Twain's Controversial Novel 'The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn'
William Baird
English III AP/DC
Obas-7
21 March 2013
Research Paper Mark Twain 's controversial novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, satirizes the true nature of people by contrasting people 's beliefs against what they say they believe is morally right. In events such as Sherburn 's murder of Boggs, the town drunk, and the open conflict of the Shepherdsons and the Grangerfords, in which both families believe they should attend church service, but continue to kill each other in their age old conflict. Twain shows that 19th century American society was corrupt by hypocritical ways of how people truly were, despite what their appearance leads to them to seem like. Throughout Huck 's adventure down the Mississippi river, this young …show more content…
Throughout the novel Jim is portrayed and described, sadly, as one of the few good-willed-people who has good intentions in Huckleberry Finn. Although Jim is the most patient and caring of Huck in their adventures, he is suppressed and blamed for many of their misfortunes simply because of his background. Twain purposefully constructed Jim in such a way that his actions contrasted how society perceived him, proving that often times people are easily the opposite of how they appear. Twain conveys the fact that Jim has good intentions despite risks when he helps Tom after he 's been shot, even though he will undoubtedly be caught. The doctor even notes that "[Jim] was a better nuss or faithfuler, and yet he was risking his freedom to do it, and was all tired out, too"(Twain 285). Surprisingly, Twain also made it very apparent that Jim had a very kind heart for those around him when Jim pleads to Huck "[When I] went to sleep, my heart wuz mos ' broke bekase you wuz los ', en I didn 't k 'yer no ' mo ' what become er me en de raf"(Twain 85). Jim 's actions and even his speech create this image that Jim is not well set to be a part of American society, but that doesn 't change the fact that he is very human and has an excellent ethical standing in how he treats others. In addition Jim is a runaway slave, so the obvious metaphor to slavery is made, and it is important to note that Jim never resists any …show more content…
He insults the character of the hundred men gathered in front of him that want him hanged, and yet the crowd is so shaken that they cannot take any action. We see Twain 's other portrayal of a different type of hypocrisy, which escapes responsibility for their actions by attacking others. Such is the easiest way to throw off issues of Twain 's time, such as slavery or reconstruction. By persuading the masses to alter their mindset to fit your opinion, you can accomplish almost anything for good, but this usually never occurred. The largest part of this issue that Twain beautifully illustrated was "a mob [doesn 't] fight with courage that 's born in them, but with courage that 's borrowed from their masses… a mob without any man at the head of it is beneath pitifulness"(Twain 146). Such was how many people that Twain criticized were able to maintain their grip of power. They could appear very powerful despite being greatly outnumbered and outmanned. Politicians could incite their agendas, and men of the south could control large plantations without any consequence. On the other side of this viewpoint, this mass represents the sheepishness of the American people at the time. From slaves to simple folk living in the country, anyone was capable of blindly following and being deceived. People were simply inclined to follow one person 's ideas because it was
English III AP/DC
Obas-7
21 March 2013
Research Paper Mark Twain 's controversial novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, satirizes the true nature of people by contrasting people 's beliefs against what they say they believe is morally right. In events such as Sherburn 's murder of Boggs, the town drunk, and the open conflict of the Shepherdsons and the Grangerfords, in which both families believe they should attend church service, but continue to kill each other in their age old conflict. Twain shows that 19th century American society was corrupt by hypocritical ways of how people truly were, despite what their appearance leads to them to seem like. Throughout Huck 's adventure down the Mississippi river, this young …show more content…
Throughout the novel Jim is portrayed and described, sadly, as one of the few good-willed-people who has good intentions in Huckleberry Finn. Although Jim is the most patient and caring of Huck in their adventures, he is suppressed and blamed for many of their misfortunes simply because of his background. Twain purposefully constructed Jim in such a way that his actions contrasted how society perceived him, proving that often times people are easily the opposite of how they appear. Twain conveys the fact that Jim has good intentions despite risks when he helps Tom after he 's been shot, even though he will undoubtedly be caught. The doctor even notes that "[Jim] was a better nuss or faithfuler, and yet he was risking his freedom to do it, and was all tired out, too"(Twain 285). Surprisingly, Twain also made it very apparent that Jim had a very kind heart for those around him when Jim pleads to Huck "[When I] went to sleep, my heart wuz mos ' broke bekase you wuz los ', en I didn 't k 'yer no ' mo ' what become er me en de raf"(Twain 85). Jim 's actions and even his speech create this image that Jim is not well set to be a part of American society, but that doesn 't change the fact that he is very human and has an excellent ethical standing in how he treats others. In addition Jim is a runaway slave, so the obvious metaphor to slavery is made, and it is important to note that Jim never resists any …show more content…
He insults the character of the hundred men gathered in front of him that want him hanged, and yet the crowd is so shaken that they cannot take any action. We see Twain 's other portrayal of a different type of hypocrisy, which escapes responsibility for their actions by attacking others. Such is the easiest way to throw off issues of Twain 's time, such as slavery or reconstruction. By persuading the masses to alter their mindset to fit your opinion, you can accomplish almost anything for good, but this usually never occurred. The largest part of this issue that Twain beautifully illustrated was "a mob [doesn 't] fight with courage that 's born in them, but with courage that 's borrowed from their masses… a mob without any man at the head of it is beneath pitifulness"(Twain 146). Such was how many people that Twain criticized were able to maintain their grip of power. They could appear very powerful despite being greatly outnumbered and outmanned. Politicians could incite their agendas, and men of the south could control large plantations without any consequence. On the other side of this viewpoint, this mass represents the sheepishness of the American people at the time. From slaves to simple folk living in the country, anyone was capable of blindly following and being deceived. People were simply inclined to follow one person 's ideas because it was