Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Humor in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

There is often a misconception about books that are widely assigned in English courses; they are expected to be dry, humorless, full of serious contemplation, reflections of society, et cetera. Many great and oft-studied books, of course, fail to fit this stereotype, and among them is Mark Twain's classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Though this book has very serious contemplations and reflections of society, it is also highly humorous and, as the title leads the reader to hope on their initial approach, quite adventurous. It is, in fact, the blend of the serious and the humorous in this work that makes it such a widely-assigned piece of literature, and that marks it as a testament of it's authors tremendous skill and insight. By using humor to underscore the more serious scenes and elements of the book, Twain points out the all-too-human foibles that make up the tragedies -- and, in many views and situations, the comedies -- of human civilization.

The many examples of this are far too numerous to mention here; practically every scene of the novel is an example of this in some way. There are some noteworthy examples that bear mention, however. One of them is Emmeline Granger, which Twain uses to great effect in lampooning certain poetic styles popular in his day. In this way, the intellectual vanity that Emmeline must have emanated in life, and the ignorant admiration that both Buck and Huck feel, are made incredibly funny in the face of obviously bad verse and an utter lack of thinking. More importantly, though, Twain uses Emmeline Granger to make death a somewhat humorous occurrence, thus tempering a very serious and dark subject that is encountered in several ways, both real and symbolic, throughout the novel.

Another example of scenes -- and characters -- creating both a balance and a contrast between humor and seriousness comes from the Duke and the King. These two characters appear in many scenes of the novel, and their escapades and claims are a definite source of humor (and frustration) in the novel. One of the most poignant scenes in the book, however, is one Huck sees these two finally receive their comeuppance, as each has been tarred and feathered and is being run out of town on a rail. Huck reflects on the senseless cruelty that mankind is capable of, feeling sympathy for his two former companions though they had treated he and Jim abysmally and cheated everyone else they came across, too. The fact that many of the Duke and King's actions are humorous in addition to be dastardly serves to emphasize the cruelty that they experience at the hands of townspeople, who have nothing on their minds but revenge and punishment, and take great joy in it.