Huckleberry Finn Vs Salvation Research Paper

Hannah Whittaker

12-8-22

Huck vs Salvation Essay

Mss Merkel Religion in society Religion has dated back to the 15th-5th century BCE, including Hinduism, Judaism and Buddhism. Globally, religion is recognized as “the belief in and worship of a superhuman power or powers especially a God or Gods.” In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses his characters to portray religion in a negative way. Mark Twain exposes the evil in society by mocking the institute of religion depicted in Langston Hughes’ poem, Salvation, and his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Through his experiences, the main character, Huck Finn discovers that religion doesn’t serve

“Miss Watson she took me in the closet and prayed, but nothing come of it. She told me to pray every day, and whatever I asked for I would get it. But it warn't so. I tried it. Once I got a fish-line, but no hooks. It warn't any good to me without hooks. I tried for the hooks three or four times, but somehow I couldn't make it work. By and by, one day, I asked Miss Watson to try for me, but she said I was a fool. She never told me why, and I couldn't make it out no way.”(3.1) Huck believes that it is boring and not worth his time because there was no payoff for him. Mrs. Watson wants him to be civilized but he has other plans. She believes that teaching him religion and praying everyday will turn him into a civilized man. Mrs Watson attempts to explain to Huck that there are benefits to praying. She uses extreme ways to try to get him to believe in Christianity. “Then she told me all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there. She got mad then, but I didn’t mean no harm. All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change, I wasn't particular. She said it was wicked to say what I said; said she wouldn’t say it for the whole world; she was going to live so as to go to the good place. Well, I couldn’t see any advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn’t try for it.” (4) Huck purposely rejects religion and anyone

He is not interested in religion that is practiced in a church, but believes in things that he fears or doesn’t understand. “Pretty soon a spider went crawling up my shoulder, and I flipped it off and it lit in the candle; and before I could budge it was all shriveled up. I didn’t need anybody to tell me that that was an awful bad sign and would fetch me some bad luck, so I was scared and most shook the clothes off of me. Huck was more scared of the spider incident then he was of Mrs Watson telling him that he was going to hell. To him the spider conveyed bad luck and he had had enough of that. When Huck meets Jim, his belief in superstitions is reinforced. Huck is different in the realization of religion. Jim believes in spirituality, superstition and signs. Huck believes in Jim’s theories. Huck has never believed in something so strongly. Huck had grown up in a society that believed in control and he still wasn't able to escape that