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Discuss The Use Of Satire In Huckleberry Finn

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Throughout the book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Ray Bradbury uses satire to make the book more interesting and less of a series novel. One of the main examples he uses of satire is the use of religion. It could be considered one of the themes is the book illustrating the use of religion and how some people take religion in a light was, while others take it in a very serious way. Throughout the essay this idea will be shown by textual evidence and an outside source. Right from the start of the book it can be seen religion is trying to be forced on Huck. Widow Douglas and Miss Watson are the two women who Huck is adopted by. They are both very religious, this can be seen by their conversations they have with Huck about how he should act. “Here she was a-bothering about Moses, which was no kin to her, and no use to anybody…yet finding a power of fault with me for doing a thing that had some good in it” (2). This demonstrates the idea that Mrs. Watson used the bible to guide her everyday life and the way she should be living.
Another quote from chapter one says, “…they fetched the niggers in and had prayers, and then everybody was off to bed”(3). This shows that even though the African …show more content…

Such as war, when they believe that the Jesus or God wanted the war to happen. This could be backed up by the idea that the wars in the middle east are to bring God back to the earth. This would suggest that God is using things he doesn’t want to happen to bring himself back to the Earth. "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you He will not fail you or forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6 is where that verse comes from. This is saying that God will not let you fight the battle alone or forsake you. Therefore, if he was trying to break the nations apart through war he would be going against his own

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Twain extends his satire to the moment surrounding the funeral service of Peter Wilks. The dark humor of the funeral scene is obvious with the actions of the undertaker and the interruption of the dog catching rat. When the service is interrupted by the noise of the dog, the undertaker tells the people at the funeral that "He had a rat!" Huck's says "there warn't no more popular man in town than what that undertaker was" which is another example of satire directed at the subject of death. The scene in which Mary Jane is saddened by the unfortunate situation of the slave family, forces Huck to act based on both his instincts and his conscience.

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Quotation Analysis “‘Tain’t no sin-white folks has done it! It ain't no sin, glory to goodness it ain't no sin! Dey’s done it-yes, en dey was de biggest quality in de whole billin’, too-kings!’” (Twain 15). Analysis of Language: Twain’s diction and use of dialect is able to portray Roxy’s feelings.

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847 Words | 4 Pages

Before the Civil War, slavery was a very popular practice in the southern United States. Though not many people actually had slaves, most southerners defended it because one day owning a slave was the “American Dream.” In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses satire to reveal the greed, religious hypocrisy, and gullibility among the pre-Civil War south. Twain uses satire to demonstrate how greed can leave a person with less than what they began with.

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2304 Words | 10 Pages

This becomes clear when Huck struggles to pray after being conflicted as to whether or not he should call upon Miss Watson to free Jim from the Duke and King, which he believed would risk Jim’s life. Originally, Huck acted as if Jim wasn’t a runaway slave and prayed for his friend to be saved. Eventually, he realized that he had to honest with God, and that “You can’t pray a lie” (Twain 213). Huckleberry discerns through the use of his conscience that he has to be open with the deity from whom he seeks help. Huck has now been honest with himself and accepted his morality, as well as religion, which he had never wholeheartedly embraced.

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1456 Words | 6 Pages

With the lessons or morals that Miss Watson was instilling amongst Huck, the reader may infer that she is a religious woman, maybe more specifically a Christian woman, since she was referring to Hell and Heaven while talking to Huck. However, though I am not Christian, I can infer that the religion is against the owning of another human being promotes peace and equality. If this is true, then what gives her the right to have slaves of her own. (80 words) Tom Sawyer was a boy that Huck almost seemed to look up to and admire even though Tom had a rebellious imagination. The reader learned that Tom “was a boy that was respectable, and well brung up…; he was bright and not leather-headed; and knowing and not ignorant” (Twain 212).

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God Gives Us Free Will Jonathan Edwards preaches that if people follow God and obey him they will experience his great mercy. “Sinners in The Hands of an Angry God,” he explains this concept in his sermon. Most people back in 1741 and to this day would be persuaded by his sermon about the Lord because of how passionately and strongly he spoke about his beliefs’. In this sermon Edwards refers to Gods everlasting wrath. He describes Gods anger towards those who do not follow and believe in Him.

