Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" By Mark Twain
Renowned author, Mark Twain, was brought up in the then-slave state of Missouri. His writings reflect his exposure to the barbaric institution known as slavery, in his formative years. The novelist decided upon becoming a driver of a steamboat during one voyage to the city of New Orleans. Naturally, a large part of the author's writings is set on the Mississippi River. Much of Twain's life was spent journeying across the nation, and numerous books of his deal with his very own personal experiences and adventures. Twain's most popular novels are the 1876 publication "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and the 1885 work, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (a sequel to the former book, and counted as a work belonging to the "Great American Novel" genre) (ilson).
Summary of the Novel
Huckleberry Finn kicks off where its prequel ends. Huck and Tom each become owners of a…...
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Works Cited
Chidester, Cynthia Anne. "Drifting down the big still river": Huck and Jim's epic journey in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1996, Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. Iowa: Digital Repository, Accessed 12 August 2016http://lib.dr.iastate.edu .
Critical Literary Analysis
Both John H. Wallace and Allan B. Ballard present a literary argument for how Jim and other blacks are portrayed in Mark Twains Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. They particularly focus on the use of the term nigger in the novel and decry the fact that a novel with such language should be taught in schools where blacks might be made to feel uncomfortable by the language. Ballard recounts his own suffering as a student having to hear his classmates utter that word during readings of the book in class: he notes that in his class, some of the whites snickered, others giggled while he himself saw none of the merits of the work and could only later recall the sense of relief I felt when Iwould flip ahead a few pages and see that the word nigger would not be read that hour (8). Wallace likewise views the…...
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Works Cited
Ballard, Allan B. Op-ed letter. New York Times, 9 May 19: 8.Henry, Peaches. \\\\\\\"The struggle for tolerance: Race and censorship in Huckleberry Finn.\\\\\\\" Satire or Evasion?. Duke University Press, 1991. 25-48.Hentoff, Nat. \\\\\\\"Huck Finn and the Shortchanging of Black Kids,\\\\\\\" Village Voice 18 May19: 8.Lew, Ann. \\\\\\\"Teaching Huck Finn in a multiethnic classroom.\\\\\\\" English journal 82.7(1993): 16.Wallace, John H. The Case Against Huck Finn. Duke University Press, 1991.
Examining the difficult process that Huck has when he finally determines not to turn Jim in can be especially helpful in this. In addition, readers of this opinion can discuss the effects of Twain's own divergence from society when contemplating the ways in which his articulation of his nonstandard views into text affected society.
Thus, while two sides clearly exist in this debate -- one stating that Twain's novel advocates racism through the relationship between Huck and Jim and the other arguing that Twain actually condemns the ideology by using this relationship -- a compromise can be reached. Each side can still find Twain's novel valuable in a discussion of the effects of racism on society and the role literature plays in those effects. Thus, the need to ban this novel from the classroom is null and void when this type of compromise can be reached.
Regardless of the fact that…...
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Works Cited
Alonso, Alex. "Won't You Please Be My Nigga: Double Standards with a Taboo Word."
Furious that his son had learned how to read and write, Pap considers that Huck wants to prove that he is smarter than his father. As a result, Huck receives several beatings and is kidnapped by Pap.
During his stay on Jackson's island, Huck learns that Jim has a lot of knowledge from observing the nature and its laws, along with tons of superstitious beliefs: "Some young birds come along... Jim said it was a sign that it was going to rain... And Jim said you mustn't count the things you are going to cook for dinner, because it would bring bad luck" (Twain, Mark) Jim proves to be compassionate, loyal and a dedicated friend.
The fact that Jim pays great attention to Huck's safety does not go unrewarded. Huck gradually develops affection for Jim after he finds that the black man is actually intelligent and honest. These features make his…...
Jim O'Loughlin, "Off the Raft: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Jane Smiley's the All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton," Papers on Language & Literature 43.2 (2007), Questia, 2 Feb. 2009 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5021073638 .
Mr America; When Mark Twain Created Huckleberry Finn, He Gave the United States Its Own Identity," the Mail on Sunday (London, England) 19 Feb. 2006: 67, Questia, 2 Feb. 2009 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5013843592 .
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The orks Cited two sources in MLA format.
Reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
For all voracious readers who have an insatiable thirst for serious, entertaining, enthralling and mature reading, popular names like illiam Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Mark Twain are not only familiar but also all-time favorites of many. After The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain introduced another thought-provoking yet highly gripping sequel of the masterpiece titled The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, that is avidly taught in schools, remains on all library shelves and is a great and a fast-paced read to date. This analytical as well as an argumentative paper revolves around the following thesis statement:
The masterwork The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a humorous story addressing highly debatable issues and soon became an extremely controversial magnum opus. It is a scholarly piece of writing that paved way…...
