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How Does Race Affect The Transformation Of Huckleberry Finn

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain takes place along the Mississippi River during the 19th century before the Civil War. The story follows Huckleberry Finn and a runaway slave named Jim in their adventures while running away from their respective situations; Huck is running away from his drunken father and Jim is running away from his owner in order to avoid being sold and separated from his family. Race is an overarching theme throughout this story, and I believe that Twain effectively portrays this theme through the actions and opinions of the characters. Jim’s blackness and how it affects his life is shown well through the opinions of others. For example, Pap says, “... when they told me there was a State in this country where they’d let that nigger vote, I drawed out. I says I’ll never vote again” (Chapter 6). This statement shows how white viewed black people at the time. Pap sees black people as below white people, so much to the point that he does not want to do anything they are able to do in order to avoid feeling associated with them. Twain’s use of characters like Pap who express …show more content…

For instance, Huck decides, “All right, then, I’ll GO to hell…” (Chapter 31). This happens while Huck is deciding whether or not to turn Jim in as a runaway slave. On one hand, Jim is Miss Watson’s property, but on the other, Jim is Huck’s friend. Huck deciding that he would rather go to hell than turn Jim into Miss Watson effectively shows his transformation from racist to actually seeing Jim as a human being. Twain uses this time to show how Huck has grown fond of Jim because Jim would “do everything he could think of for [Huck]...” (Chapter 31). Twain’s use of action and showing the reader Huck’s thoughts leading up to the action proves that he successfully conveyed Huck’s character

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933 Words | 4 Pages

In the book "The Adventures if Huckleberry Finn", Mark Twain's writing mirrors the society and problems it had in that time. This book promotes seeing African-Americans as people, which is absolutely groundbreaking and unheard-of in the time it was written, right after the Civil War. Throughout the book,, Huck has a complete change in his feelings towards Jim, starting with his highly influenced young mind, only able to view Jim as a slave, all the way to seeing Jim as a father-figure who can protect and provide for him. Although Huck tries to see Jim as a friend and fatherly-figure, society's beliefs don't allow him to see Jim as anything but a slave.

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1048 Words | 5 Pages

One of the people Twain doesn’t admire is The King because he portrays him as a river con man who claims to be a dissapeared heir to the French Throne who also takes control of Huck and Jim’s raft. Pap would be another character who is not admirable because he treated his son worse than a slave owner treated a slave. The Duke is also portrayed as a bad man because he is The King’s side-kick who is also a con man. The Shepherdsons were also a group of unadmirable people because they shot Buck Grangerford along with his family. Mrs. Loftus is a little bit unadmirable because she didn’t let Huck have any of her food or things that he was in need of.

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935 Words | 4 Pages

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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570 Words | 3 Pages

Elizabeth’s strong pro-choice values along with her parallel stance in Judith Jarvis Thomson’s “Defense of Abortion” are core factors in her belief that abortion can be both morally permissible and impermissible given the circumstances in specific situations. In Elizabeth’s attempt to persuade her husband Tom to agree that terminating the pregnancy is morally permissible, Elizabeth’s best argument would be employ their like-minded beliefs to create justification and highlight her defense. Thomson’s argument that a human being has a right to determine what is does with their own body, even when there is no threat to life, is a direct reflection of Elizabeth’s defense. In explaining her desire to have abortion, Elizabeth can apply Thomson’s violinist analogy to illustrate and align her and her husband’s differing views of morality.

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1306 Words | 6 Pages

Ted Harter January 5, 2016 English 10 Hour 6 Society ’s Flaws Revealed In Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a young man and an escaped slave travel down the Mississippi River, experiencing great friendship and many adventures along the way.

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1752 Words | 8 Pages

During Mark Twain’s historical fiction novel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, Jim, a slave, takes a leap of faith for his own freedom. Twain reveals Jim’s truly noble beliefs and tells a story of a hardworking father who is not only set on freeing his own sons from slavery, but also Huck from his preconceived beliefs on equality. Twain wants to show that people of color aren't just shells of people, they are actual human beings. Twain shows Jim's journey as he changes from slave to Huck’s mentor and sacrifices a lot for Huck.

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789 Words | 4 Pages

He does not offer any easy solutions or hope for change, which does not give society much room for growth. Twain’s portrayal of some of the characters in the novel are often bleak and unfavorable. He shows how people use religion and social conventions to justify their mistreatments of others. For example, when Huck and Jim

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1266 Words | 6 Pages

After lying to Jim and getting caught, Huck thinks on his actions. “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards, neither” (86). Huck knows that his actions are wrong but struggles to apologize to Jim because he is conditioned to believe that Jim has no real value. Huck tries to break free from the influence of society and in doing so, he realizes that his actions are not morally acceptable. With no interference from society, Huck is therefore able to humble himself to Jim and treat him in a way that opposes society’s expectations.

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1724 Words | 7 Pages

These reasons show why Twain may have intended to discourage racism. In the novel Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain it is a story of a troubled young boy and his good friend Jim. In the story Twain is not trying to portray racism toward the character Jim but rather is discouraging it. We see examples in the novel where Twain shows how Jim differs from other White men who cheat others, how he describes the white and black symbolism, and shows empathy for Jim.

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417 Words | 2 Pages

Huck belittles and humiliates Jim after Jim has been more of a father figure than Pap ever was. Huck apologizes but doesn’t think he had to because of his racial color. Him being a “nigger” doesn’t make him a regular being to Huck. When the boy says “I knowed he was white inside,” (Twain p.279), about Jim making a selfless decision for helping Tom, the less racist Huck fades. Huck believes he is wrong for helping a black man.

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1403 Words | 6 Pages

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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142 Words | 1 Pages

In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the racist attitudes of the Deep South in the late 1800's are shown. Mark Twain portrays a runaway slave, Jim, as a racist caricature who does whatever is asked of him and exhibits little intelligence. The reader can initially see this through the use of the word "nigger" that is all throughout the book. In the modern 21st century this term is taken offensively, but in the 19th century this term was commonly used and Twain took advantage of it.

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1083 Words | 5 Pages

In the following statement, “It was ‘lection day, and I [Pap] was just about to go and vote myself if I warn’t too drunk to get there’ but when they told me there was a state in this country where they’d let that nigger vote, I drawed out” (Twain 27), the reader questions the decency in an abusive, alcoholic excuse of a man being able to vote over a black man. Comparatively, Twain suggests that someone’s color shouldn’t determine their basic human rights. Whether it be with voting, or even just having freedom from slavery, the corruption of equality leads to a major theme of the novel.

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1124 Words | 5 Pages

The book is seen as a controversial element due to the fact that it contains many slurs and a language that is seen as vulgar and crude. Twain’s attitude infers that the ideal thought of slavery and racism are in fact are somewhat the traditional views of the past, but he used satire and irony to insure his readers

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1233 Words | 5 Pages

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was wrote by Mark Twain in February, 1885, 20 years after the Civil War. However, the setting of the book takes place before the civil war in various locations as Huckleberry Finn, a boy about 10 years old, tries to race up the Mississippi river to escort Jim, a runaway slave, to freedom. Over the course of Huck and Jim’s adventures, they both become reliant on each other, as Huck develops what he feels is a moral obligation to see Jim to freedom, and Jim comes to respect and nearly worship Jim because of his efforts to free Jim. Throughout the book, the cultural attitudes and imposition of cultural norms at the time are very evident, and when reading it is plain to see that The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn’s

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