Social Satire in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Social Satire in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Satire is a genre of literature in which things such as vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are ridiculed with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement. Although satire is usually comedic, it is usually used for constructive criticism. In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, satire is used to point out the faults and stupidity of America and its people during the 1840s and to ridicule them in a comedic way. ` In this story, Twain uses many examples to express social satire. One of these examples is religious. Religion is a big topic in Huckleberry Finn and Twain does a good job using satire to make the story funnier and also to criticize religious following during the 1840s. Two examples of religious satire in this story are the Grangerfords and Huck. The Grangerfords may seem like a pleasant and respectable family, who love God and attend church, but in actuality, live in a world of violence. The family has had a hardcore feud going on with the nearby Shepherdson family for about thirty years, killing off members of each family, one by one, until all are dead. The Grangerford family represents religious hypocrisy very clearly by attending church with their guns, placed between their knees, ready to shoot if needed. Afterwards, on their way home, the family talks about how they enjoyed the sermon (which happened to be about brotherly love) and about faith and good works. The next day, one of deadliest feuds occurred and many family members died. They may act like a religious family, but disrespect God by feuding, even in the house of God. Huck also plays a big role in the satire of religion. He does this by trying to be religious, but not understanding it at all. An example of this is in the first chapter when Huck sees Widow Douglas "grumble a little over the victuals, though there warn't really anything the matter with them." Here Huck doesn’t