Religion In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

Ridiculous Religion Religion is something that is very common amongst people, it brings ideas and people together and creates life long friendships. Religion also creates lots of division between people. This division of people is what caught the attention of author Mark Twain in his book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain satirizes religion through his characters throughout the book. The main character, Huck Fin, grows up in a very religious town, but as he grows up his perspective changes and starts to think of religion as something that narrows people’s thinking. Mark Twain spreads this message to his readers through sarcasm/humor and exaggeration. Religion is something that narrows people’s logical thinking to unrealistic possibilities. Early in the novel, Huck Fin, makes friends with a

Although Huck only moved Jim’s hat slightly off his head to mess with him, Jim took this as a sign of witches messing with him and controlling him. Mark Twain sets up this whole scene in a humorous way to show how religion can mess with one’s way of thinking. After a couple of weeks of being friends with Jim, Huck noticed that Jim always wore a small piece of coin around his neck. Jim explained to Huck that apparently the devil had personally given Jim this charm to protect him from witches. Jim also said that “Niggers would come from all around there and give Jim anything they had, just for a sight of that five center piece; but they wouldn’t touch it, because the devil had his hands on it” (Twain 7). Mark Twain points out and criticizes the word of mouth religion uses to spread its popularity. Incorporating exaggeration into the scene saying “give Jim anything they have” really showed how far people are willing to go just for