ipl-logo

Huckleberry Finn Symbolism Essay

624 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Huckleberry finn lines of character development

Additionally The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn analyzes and criticizes the growing blight sweeping society due to the influence of individuals’ wickedness infecting those around with the use of symbols that represent evil and purity, the development of contrasting characters, and metaphors to convey Twain’s critique further. The most important symbol in the novel is that of alcoholism and Huck’s dad, referred to as Pap; with Pap representing an evil which contributes to the stagnation of society, something characterized by Pap’s unwillingness to allow Huck to go to school and evolve, with Pap stating ““And looky here-you drop that school, you hear? I’ll learn people to bring up a boy to put on airs over his own father and let on to be better’n what he …show more content…

This quotation shows how Pap is preventing Huckleberry from growing and maturing, not allowing for a change in what he is familiar with, and when one looks at Pap’s vice of alcohol, one may witness the corruption of a society through the manifestation of a stubborn evil which walks its street in search of money that refuses change. This sentiment becomes more evident when looking at Pap’s rant on the government and black people in which he states ““It was ‘lection day, and I 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.”” (Pg. 27) The quotation deepens the symbols that are alcohol and Pap; showing that alcohol stagnates progress as it promotes the sin that is sloth, and this vice combined with Pap’s stupidity and stubborn conservatism creates for a rebellious attitude that Huck inherits. A metaphor develops from here which displays Huck’s purity and wit compared to Pap’s impurity, gluttonous appetite, and stupidity, and how due to Huck lacking any real vice and utilizing the rebellious attitude of his father, it seems that the sin of the father becomes the virtue of the

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
614 Words | 3 Pages

Pap comes into the story when Huck feels that something isn't right however it is affirmed by Jim's hairball. Twain generalizations Pap as the average inebriated and harsh "white refuse. " Pap needs Huck to quit attempting to improve instruction, quit showing signs of improvement garments, and to quit attempting to be superior to anything his dad. The incongruity is that Pap should be develop and cultivated, yet he doesn't need Huck to better himself.

Read More
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.

Read More
902 Words | 4 Pages

There, Pap abuses Huck in a drunken rage as he whips him and gets “to handy with his hick`ry” (Twain 24). He also locks Huck inside when he goes out to the town to purchase more whiskey even though “he had enough whisky there for two dunks and one delirium tremens” (Twain 28). Pap had also locked Huck inside for 3 days where Huck “judged he had got drowned and [he] wasn`t ever going to get out.” (Twain 24).

Read More
746 Words | 3 Pages

Huck’s experiences of living with Pap impacted him in a negative way. For example, Huck’s thoughts on his relationship with his father are shown when he says, “Pap he hadn’t seen me for more than a year, and that was comfortable for me; I didn’t want to see him no more. He used to always whale me when he was sober and could get his hands on me; though I used to take to the woods most of the time when he was around” (Twain 21). Huck realizes that life will be easier away from his father because whether Pap was drunk or sober, Huck was always in a bad situation, either neglected or abused.

Read More
1236 Words | 5 Pages

Huckleberry Finn’s father had returned after he heard that his son had a lot of gold coins. He only wanted some of his son’s gold so he could buy alcohol for himself. Pap showed no hesitation with abusing others to get what he wants. Huck’s father is the representation of the drunk white men in the South during the 1840’s that would support slavery and slaves not being able to vote. The way pap treated his son also contributed to Huckleberry Finn’s development.

Read More
650 Words | 3 Pages

Judging someone for their race, ethnicity, or skin color is never portrayed as the right thing to do. However, these are some of the main themes in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This was taken place before the Civil War, when slavery was still legal. When Huck Finn and Jim meet, even though Jim is a slave, they connect immediately. Their friendship grows stronger and stronger as the novel continues, it got to the point where Jim was not only a friend, but a father figure to Huck.

