Examples Of Satire In Huckleberry Finn

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“Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful.” (BrainyQuote). This quote by Molly Ivins properly describes those who use satire. Satire is used to indirectly criticize something through sarcasm and irony. The use of satire has been questioned for its effectiveness for centuries. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as author Mark Twain, grasped the concept of satire by the horns as he used satire in multiple books and stories. In many stories, Twain is portrayed as a fictional character, allowing him to express his views through the life of someone who is not real. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain effectively uses satire in the criticism of not only religion and slavery, but education as well, through comedic irony and sarcasm.
Education; …show more content…

More and more families continue to keep their children away from schools and stick to homeschooling. Approximately 1.7 million children are homeschooled today and that number has been on the rise. These parents refuse to send their children to school for a variety of reasons, but the largest reason is the fear of the school environment for their children. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Pap, Huckleberry (Huck) Finn’s dad, refuses to send his son to school because he did not get an education himself. Pap forces Huck to do this when he says, “You drop that school, you hear? I'll learn people to bring up a boy to put on airs over his own father and let on to be better'n what he is." (Twain 32). The fact that Huck is receiving an education over his father does not sit well with Pap because he is jealous. This is an