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Huckleberry Finn Thesis

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Mark Twain’s crowning achievement The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been, and continues to be the main focus of critics for years. Despite many censures that the book has experienced since its first publication, mostly because of the excessive use of abusive language, the novel managed to withstand the test of time and become a classic of American literature. Part of the book’s realism and its peculiarity is the vernacular language, and albeit it is a children’s book and involves an abundance of humor, it raises many serious issues, racism, slavery, violence, just to name a few. Moreover, the child narrator provides the novel a humane voice against inhumane practices of the antebellum Southern society. Being a Southerner himself, Twain …show more content…

This diploma paper aims to further understand these two major components, by drawing particular attention to the main characters and the main conflicts of the story. By consulting different literature, it will be illustrated how the establishment of the conflicts between the characters contributes on the development of the characters, and how they help enhance the quality of the novel in general. Through the detailed analysis of the characters this paper will attempt to provide all the necessary information with regard to the effects of conflicts in the characters’ …show more content…

There are several sources, such as books, critical essays and journal articles which have been utilized for this thesis. Some of the most important tools of characterization in a literary work are the language usage and the names of the characters. Among many different journal articles which provide that information is Colwel’s article Huckleberries and Humans: On the Naming of Huckleberry Finn. Robinson’s The Characterization of Jim in Huckleberry Finn provides some crucial information regarding the characters. It is worth mentioning Arac’s critical analysis Huckleberry Finn as Idol and Target: The Functions of Criticism in Our Time regarding Huckleberry Finn and its historical

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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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439 Words | 2 Pages

Ratifying Constitution “Should we amend the Articles of confederation or ratify the Constitution?”the men is the 2nd continental congress thought. At this time in America colonial leaders were seeing gigantic problems in the Articles of Confederation, so some wanted to change it, while others wanted to create a whole new government. They need to ratify the Constitution, because the Articles of Confederation had too weak of a central government, checks and balances kept power equal through the 3 branches of government, and 2 houses of representatives,one based on state's population and the other had equal representatives from each state making it fair.

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901 Words | 4 Pages

The uses of satire, the time period, and friendship reveal Twain’s unprejudiced views achieving its place in the curriculum. The glimpse of history Twain provides with slavery and society is very important to understanding of the novel and its overall messages important to the curriculum. This remarkable narrative has many examples of realism and literature elements important to the learning the history of literature. One of America’s most prominent and informational works of literature ever written Adventures of Huckleberry Finn must stay in the high school curriculum

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1234 Words | 5 Pages

The Adventurous Huckleberry Finn Hailed by (most) critics and language arts teachers alike, Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is a complex novel with several developed themes. What this book does bring to the table is a controversial literary device. “Backpedaling” which is the idea of deconstructing pre-existing ideas or character developments to highlight another. Full of intentional contradictions, Mark Twain uses his own hypocrisy and puts it into our protagonist, Huck to make him a realistic and, relatable character. This is done in several ways through the novel; It is done in the character’s moral development, within the setting itself with a variety of hypocritical ideologies, and in the oversimplification of characters

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641 Words | 3 Pages

Mark Twain published the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1885. This book shows the story of a young boy, Huck Finn, who goes through challenges in the society. Huck Finn is full of controversies. Twain satires religion, authority, and the society of his time and addresses the issue of slavery. Throughout the novel, Jim, who represents an African American slave, is the character representing all the problems that an African American experienced during the period of slavery and racism.

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1011 Words | 5 Pages

Laura Post Huck Finn Scholarly Article “I didn’t want to go back to the widow’s any more and be so cramped up and sivilized, as they called it.” (35). Huckleberry Finn, the protagonist of the famous novel by Mark Twain, deliberately averts being “sivilized” by the adults of the story. While closely analyzing Huck Finn’s society, there is no wonder why. Mark Twain’s novel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” should be studied in high school because it shows the hypocrisy in a so called “civilized” society.

