ipl-logo

Huckleberry Finn Synthesis Essay

545 Words3 Pages

There is no other way to better express yourself than to speak in the vernacular, for the truth is best told word by word in which the quote was spoken. In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain’s usage of the word nigger is questioned to be either racist or a mere reflection of how people of that time period spoke. Could it be that Twain was projecting a subliminal hate for people of color or was his purpose to expose his readers to the type of language used by the common people of the time in which the story takes place in? I believe that in order to convey the message of unacceptance for people of color, it is best to use the hateful diction used by the people, including the usage of the word nigger, without sugar-coding it. …show more content…

Huck being a white male, born to be superior (in their mind) by his race, should not associate with Jim, who is an African American runaway slave. Despite the boundaries set by society, they do not follow the norms and befriend each other. They not only act as friends, but as brothers as well, with Jim occasionally playing the role of a father to Huck, who grew up with a careless dad. Having these two characters get along so well proves that Twain does not intend to be racist. Although Twain has taken it upon himself to write about an unheard of friendship between a Caucasian male and a African American male, he does not want his readers to lose sight of the harsh truth. For the purposes of creating an actual representation of what most people were like in that time period, Twain creates Pap. Pap is Huck’s ignorant and alcoholic father. He has zero tolerance or like for anyone who is of color and his existence is Twain’s way of bringing into the novel the reality of racism in that time

Show More
Related
1023 Words | 5 Pages

Had Huck been a white extremist, he may have utilized the chance to kill Jim. However, the good-natured protagonist does not do so, and instead shows to the reader his playful personality when he jokes around with Jim as a friend. At first, Huck’s prank on Jim may seem like an act of implicit racism or discrimination, but his words appear to be genuinely cheerful and light-spirited. Twain uses this example to further Huck and Jim’s whimsical friendship that develops throughout the novel.

Read More
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.

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

Huck has always seen Jim as a slave until they crossed paths while going down the river. The two develop a friendship and Huck starts to care about Jim and his well being. Although Huck views Jim as someone he cares about, he still sees him as a slave as well. “ I would do the right thing and the clean thing, and go and write that nigger’s owner and tell where he was,” ( Document E). Huck is in a continuous battle with his inner self when it comes to his views on Jim.

Read More
1153 Words | 5 Pages

The language, if changed, would not be consistent of that of an uneducated, teenage boy from the 30s. It is believed that publishers should just change the word to slave, but that would be incorrect since the two words have completely different meanings. The word is used even to kindly describe Jim when Huck states, “I liked the nigger for that; I tell you, gentlemen, a nigger like that is worth a thousand dollars—and kind treatment, too… and they slipped up on him and grabbed him and tied him before he knowed what he was about, and we never had no trouble. (42.15)” This fragment displays how African Americans were addressed, the replacing of the word would not be historically correct or definitionally correct.

Read More
1044 Words | 5 Pages

Pap is presented in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a character who will go to any extent he can to get what he wants. He is portrayed as authoritarian, and the type to be feared. He regularly puts himself first before others. He is willing to go to any measures to get what he wants, which further proves he is a selfish person. Huck is now recalling how his father used to treat him, and how widow Douglas had to step in to take care of him.

Read More
752 Words | 4 Pages

Twain writes from Huck’s perspective saying, WELL, pretty soon the old man was up and around again, and then he went for Judge Thatcher in the courts to make him give up that money, and he went for me, too, for not stopping school.” Which explains Pap’s ability to be father and his tendency to be selfish and put himself before anyone else including his own son.. Another example of how Twain sets up Pap to be a disgusting character is chronic alcoholism. In chapter six Pap kidnaps Huckleberry and forces him to stay in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere. After getting drunk and passing out Pap starts to hallucinate and chase Huck around the cabin calling him the Angel of Death.

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
743 Words | 3 Pages

We know that Twain is not racist, but he did use the N-word to show what kind of people his characters were. Delila Lloyd wrote a document that addresses both sides of the issue, but one of the points that sticks out is "Take the N-word out of Huck Finn, and is it really Huck Finn?" (Lloyd). Huck uses the N-word because he grew up in a society where the word was meaningless, and was used to describe slaves as scum. The word practically means nothing, but not as in the word doesn't have a meaning, but in the sense that the people described as the word are meaningless.

Read More
1030 Words | 5 Pages

The constant usage of the n word can be demeaning and harmful to African American students — in 1995, a group of African American students in Cherry Hill, NJ suddenly began failing tests and quizzes in their English class. This happened as a result of an incompetent teacher, who forgot to mention the 200 plus instances of the n word and the fact that the book was controversial. And to make matters worse, the white students would snicker and stare at the African American students when the n word was read aloud. (Document E) This should not be the case — I was lucky enough to have a teacher who would make sure to make reading Huck Finn as comfortable as it would aloud.

Read More
232 Words | 1 Pages

One of the major differences between Huck and Jim was their racial traits. In the book, the author have been mentioned a word “nigger” (Twain 102) several times to show racial discrimination going on during the period. When Huck was talking about Solomon in the bible, Jim had a bad reputation on him as criticizing his action as a fool for instructing to split baby into half (one of stories in Bible). While they were having argument Huck self talks to himself, “you can’t learn a nigger to argue” (Twain 102). This is definitely showing discriminations on human being just because of their inherent traits.

Read More
1724 Words | 7 Pages

Those who feel the novel encourages racism say that because of the stereotypes used when featuring Jim, how Huck and Tom treated Jim, and how often the N-word is brought up Twain had hoped to encourage racism. However there is still strong evidence that proves why that might be a misunderstanding. If twain was intending to encourage racism then why would he make Him seem so much of a better person than the duke, king, and Huck's father. Also when Twain illustrates the black and white symbolism he portrayed Him as white man and Huck's father, who is a white man, as dark and scary. Then throughout the story as a reader you feel empathy for Jim he begins to become one of the favorite characters in the novel.

Read More
874 Words | 4 Pages

The top three main characters are Tom Joad, Jim Casy, and Rose of Sharon. Tom Joad is the protagonist of the novel. He was once in jail for killing somebody but got out of jail on parole. He is the son of Tom Joad, and Ma Joad; the brother of Noah, Winfield, Al, Ruthie, and Rose of Sharon; the nephew of Uncle John; the grandson of Granma and Granpa and the brother in law to Connie. On the journey West he helps Al and the family by managing and driving the truck.

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
1356 Words | 6 Pages

Chandra Ghimirey ENG102 Mrs. Beno 17 November 2015 Genetic Testing of Children: Is it safe? How do you feel about genetic testing? How would you feel if you or one of your family members had to make life-changing decision? There are lots of pros and cons behind genetic testing and other problem that may arise.

Read More

More about Huckleberry Finn Synthesis Essay

Related Topics

Open Document