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Throughout the book, there are many allusions and biblical references for Twain not to believe. In the first chapter, it talks about Miss Watson teaching Huck about Moses. Miss Watson also makes Huck do a bible study. She just wanted him to be the best christian he could be. Twain may be using Huck and Miss Watson’s different spiritual beliefs to compare and contrast the way he believed, as a child and how he believed when he got older.

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544 Words | 3 Pages

Mark Twain uses satire to portray different issues that were going on during the time period. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, author Mark Twain uses Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer to represent romanticism and realism. Doing so formed the characters into two drastically different persons. Mark Twain uses satirical elements to contrast the two main characters in their personalities and views. Tom Sawyer is a child who is blinded with fictional literature and the worlds view on slaves.

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828 Words | 4 Pages

He is not interested in religion that is practiced in a church, but believes in things that he fears or doesn’t understand. “Pretty soon a spider went crawling up my shoulder, and I flipped it off and it lit in the candle; and before I could budge it was all shriveled up. I didn’t need anybody to tell me that that was an awful bad sign and would fetch me some bad luck, so I was scared and most shook the clothes off of me. Huck was more scared of the spider incident then he was of Mrs Watson telling him that he was going to hell. To him the spider conveyed bad luck and he had had enough of that.

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705 Words | 3 Pages

Through Huck’s fluctuating beliefs he shows how often humanity exhibits hypocrisy without even realizing it. When Miss Watson had taken Huck in she had wanted him to become more respectable, she wanted to make sure he knew what was right and

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589 Words | 3 Pages

The religion viewpoint in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is very overlooked, it may not be emphasized as many times as the Huck’s superstitions but it plays a huge part and can really make you look at the story in a whole different perspective. You can really relate to what Huck feels in the beginning of the story, as Widow Douglas tries her best to lead Huck to church and have faith in God. Huck gives a very good impression of how kids today act, for example, today kids are more infatuated with things that only appeal to them, instead of religion or things that are being passed down to them over time. One quote in the book that really stands out is in the first chapter in paragraph four saying, After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers, and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by and by she let

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457 Words | 2 Pages

However, Huck is not told the true reasoning in why he should. As Huck becomes more perplexed, widow Douglas clarifies Miss Watson’s statement in which he would receive anything he prayed for in an alternative way. Widow Douglas responds that one only receives “spiritual gifts” (30) when practicing prayer. This presents the juxtaposing views between Miss Watson and the widow, illustrating how religion is dependent on interpretation, rather than it being absolute. Yet, the practical Huck, believes “spiritual gifts” (30) and acting selflessly is not beneficial to himself, perceiving that constantly being vigilant for others makes one bound to society's customs, thus, sacrificing one’s freedom.

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704 Words | 3 Pages

Often times when Mark Twain talks about Sunday school or church in generals in the book Tom Sawyer he uses satire to explain some things in the book. When we hear about Sunday school or church we are often made to think of it as a funny or joking situation. We are told about a typical Sunday morning that begins with Sunday school. To get ready tom decides to go to Sid to “get his verses”. Sid had memorized his lesson days before tom who decides to get a “vague general idea of his lesson, but no more, for his mind was traversing the whole field of human thought and his hands were busy with distracting recreations.”

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462 Words | 2 Pages

Early on in the novel, Twain makes a mockery of how impractical religion is. Expressed through the eyes of Huckleberry Finn, Huckleberry Finn defiantly disagrees with Miss Watson and Widow Douglas about the concepts of religion. He actively scoffs at Widow Douglas’ devotion to God for “she got out her book and learned [Huck] about Moses … but by-and-by she let out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time; so then [Huck] didn’t care no more about him; because [Huck] don’t take no stock in dead people” (2). Huck Finn’s pragmatism takes Widow Douglas’ pious teachings and throws them out the window. In fact, he completely disregards and does not even consider the potential benefits of what

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744 Words | 3 Pages

There is nobody that has authority over Huck’s beliefs or actions other than his own conscience and morals when he is traveling with Jim. Superstition acts as a self-serving belief for Huck because he can make it conform to whatever his opinions are. Religion does not approve of Huck supporting and aiding Jim in being a runaway slave, but there is nothing in his use of superstition as a system of beliefs that can tell him that this is wrong. His morals lead him to help Jim, and he has the freedom and the power to make this decision for himself without the burden of religion or society looking down on him. Both of these things act as a buffer between Huck and doing what he believes to be moral since they have conditioned him to think a certain way.

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