How Did Huckleberry Finn Influence Society

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is one of the most controversial novels that is taught in schools, making a major influence on American Literature with Twain’s use of satire and theories throughout the novel. Mark Twain’s real name is Samuel Clemens. His penname, Mark Twain came from Mississippi when he was on the river and others called out that name. Twain, who was born in Florida Missouri and wrote this book about his dream adventures growing up. His biggest dream was to become a steam boatmen. A summary about the book is a young boy running away from home because he has an abusive father. Two sisters, Miss Watson and an unnamed widow, takes Huck in and tries to teach him etiquette and tells him to read the Bible. The sisters want to adopt him but Huck wants to be free. Along the way he finds an escaped slave named Jim. The two go on adventures throughout the book always escaping from trouble. At the end Jim is freed when Miss Watson dies and Tom’s dad died so they both become free. (Mark Twain His Amazing Adventure. Pods. Haffner & Luisitana. 50 min. Videocassette A&E Biography, 1999)

It is the first instance of using literature to enlighten the masses about the evils of slavery. Although the book was written after slavery was abolished Twain still writes about it to prove how bad slavery was and how they were treated. Twain’s use of vernacular speech helps show American regionalism from that time. The dialogue is directly affected by the race of the speaker and where they came from. It is uncensored and raw from the dialect point of view. It represents how slves or African Americans were treated during this time period. In Huckleberry Finn it represents what wanting the true American Dream is like and how hard it is to achieve it. Jim and Hucks dream was to be free which is more civilized than civilization itself. ("Huckleberry Finn’s Impact on Modern American Literature " Page