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Fenimore Cooper's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

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Fenimore Cooper's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn
In a scathing essay, “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses”, Mark Twain brutally attacked and mocked 19th century author Fenimore Cooper’s writing style and novels. Twain, a realist author, detested Cooper’s romantic novels and declared them guilty of violating 18 of the 19 rules governing literary art. While Cooper’s writing is guilty of the offenses detailed by Twain, Twain himself is not completely innocent either. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain commits three of the literary offenses that he had attributed to Cooper.
Mark Twain violates the second rule in his essay which states that “the episodes of a tale shall…help to develop it” (1433). Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck finds himself in various situations, most of which serve to further the plot, but there is one episode that contributes little to Huck’s journey. In “Chapter 17”, Huck finds himself at the home of the Grangerfords, a wealthy and sophisticated family. The Grangerfords allow Huck to live with them for as long as he likes. Huck marvels at the house’s finery and luxurious …show more content…
In the last chapter of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck decides that he “got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally said she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can’t stand it” (HF, 279). In comparison to Huck’s situation and mentality at the beginning of the novel, not much has changed by the end of it. Huck still retains his disdain for a civilized life and prefers the wilderness. Despite Huck now viewing Jim as a person rather than property, he makes no mention of Jim in his future plans. After his long journey, Huck reverts back to his original state, save for the death of his father and the thousands of dollars now in his possession. While Huck matures slightly throughout the course of the novel, Huck’s experiences do not have a profound effect on
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