Read More
1012 Words | 5 Pages

The irony that Pap is furious of Huck's new glorified social upstanding along with the money he has run into makes Pap jealous huck has a better life than he had. It's also ironic that pap did not get educated, and that huck is utilizing his education experience to his advantage to make his dad jealous. Growing up black in this time period meant you were going to become a slave. Jim was jealous of Huck for getting an education and being able to do whatever he wants, so when Jim finally decides to run away it's ironic that he was jealous that Huck was free and he wasn’t when he could have been this whole time; that's how this example fit in with the theme of jealousy. This book helped me understand how longing for something you don't have could affect your relationships and corrupt your views on people.

Read More
1580 Words | 7 Pages

Cain committed the worst sin possible and by comparing him to Pap, he is saying he is an awful person, to whom he holds no respect for. A complaining, trapped tone was embedded into the chapter to focus on Huckleberry’s feelings and to push the reader deeper into his feelings with him. Twain works in some sarcasm in the dialogue of Pap, where he is characterized as a harsh man. Pap is ranting about the government then makes a sarcastic remark of “oh, yes, this is a wonderful government, wonderful” and “There was a free nigger there from Ohio—a mulatter, most as white as a white man” (Twain). Huckleberry Finn had gotten annoyed by the fact his father complained about the changing times and was frustrated at him for he has a good friendship with an African American.

Read More
821 Words | 4 Pages

Huckleberry Finn is a story about a rambunctious young boy who adventures off down the Mississippi River. “The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain demonstrates a situation where a Huck tries to find the balance between what is right and what is wrong. Huck faces many challenges in which his maturity will play a part in making the correct decision for himself and his friend Jim. Huck becomes more mature by the end of the novel by showing that he can make the correct decisions to lead Jim to the freedom he deserves. One major factor where Huck matures throughout the novel is through his experience.

Read More
1939 Words | 8 Pages

A sense of inability to improve and expand life status and condition leads, inevitably, to the mental incapability to reason and maintain an adequate lifestyle. Pap Finn, consistently caught in the influence and negative perceptions of a self-made societal position, struggles to accept Huckleberry’s transformation into an individual of class. Pap’s lack of compliance and misinterpretation of intentions leads to the belief of Huck becoming “better’n your father,” as due to the gradual attainment of knowledge, and surpassing himself in societal position “because he can’t [read]” (Twain 31). Mark Twain instructs, through the depiction of the character of Pap Finn, how individuals fail to sustain a substantial way of life as a result of a prior determinant of social class and perception of subordination to others.

Read More
939 Words | 4 Pages

To begin, Twain targets Huckleberry Finn's innocence and uses it as a way to show that anyone being raised in a racist, pro-slavery America was conflicted between morals and laws. At first, Huck is a "rebel" in his own mind, so to say, and tries to avoid becoming "sivilized" from the Widow Douglas. He sticks to what he knows, and uses his experience with people and his own judgment to make decisions like an adult, something quite

Read More
1152 Words | 5 Pages

Undoubtedly, each individual, as a living organism, is a small part of nature. A perfect world would be consisted of a perfect society, which would be in a full harmony with nature that is complete starting from the day that the world was created. However, it can be seen that the harmony does not seem to be real. The problem does not relate only to the modern world. This has been an issue since human civilization developed it’s roots and stable societies started to exist.

Read More
1818 Words | 8 Pages

In a society clinging to the cushion of political correctness, to be faced with a novel so offensive, so brash, so seemingly racist in the classroom was initially jarring. At first, I was opposed to the concept of having to read the word “nigger” and discuss it as if it was just any antiquated term; it seemed impossible. However, through my reading of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, I began to understand the value of my discomfort. A tenant of Jesuit education, personal growth is necessary for one to grow into an intellectual, whole human being. For one to grow, they must step outside their comfort zone and become uncomfortable.

Read More
685 Words | 3 Pages

Today’s politicians have it all wrong when it comes to the gun control battle, and the fight to ban gun access across America. America as a country owns more firearms than any other country in the world. Currently people in the United States feel that their second amendment rights do not hold the weight that they used to . Washington believes the violence comes from the guns; however, it takes a human being to pull the trigger. That is the same as saying the car killed the man and not the drunk driver inside.

Read More

More about Huckleberry Finn Symbolism Essay

Related Topics

Open Document