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Huckleberry Finn Feminist Lens Essay

1338 Words6 Pages

Question 1

In Huckleberry Finn, the feminist lens portrays women in this novel as economically, socially, politically oppressed. This way of criticism exposes explicit and implicit prejudice in men in writings about women. One example of the traditional ‘woman’ is Aunt Sally. She relies on Silas to do most of the housework. The only thing Aunt Sally does is cook which is considered a traditional women’s role in society at these times. Widow Douglas is another perfect example of the “traditional woman.” She feels that it is her destiny to civilize Huck in order to help him live up to society's expectations. Mary Jane is portrayed as completely oblivious to the scam that is occuring with her family. She like the other women are considered the …show more content…

He changed slowly but surely throughout the book. A really obvious one is that Jim went from being a slave to a free man. That's a pretty big deal. He didn’t wait around to be freed, instead he worked hard and gained respect from those that knew him. If we continue to dig a little deeper into Jim’s character, we see he grows in personality. Twain in the first few chapters painted him as a “typical” slave, stupid and quiet. As Huck and Jim go throughout their journey Jim becomes a kind-hearted, smart person. He really progresses into what Twain I think wanted him to become all along. Jim in the beginning didn’t show a ton of emotion. As he grows as a character he finds his voice and his opinion. In chapter 15, Huck tries to trick Jim by pretending that Jim dreamed up their entire separation. Jim tells Huck the story of his dream, making the fog and the troubles he faced on the raft into an allegory of their journey to the free states. Soon Jim notices all the dirt, tree branches and debris, that accumulated on the raft while it was unanchored. He gets mad at Huck for believing him after he had worried so much about him. He starts to really care about Huck and is hurt that he would lie to him like that. This is a critical part, where Jim makes a transition from being just a slave, to someone who genuinely cares about what happens to Huck. He really shows that he believes in Huck and will never stop supporting him in whatever he wants to

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A couple days later, Huck finds Jim, but Jim has a hard time believing it because he’s supposed to be dead. Jim tells him that he ran away from Widow Douglas’s, which makes Huck feel guilty keeping him. They venture to a cave on the island and stay there until the storm stops. During the storm, a dead man washes up, but Jim doesn’t let Huck look at the face because he says it’s bad luck. Huck starts to get bored on the island so he decided to go into Illinois to get news of things going on.

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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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Jim tells Huck he hit her for not listening to get to work, but he then finds out she has been recently made dea when she did not react to the door slamming shut from the wind. He realizes he hit her when she never even heard Jim to begin with. Jim was so distraught begging for forgiveness from the Lord and his daughter, because he would never forgive himself for his mistake. This shows Jim’s deep rooted connection with love of others and his humanity. Not only that, but Huck realizes he cares deeply for his family and is capable of emotions that otherwise racist ideologies have told him are not possible.

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Living in the 1800s was a very confusing time for a thirteen-year-old American white boy named Huckleberry Finn. African people were faced with inhuman acts of slavery, prejudice, and discrimination. Choosing between what was right and wrong was a challenge, especially for Huckleberry Finn. Huck’s peers tried to corrupt him into believing that slavery was the norm and black people were to be shunned. Mrs. Watson, for example, was Huck’s adoptive mother whom consistently told Huck to not associate with people of the African culture.

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In the book the raft Huck and Jim sail on is a symbol of freedom. The raft is a complete separation from the outside world. Throughout their time on the raft they’re faced with many challenges and have to quickly come up with intelligent decisions. On the raft, the relationship between Huck and Jim grows stronger. Huck eventually acknowledges Jim as a friend instead of property, This displays Huck’s ability to accept others based on their morals.

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Huck sees Jim as just property and an ignorant slave who is below him. He does not really care about him very much, but we see that he cares enough to risk helping a black man get to the free states. We see Huck play a trick on Jim when he puts a snake next to Jim when he is sleeping and scaring him half to death when Jim woke up.. Huck just sits there and laughs at Jim. This is the typical 14 year old who loves to play tricks on the adults.

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At this point in the story the relationship between Huck and Jim further develops as having Jim as the closest thing Huck has to a real “father figure”. In his life Huck is learning that freedom by allowing himself to have a relationship with Jim. The changes Huck’s character went through was important as it allows for him to understand how being vulnerable with others can benefit him. Freedom at the end of the book for Jim is no longer about fleeing from New Orleans, but rather his perception of freedom is changed to the unimaginable.. escaping slavery while receiving help from a young white boy.

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Huck Finn, the main character, is a literary device developed by Mark Twain to alleviate racism in the 1800s. Huck has been adopted by the widow Douglas. She wants to save Huck because his mother is dead, and his father is the town drunk. Huck’s friend, Jim, is Miss Watson’s runaway slave. Jim’s plan is to sail a raft up the Missisippi, and over to the Ohio river toward the northern abolishionist states.

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Julia Shanley Overton English 11 Honors- Period 4A 10/25/15 Huckleberry Finn Argument Essay Jim, a trusted slave by the household of Widow Douglas, is also a very gullible one. He displays several examples of cockiness, foolishness, and is made out to be some kind of comedic relief in the beginning of the story. When Jim is introduced, he is misinterpreted as non realistic due to his vast unawareness. This is proven many times throughout the book to not be true. Jim is actually one of the most important leading roles in the story due to his countless positivity to make things out to be not as terrible as they seem to be.

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Huck is looking for a father, and Jim is looking to join a family. The two complement each other well (4). Helping an escaped slave is a criminal offense during this period of time. It could be argued that Huck is not fully aware of the consequences of his actions, but as the reader sees time and time again, Huck is a very wise, very practical, very street-smart boy.

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After Huck finds out that Jim is captive, Huck “set down and cried. [He] couldn’t help it” (210). After returning to the raft and not finding Jim there, Huck is overcome with emotion. The fear of Jim not being around causes Huck to realize how important Jim is to him. The friendship they developed on the river and through their adventure causes Huck to be more concerned for Jim’s safety than society’s need to keep Jim captive.

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From 1940 to 1970, peaceful tactics such as the NAACP lawsuits, Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the Birmingham Children’s Crusade were most effective in bringing about change during the Civil Rights movement. Starting in 1940’s, The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) utilized peaceful lawsuits in the courts as well as in local legislature to challenge racial discrimination in education to bring about change (Norton, 767). The peaceful manner utilized by the NAACP to influence the Civil Rights movement allowed the African American community to effectively garner admission to professional as well as graduate schools at formerly segregated schools. In 1954 the NAACP continued to influence the Civil Rights movement by

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time period in several characters that are included throughout the novel. This is shown in the characters daily tasks, the power they reciene, and how the other characters viewed them. The daily task of the women in the novel fit the stereotypes of women during this time period. The Widow Douglas is an example of females normal daily task when she provides for Huck.

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The Widow Douglas performs a female’s normal daily tasks when she provides for Huck. Her daily tasks are those of a mother figure, and from Hucks point of view the Widow Douglas “was trying to sivilize [him]” (Twain 1). The Widow Douglas is not a significant character in the text, and when she is included, it usually revolves around the tasks she completes for the male characters, like Huck. Along with the stereotypes of the daily tasks they complete around the house, women are also seen as not being capable to complete more than the stereotypical tasks set for them.

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