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Works Cited
Twain M., The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: The Norton Anthology of American Literature Volume C. Page 219, Penguin USA (Paper) Publishers; ISBN: 0140390464
Huck Finn
In Mark Twain's Huckeberry Finn, the title character and escaped slave Jim bond together in their mutual quest for freedom. Neither knows where they are headed, but they do know where they have been and what they are running from. Both have endured a different type of slavery. Jim escapes from the actual legally sanctioned and racialized form of slavery; whereas Huck Finn is running from an abusive father who literally locks him up. Therefore, Huck Finn and his friend Jim are mirrors for each other as well as partners. It matters not that their backgrounds are different, and in spite of the overarching theme of race, the two friends bond psychologically in a mutually respectful and mutually protective relationship.
Huckleberry Finn and Jim go out of their ways to help one another while they are on the island, and after. There is no formal bond of loyalty between them;…...
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References
Arac, J. (1992). Nationalism, hypercanonization, and Huckleberry Finn. Boundary 2, 19(1).
Chadwick-Joshua, J. (1998). The Jim Dilemma: Reading Race in Huckleberry Finn. University Press of Mississippi.
Jehlen, M. (1995). From Banned in Concord: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and classic American literature. In The Cambridge Companion to Mark Twain, Forrest G. Robinson ed. (Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1995)
Robinson, F.G. (1988). The characterization of Jim in Huckleberry Finn. Nineteenth Century Literature 43(3): Dec 1988.
Huckleberry Finn and What Makes an American
What Makes Twain's Huckleberry Finn American?
"Those canonic ideals -- self-government, equal opportunity, freedom of speech and association, a belief in progress, were first proclaimed during the era of the evolution and the early republic and have developed more expansive meanings since then," these are the basic core ideals which make something truly American (Kazin & McCartin 1). The freedom to live as we want, say what we want, and govern ourselves -- these are what make us Americans in culture and ideology. In literature, these core elements are also often what define a book or character as truly American. Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn adheres to the very ideals of what it is to be an American, which is what makes the work and its author truly Americanized in style and content.
One of the most important ideals in the concept of Americanism is the idea…...
The real reason to go: Self-knowledge about Huckleberry and Jim's roles in their society. Huckleberry has always existed on the margins of society, because of his class. Even at the beginning of the novel he intuitively senses the falseness of piety and middle-class morality, embodied by the religious drawings of the bloodthirsty Grangerford's dead daughter. Unlike the civilized Miss Watson, Huck instinctively treats Jim like an equal, and his only qualms about allowing Jim to seek freedom come from socially learned ideas about race. Huck's boyhood idol Tom Sawyer behaves cruelly to Jim and Tom uses Jim at the end of the novel to play a childhood prank. Huckleberry learns that freedom is only possible on a raft, away from civilization. This is why, at the end of the novel, he vows to head for uncharted territories, and to never write again. Jim learns the true meaning of friendship as…...
The slave economics of the plantation system do as well: the economics of the South explain why being a personal slave of a woman like Miss Watson in a more genteel area of the country is not as 'bad' as being a plantation slave in the deep South. The prospect of being sold further down South is what makes Jim so fearful. The politics of a corrupt political system that empowers the policing of fugitive slaves, and a history that normalizes human bondage and makes Huck feel guilty for fleeing with Jim as 'theft' are all manifest in the novel.
These plot points also shows how social aspects of geography can develop character: were it not for the Mississippi, Huck's views about race would not be changed and challenged. Through fleeing with Jim, Huck learns that he is not stealing Jim, but that Jim has a right to be free.…...
sher, Emma, Huck Finn, they all have a mentor at some point in their lives. Huck is guided by Jim, who although described like a child who needs constant guidance (like all the slaves were thought to be in that time), is often sounding like the voice of reason. sher is helped to follow his love for art by his mother first, then the Rebbe steps in and brings him under the guidance of Jakob Kahn, an experienced and famous artist who will act as his final mentor.
The protagonists in all three novels are very strong willed, intelligent young people who are willing to sacrifice a lot for their personal freedom and for their right to remain true to themselves. They are prepared to go a long way to find their vocation or the meaning of their life. lthough acting in their own interested, they are also dedicated to…...