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603 Words | 3 Pages

In the classic fiction novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, author, Mark Twain, writes of the tale of an uncivilized young boy as he embarks on an adventure to save his friend, a runaway slave, from the chains of bondage and plantation owners in the South. Twain satirizes the inhumane treatment of slaves and the very institution of slavery itself through the use of mockery, irony and stereotypes, criticizing the practice of human bondage whilst appealing to the humorous side of human nature. Twain’s cynical view of slavery causes him to adopt a satirical and critical tone to convey to the readers his personal views and condemnation towards American slavery. Twain first employs stereotypes of slaves and Southern white folk to highlight

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830 Words | 4 Pages

Huckleberry Finn is a novel that deviates from the common ‘proper’ dialect and the general style of the time in order to satirize the Southerner’s beliefs on slavery. Events in this book are described in an honest way, unlike the typical artsy, ‘beautiful journey’ feel of novels at the time. This deviation from the norm encourages Southerners, who are the target audience, to deviate from what they consider to be the norm; slavery. This is a work of fiction based on reality, more specifically a Picaresque Fiction or a realism novel, which is genre Twain is often credited for pioneering. Its original publication date was December 10th, 1884.

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592 Words | 3 Pages

Despite the connotations that Adventures of Huckleberry Finn may have lost focus in its message of anti-racism, the novel still displays a thoughtful and engaging take on the status of racism through setting and character development. Though authors like Jane Smiley believe the book is overpraised because the characters are shallow and ignored, Twain’s subtle commentary on racism through the use of his characters helps to create a realistic understanding of the social conditions at the time. One of Smiley’s main arguments against Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is that the novel overshadows Uncle Tom’s Cabin which she considers has more in-depth characters than the former book. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which for its portrayal of an array of thoughtful, autonomous, and passionate black characters leaves Huck Finn far behind.”

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Essay The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a story about a young boy who is trying to find who he is during the civil war. In this novel by Mark Twain it speaks about this young boy, named Huck, and how his original morals are beginning to change while he helps free his friend Jim, who is a slave. Though People have argued that this book uses many racial slurs that demoralize the African American race. Though there is solid reasoning why those are not Mark Twain's true intentions.

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960 Words | 4 Pages

“The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain is one of the greatest American literature books. This book tells the story of Huckleberry Finn (a boy) and Jim (a slave) in the 1861 when slavery still exists in America. Since its publication in the U.K. in 1884 and in the U.S. in 1885, “The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” has been heated debate about whether it should be taught in school or not, for the sensitivity of the topic and the frequent usage of offensive or inappropriate words like “nigger” in the book. The book has been challenged and banned by many people. For example, the Concord (Mass.) Public Library committee refused to publish Mark Twain’s book from the library and the committee regard it as trash in the 1880s.

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485 Words | 2 Pages

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde In Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll, a distinguished, handsome, and admirable doctor, Dr. Henry Jekyll, experiments good and evil within himself. In life we all have good in ourselves as well as evil. In Dr. Jekyll’s case, he is both 100% good and 100% evil.

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738 Words | 3 Pages

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic novel that takes the reader on a series of thrilling adventures full of life threatening situations, racism, and slavery. The author Mark Twain, uses the novel to highlight the flaws in society by creating a character like Huck, whose personal sense of morals and justice are more noble than those of the very people trying to civilize him. Throughout this captivating novel Huck endures his fair share of trouble and morally challenging decision but he always comes out on top by following his heart and doing what he feels to be right.

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219 Words | 1 Pages

Humour and Satire are two elements of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which contribute to its fame. The different kinds of satire present in the novel make fun of the nineteenth century American society in a multitude of ways. Many of the aspects which Mark Twain makes fun of are still present in contemporary America, as example, prejudice and racism. The clever use of satire together with the humorous writing contributes to the timelessness of Huckleberry Finn. The reason why this novel is so beloved is likely because of these aspects.

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1108 Words | 5 Pages

In conclusion, Twain has created an extraordinary story which demonstrates the enormous amount of evil which the white man can create. His showing of white evil appeals to the creation of hypocrisy surrounding racism during this time. The characterization of Huckleberry Finn in relation to Jim is the main focus of the social criticism surrounding the novel. Their complicated relationship as an African American man and a white child led to Twains masterful storytelling of being able to somewhat overcome societies reigns. These techniques created the backdrop of the hypocrisy within the

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