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How Does Mark Twain Use Gullibility In Huck Finn

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Post-Civil War was a time where racial tensions ran high throughout America. After the war many slaves were released into freedom, however Southern legislatures passed a series of “Black Codes” in order control the newly freed Americans. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the author describes the life of a young boy and his friend Jim as they travel down the Mississippi River in hopes of reaching Ohio. Throughout the novel, Mark Twain uses gullibility to represent a dysfunctional society. The author uses the Royal Nonesuch, The Circus, and Tom Sawyer’s robber game to show the gullibility present in American people.
The author’s use of gullibility develops a larger point to his audience about the nature of society …show more content…

As a lead in to the main act in their play the King disappoints the audience after building the excitement, “…and at last when he’d got everybody’s expectations up high enough, he rolled up the curtain, and the next minute the king come prancing out on all fours, naked.” (178). The King had to do very little in order to lure the crowd in enough so that they would become excited for a show that turned out to be a complete scam. During the second night of the King and the Duke’s Royal Nonesuch performance, Huck describes the crowd, he claims that the house was packed and everyone had put in a good word about the show earlier that day (178). This reveals societies’ gullibility in the situation by representing how it is someone’s impulsive nature to place their trust into anyone who comes across as accredited by a few members of their community. After the audience found out that they were being cheated of their money, they decided they didn’t want to look like fools in the town so instead convinced everyone else it was a great show (178). The King, Duke, and Huck had just arrived in town ready to put on a spontaneous show yet no one questioned or found it suspicious. The overall influence that the Royal Nonesuch had on society’s gullibility shows Twain’s attempt to make a larger point to his reader about the nature of

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Quotes Paraphrase or summary Rhetorical strategies Effect/Function "So the King went all through the crow with his hat, swabbing his yes, and blessing the people and praising them and thanking them for being so good to the poor pirates away off there?" In chapter 20, Huck and the King goes to a camp meeting full of thousands of people gathered singing hymn and listening to sermons. The crowd goes wild after the preacher starts preaching, soon enough, the king joins the crowd and uses as his advantage to con them. The king starts conning the crowd claiming that he is a reformed pirate who needs money to travel and convert other pirates to Christianity. This is where he pretends to cry and collects money from the people.

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This ends up being a bad decision on the King’s part because soon after the real brothers show up and the King and Duke must leave without any money, not even the already stolen six thousand. Twain uses the King’s greed to represent the southerners who did not want to give up slavery because they would lose money from it. In the end, slaves were freed and hundreds of plantations and southern properties were destroyed during the Civil War. One critic even wrote, “ Huck has to keep moving,

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an American classic, it was the starting point for all great American Literature. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been awarded all of these honorable titles because of its abnormal and controversial plot line. During the time period when the book was written, it was unacceptable to view African- American’s as anything other than slaves. They were viewed as inferior to whites and were treated like property, they had no rights. The main character of the book, Huck, disagrees and disobeys these norms and pushes the boundaries of society when he becomes friends with a slave from his childhood; Jim.

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Summary: Through the voice of Huckleberry Finn, a deep criticism of racism and civilized society’s rules is narrated to the reader as Huck and Jim, escape from civilized society and set sail on a raft down the Mississippi river to slavery-free states. Both characters share a common goal: to be free of the rules that a civilized society places. Huck and Jim form an alternative family as they head down the river along with two white adult conmen they rescued, who commit many scams . These conmen are responsible for turning Jim into a local farmer

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The folktale, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, written by Mark Twain, is about a self-centered man named Smiley who was finally tricked out of his money after winning multiple bets. Twain presented tone in a cocky and arrogant manner, helping us better understand the personality and logic of Smiley. The arrogance displayed in the tone implied that Smiley was stubborn and had an excessive amount of confidence in his actions and intuition. He spoke as if there was no need for anyones opinion and as if he could care less about the input of others. The way he incorporates the word “Anyways” into his speech provides the reader with an understanding that he disregards everything that individuals say.

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It goes without saying that Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the best written novels of all time. The novel is about a young boy named Huckleberry Finn who runs away from his father a few days after his father regained custody from the Widow. Throughout his peregrination down the Mississippi River, Huck encounters many people who hoax others. As described in the examples cited, it is clear to say the theme of deception is often exhibited throughout this novel.

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Huck sees the Grangerfords as rich people, but in reality the just make themselves look richer than they really are. Huck doesn’t see that the things they have are goty and in reality are cheap. Huck describes some things he sees as, ” And there was nice split-bottom chairs, and perfectly sound, too-not bagged down in the middle and busted, like an old basket. ”(101)

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Twain defends the positive aspects of lying and trickery through the means which Huck escapes from the cabin that he is trapped in with his father. Due to his father’s abusive nature, Huck feels the need to escape from his custody before his Pap returns from the town up river. He cuts a hole out of the cabin, leaves a trail of pig blood, makes it look like a robbery gone wrong, and leaves scents to divert the search dogs. Huck ends the endeavor by saying that “they won’t sift the river for anything but my dead carcass”(34). While this type of lying seems immoral without context, the abusive nature of Huck’s father makes the reader support and root for Huck to succeed.

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Both the con men and Huck are improvisers, always ready with a scheme or tall tale to get out of trouble. The difference is, Huck’s improvisation is relatively harmless and always to get him or someone else a greater good, while the Royal Nonesuch’s schemes are designed for their benefit, and their benefit only (12). The arrival of the Duke and Dauphin in the text marks the transition from a commentary on race to a commentary on society, and

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5. The purpose of the rhetorical question at the end of paragraph 10 is used to emphasize how immoral it is to profess in believing in something you do not believe genuinely believe in. The question causes the reader to think about any other possibilities that are “more destructive to morality” than mental lying. Mark Twain 2. Although we do not know the circumstances under which Mark Twain delivered “Advice to Youth” or to whom, I can imagine the audience found Twain’s speech as ironic.

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The black man on the back porch is afraid of the rattle snake because it is bad luck, or the innocent little slave is quick to believe everything one tells them at the drop of the hat. These are just some of the many racist stereotypes of the 1840s. A character named Jim is the star African American whom Twain bestoys the mission of being the stereotypical black man to prove a point. He along with his much more pallor companion Huck go on exciting adventures that unfold the events which expose the racist conduct of the time. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain saturates his novel with potent images of acute racism severe enough as to create a satirical mien that exposes the absurdity of prejudice.

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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.

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“Bilgewater, I am the late Dauphin!”(Twain p.125). Throughout Huck Finn, the friendships between the characters point out their differences and their similarities- how far were they willing to go to scam

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He included multiple types of irony, and using Huck, showcased his theme of morality over legality perfectly. Huck's innocence is a dramatic irony in a way that only the reader knows that what he does is actually right when he is told and thinks otherwise. The reader is also able to infer that personal beliefs can trump herd mentality any day, and that insight can only come through first-hand experience. Twain's impact of theme affects the reader just as heavily as it does Huckleberry Finn, crossing the barrier of fact and fiction. He is able to enlighten readers that a better world is among them, although they may need to sift through the cesspool of a poorly influenced society, just like Huck

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Throughout the novel, Twain implements the notion that society’s manipulative views must be overcome by following one’s heart and having moral strength. He enforces this by using literary devices such as satire, imagery, and individual motifs. The first literary device that Twain utilizes is satire. The author satirizes society and how many “civilized” people have twisted beliefs.

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