be free of the rules that a civilized society places. Huck and Jim form an alternative family as they head down the river along with two white adult conmen they rescued, who commit many scams . These conmen are responsible for turning Jim into a local farmer
The Grangerfords and Pap are two of the characters who are utilized by Twain to denounce edified society. Twain utilizes parody to express his conviction that "acculturated" society is neither good, moral, nor civilized. Exaggeration, stereotyping, and incongruity are utilized all through the story to satirize and to uncover the Grangerfords as the run of the mill southern blue-bloods and pap as the regular plastered "white junk." After a ferryboat mischance, Huck appears to lose his slave partner Jim subsequent to coming shorewards. Huck then is acquainted with Buck Grangerford (about the same age as Huck) and is permitted to stay in the Grangerford family.
Twain’s mockery of religious hypocrisy, mob mentality, and racism reflect the ways that he was disappointed in the human race. Huck battles constantly with the disconnect between societal ideals and what he innately believes, the latter eventually triumphing. Twain conveys that an individual has to choose for themselves what to believe and how to act, rather than parrot concepts of right and wrong from religion or surrender one’s beliefs to a crowd. Ultimately, the novel questions the established hierarchy of race in civilization and encourages the readers to do the
Huck and Jim knew that the Duke and King were no good, but they did not want to ditch them at first because they were making them rich. On more than one occasion, Huck nearly compromised his personal values for what society deemed appropriate. For example, when Huck became overburdened by guilt because he was helping Jim escape, he almost turned Jim in even though he felt that it was wrong (161). After a moment of contemplation, Huck determines that his conscience would also make him feel just as bad if he went through with it because he had developed a friendship with Jim (162). Twain's depiction of Huck's constant, inner conflict between turning Jim in and helping him escape sheds light on how Huck's view of morality was changing.
(chapter 17). In this dialogue, Huck is beginning to show a more powerful conscience and sense of responsibility from his actions. Both passages demonstrate that he is beginning to understand the meaning of actions and their consequences. This process of growing continues for the rest of the novel, as seen when Huck, felt remorse about his position in the “dirty jobs”. For example, he felt uncomfortable when he was told to rob the Wilks girls of their inheritance: “I says to myself, this is another one that I’m letting him rob her of her money.
“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is a book of lies, both good and bad, told by our unreliable narrator Huck Finn. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is a book about a young man and a slave running away together on the Mississippi River and the resulting adventure. Huck Finn lying to everyone he meets before and during his journey is a large part of the plot, and people he meets along the journey take part in these lies. These lies were used by Mark Twain to criticize and mock the society of America in the 19th century. Because of the number of lies that are present in “Huckleberry Finn” and used as a satire to society, to fully comprehend the book is to see the deeper meaning behind Huck's lies as an expression of his unwillingness to
When the characters undertake these journeys, they anticipate thrilling experiences but instead have disappointing realizations. For instance, Huck expects the whole trip to be lazily floating down the river, smoking, fishing, and talking to Jim (Twain 130). However, this illusion is soon shattered. As they continue south, Huck encounters many different communities and types of people. Their behavior leads him to an unexpected conclusion about society: “Well, it made me sick to see it…human beings can be awful cruel to one another” (245).
At one point in Huck's journey with Jim, he meets and get himself involved in a community quite different from any he had previously experienced: the Grangerfords. Huck seems to enjoy life with this family despite he knew he did not know them. He gets to flirt a bit with Miss Sophia, play with Buck, and even has a personal slave assigned to him. However, the Grangerfords represent the most extreme form of moral belief by upholding strict standards of behavior that few people understand, even those who are directly involved. This strict moral belief eventually leads to chaos and suffering, and Huck is forced to leave.
Huck decides to act on his morals rather than be held captive by society; Huck believes that he has to act in the best interest of Jim and does not consider what society believes is acceptable behavior. By stating that he will “go to hell,” Huck reiterates what he promises Jim in the beginning- that he rather be a “low down abolitionist”; these statements combined supports his feelings to protect Jim from society. When Huck and Tom get back to the house, Huck states, “...it don’t make no difference whether you do right or wrong, a person’s conscience ain’t got no
Once the men leave, Huck admits, "I knowed very well I had done wrong, and I see it waren't no use for me to try to learn to do right” (pg69). Society’s norms make
Throughout the story, Mark Twain uses Huck to suggest that “natural life” is more desirable. The entire plot of this novel revolves around Huck and Jim floating down the Mississippi River on a raft and going on adventures each time they come to shore. However, as the story goes on, the reader realizes that when Huck and Jim get off the raft, they constantly meeting criminals and other bad people. Life on the raft is as peaceful as it gets, but when Huck is ashore, he meets slimy people, including the Duke and the King, some of the people involved in the feud, and Colonel Sherburn and Boggs. Huckleberry Finn and Jim also witness some extreme violence, including tarring, feathering, lynching, theft, murder, and quite simply, a lot of death.
This passage is where I think Huck truly lost all this innocence because once one witnesses a massive bloody murder, there is no going back to pretend nothing happened. It reminds of a soldier suffering from PTSD. The vague diction presents how lost Huck is, and how he is trying to repress those memories, which reflects the cruelty in human nature and how a child’s innocence and be crushed instantly because of the adults a community
Huck said: “I was ever so glad to see Jim. I warn 't lonesome now. ”(58) From this sentence, a sense of happiness and willingness instead of superiority to stay with Jim has been formed in Huck’s mind. Though Huck was accustomed to being alone before Jim came, in fact, he disliked the feeling of “lonesome”.