“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reflect” - Mark Twain. Twain is absolutely correct with his statement, however there are times when all people will find themselves on the side of the majority, whether or not it is the right thing in a moral standpoint. Although Twain said he was anti-slavery and racism, his works do not always reflect the way he felt. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn did not change the country’s view on racism and slavery. In fact, it did the exact opposite of what it was intended to do by treating slaves/black people as if they do not matter and degrading them.
Mark Twain is an American writer whose works are often found in the ‘classics’ section of the library and in the hands of students
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I did, mos’ sholy. Mars Sid, I felt um—I felt um, sah; dey was all over me. Dad fetch it, I jis’ wisht I could git my han’s on one er dem witches jis’ wunst—on’y jis’ wunst—it’s all I’d ast. But mos’ly I wisht dey’d lemme ‘lone, I does’ (199).
Twain portrays Nat, a slave at the Phelps house, as most southerners believed all slaves to be; plain-spoken, superstitious, and ignorant. If Twain was as progressive as he claimed to be, he would portray slaves in a different light, one where they aren't superstitious or completely uneducated. There were many slaves that would secretly learn to read and write, or in rare cases, their masters would teach them. It isn’t only one slave that Twain writes this way. Jim, one of the main characters, is written only a little better: “ ‘Doan' hurt me – don't! I hain't ever done no harm to a ghos'. I alwuz liked dead people, en done all I could for 'em. You go en git in de river agin, whah you b'longs, en doan' do nuffn to Ole Jim, 'at 'uz awluz yo' fren'’” (33). Twain writes Jim in a know-nothing and superstitious way that further solidifies the way that the country acts towards black