ipl-logo

Examples Of Satire In Huckleberry Finn

902 Words4 Pages

Mark Twain uses Satire to highlight the problems and social issues in America before the Civil War. Throughout the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there are many characters and situations, that Mark Twain uses to expose the problems that are happening during this time period. These situations are illustrated when Mark Twain shows the Duke and the Dolphine wasting their time and talents by conning people. Huck's Pap drives home this example when he says that a person with dark skin should not be able to vote even though the black man has more education than Pap. And finally, Mark Twain shows that social class does not equal morality when you meet the Grangerfords and the Sheperdsons who have been feuding for years, over reasons that no one …show more content…

They provide many examples in their crazy and sad life. For example, they waste most of their life either planning how they will trick people out of their money, or carrying out ridicules and unthoughtful plans that they make throughout their time in the book. The irony or satire in this is that these are two men who are white and enjoy the freedom and privileges that come with being white. However, they choose to throw all of this away with their bad decisions and their corrupt dealings with the townspeople and families that they come in contact with. The Wilks' family money is the victim of one of the Duke and the Dolphins most horrible scams. The gang learns that a rich man died and his brothers are inheriting a large amount of money. They decide to pose as the two missing brothers in an attempt to steal the family's riches. One of the many quotes that shows the ignorance of these two scandalous characters is in ,chapter 25, it says, "Any man that pretended to be an Englishman, and couldn’t imitate the lingo, no better was a fraud and a liar". He also declares, in chapter 25 that, " Any man that declares he is him is the thinnest kind of an imposter."Although they proclaim this, it is the exact thing that both are practicing. The fact that these two are saying how bad and terrible these actions are while in fact doing them is exactly the definition of

Show More
Related
162 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More
715 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout Huckleberry Finn, the author Mark Twain showcases his beliefs about religion through satire and satirical properties. Mark Twain himself was a Christian, so his exposure of satire to religion wasn't out of disrespect. He satirizes throughout the book the fact that many people during the 1800’s did not practice what they preach. Instead, they were doing it for show. He also satirizes religion to show how hypocritical and absurd it could be.

Read More
847 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel, this is shown through the King and Duke’s actions. After stealing the six thousand dollars from the family of Peter Wilks, the Duke suggest, “That we glide out of this before three in the morning, and clip it down the river with what we got” (Twain 179), to which the King replies, “What! And not sell out the rest o’ the property?” (Twain 180). The Duke wants to leave with what they already stole, but the King gets greedy and decides to get more money by selling all of Peter Wilks property and slaves.

Read More
909 Words | 4 Pages

Satirical Essay of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn One of the many themes of satire in the classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the theme of slavery or racism. Mark Twain had a great eye for humor, especially the humor of satire. Focusing on the concept of slavery specifically, nearly the entire story is a single continuous satirical joke. Looking at the basics you could say Jim’s journey to the north is in a way satirical as a slave moving south so that he can get north.

Read More
989 Words | 4 Pages

Edilson Roy Mrs. Daniels English III Pre-AP 1 August 2016 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Interestingly enough, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” (book) was indeed an excellent novel to read. It had tons of satirical elements being used that came upon in my reading. For instance, the tone of the story caught me as humorous at first, there were plenty of parts where the characters exaggerated way too much that made me chuckle some bits. The king and duke, two criminals that Huck invited to his raft when they were escaping the law, were talking about a play.

Read More
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.

Read More
923 Words | 4 Pages

Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a satire of the American society and human nature. Written during a period where hypocrisy was prevalent, the novel mocks the slavery, superstition, judicial system, family feuds, racism, ignorance, and the cruelty displayed by a majority of Americans. Twain used many of the characters and situations in the novel to represent pieces of the society he thought were ironic, and he did so in a humorous and hyperbolic manner. One major conflict in the novel that Twain uses for satire is when Pap, Huckleberry's father, reappears after a long abandonment and is angry at Huck for going to school. Pap's character is exaggeratedly used to symbolize illiterate, dead-beat, racist, white, wandering drunkards.

Read More
738 Words | 3 Pages

"Satire also allows you to make fun of every different aspect. It allows you to make fun of both sides. It allows you to make fun of everything, really, so you can do it in a harmless way" (Neill Blomkamp). Satire is the use of irony, humor, or exaggeration by writers and is used to demonstrate the absurdity and corruption of an individual or society. Mark Twain notably uses satire to express his criticisms of American society in his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Read More
828 Words | 4 Pages

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses satire to provide commentary on various aspects of life in the South. He aims to expose human weakness, by criticizing the flaws of society. His use of satire is quite effective, as he successfully ridicules society in the South. In so doing, the author incites the reader to consider his or her own society and devise a method to transform it. Hence, Twain fully illuminates superstition and its profound impact on the characters in the novel.

Read More
740 Words | 3 Pages

Mia Carley Thomas Butler English 2 Honors 06 April 2023 Hypocrisy of Morality Following the rambunctious and free-spirited Huckleberry Finn, the reader follows Finn into the antebellum South exploring his own youth, morality of himself and those around him. Twain’s book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, acts as an extension of the questioning of the morality of the time, particularly the brutal institution governing the South in the 19th century involving the physical and psycological captivity of slaves. Exemplified by the satirical practices and ethics, Twain mocks the characters to highlight the sanctimony of their principles.

Read More
954 Words | 4 Pages

Satire Satire is often used to make comedy out of serious topics and make them easier to read. Twain used the same approach in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Satire is used by authors in order to believe a point that they are making about a certain topic. Neill Blomkamp stated, “Satire allows you to make fun of every different aspect.

Read More
705 Words | 3 Pages

Hypocricy and Blind Faith Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn took place in the eighteen hundreds when religion and reputation were dominant in peoples everyday lives. It was very rare for someone to believe something different than everyone else. In Twain 's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Tom Sawyer and Huck appear to be very different, but their actions, descriptions, and dialogue bring them together to symbolize society in order to show the blind conformity and hypocrisy that humans often display.

Read More
939 Words | 4 Pages

Mark Twain's Use of Satire in Huckleberry Finn Throughout his pieces of literature, the famous American author Mark Twain portrays his personal views of society using satire and irony in his stories. He makes fun of broken parts in the American society relentlessly and makes sure the readers understand how outrageous some acts were during the early-to-mid 1800s. Twain seems to target specific aspects in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn such as how young people could be conflicted between morality and legality, the loss of self-respect for money, and the effects of herd mentality. He has an interesting approach at giving the reader insight, but his main ideas for the theme shine through and are clearly depicted.

Read More
974 Words | 4 Pages

There are several examples of irony in both 1984 by George Orwell and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Orwell and Twain also utilize satire as 1984 is itself a satire on dystopias, while The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn satirizes the inhumanity of man. Together, the irony and satire enable the novels to illustrate an in-depth exploration of the construction of society’s norms and shedding light on the importance of thinking for one’s self. It is clear that the hero of 1984, Winston Smith, is upset with his life because he knows that Big Brother and The Party are full of lies.

Read More
191 Words | 1 Pages

Students often have to sparknote to fathom the difficult text assigned in their English classes; however, George Orwell’s novel 1984 protrudes fairly simple to understand. Orwell purposely utilizes his writing skills towards more simple and important diction– rather than complicated and unnecessary speech. He believes against the eloquent, masked writing and goes for a more modern, common speech. Orwell even wrote in his essay on the English language to never put a long word where a short one could fit and to never use a foreign text to intimidate the reader. For instance, Shakespeare’s play Hamlet contains sentences such as “'Tis bitter cold, And I am sick at heart.”

Read More

More about Examples Of Satire In Huckleberry Finn

Related Topics

Open Document