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Austen, J. Drabble, M (contributor). 1996. Emma. Signet Classic
Potok, C. 2003. My Name is Asher Lev. Anchor
Twain, M. 1994. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: unabridged. Courier Dover Publications
Huckleberry Finn's violent, alcoholic father, after Finn escapes from the Widow, is an extremely negative paternal force of socialization. Finn, rather than be integrated into society like Emma, must leave society and find his own values, rather than the hypocritical values imposed upon him by others. The most fundamental of these values are his friendship with Jim, an escaped Black slave, who is his truest friend in the novel. Jim follows Huckleberry Finn everywhere, and Finn saves his life on several occasions by lying. Huck feels guilty because he has been taught this is 'stealing' another person's property, because Jim is 'owned' but Huck's natural humanity tells him otherwise. Unlike Emma's natural, ungoverned impulses, which led her to play with the fates of others, Huck's natural inclinations are the best part of his character, unlike his friend Tom Sawyer who is more socialized in morals and books (the sort…...
The natural qualities of the Huck and Jim have played an important part in the evolution of their friendship. Jim's gullibility and love to gain his freedom had changed Huck's moral values and had turned him into becoming a responsible person. Until both found a friend in each other despite of their somehow opposite traits. According to Linda Fondrk, in her analysis of how the characters of the Huck and Jim evolved to friendship, indicates the following.
A their relationship evolves as Jim proves his worth and wisdom and Huck grows up spiritually and morally. Jim forces him to reckon with his humanity as an African-American and Huck responds by continually redefining and clarifying his values.
After the incident of Huck saving Jim from slave catchers, the two, going on in their adventure, started the bonding of their friendship. From one situation into another, Huck and Jim surpasses each trial hand in…...
Leo Marx Critic on Huckleberry Finn
Author's ideas: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has a controversial ending, which, as stated in Professor Leo Marx's 1995 analysis, resulted from: the enforced happy ending, the author's basic betrayal of Huck's companion Jim (Twain, 1994), and the return of the tale to the original mood, reflected at the novel's start (roussard, 2011).
Leo Marx states that Huckleberry becomes a powerless, naive and subservient accomplice of Tom the robber (Marx, 1995, p. 296), akin to the eager boy, prepared to become a part of Tom's gang of thieves at the novel's outset.
I concur with Twain's view, since Tom's wild scheme holds no significance after the revelation that, all this time, Jim was a liberated man. Further, Huck discovers his father is deceased, and hence, is freed, as well. Ultimately, Twain (1994) ties up loose ends, providing writers with a seemingly happy ending, which, however, has a…...
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Bibliography
Broussard, R. (2011). The Controversy Over the Ending. NSHSS, 2-7.
Eliot, T. S. (1995). The Boy and the River: Without Beginning or End." Mark Twain Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Case Study in Critical Controversy. Ed. Gerald Graff and James Phelan. Boston: St. Martin's, 286-290. Print
Fishkin, S. F. (2006) Race and the Politics of Memory: Mark Twain and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Journal of American Studies, 40.02: 283-309. Print
Marx, L. (1995). "Mr. Eliot, Mr. Trilling, and Huckleberry Finn." Mark Twain Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Case Study in Critical Controversy. Ed. Gerald Graff and James Phelan. Boston: St. Martin's, 290-305. Print.
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…...
Rather than allowing the scene to solidify a stereotype, the author of this book proposes that readers should, assuming they are understand the true voice of the novel Huck Finn, allow the scene to alter the stereotype of Jim as a servant to the Caucasian man. Readers should, according to the author, instead see that Jim, as a free man, acts no differently not because he is bound to the Caucasian man, but because he is a noble character. This argument would greatly enhance the point of a paper whose main theme was that Hick Finn was more about freedom and dignity than about race relations.
Davis, Thadious, M., Leonard, James, S., and Tenney, Thomas, a. "Introduction: The Controversy over Huckleberry Finn." Satire or Evasion?: Black Perspectives on Huckleberry Finn. Durham, N.C: Duke University Press, 1992: 1-13.
This chapter discusses many important arguments both for and against the novel the Adventures…...
That sounds like an interesting essay, because Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is so-often held up as the prime example of satire. Would be a fascinating read, especially if you are arguing that “Huck Finn” offers a more effective use of satire. Here are a few ideas for essay titles.
Eat the Poor: The Satirical Approach to Class in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “A Modest Proposal”
Less than Human: Race, Class, and Satire
Hypocrisy and Piosity: How Swift and Twain Use Satire to Explore Religion
The Impact of Realism on Satire
Is Subtle Satire or Overt Satire More Effective? An Examination....
1. In the realm of literature, the allure of the forbidden has long captivated readers and inspired writers
2."Banned Books Week" serves as a poignant reminder of the enduring power of literature to provoke, challenge, and ignite change
3. Throughout history, controversial literature has ignited fierce debates and challenged societal norms, leaving an indelible mark on our collective consciousness
4. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain, remains a poignant example of how banned books can stimulate critical thinking
5. In a world where censorship casts its shadow, banned books offer a beacon of....
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