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Social Commentary In Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer

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The world has changed much in one hundred years: women are standing up for themselves, children are changing the world, but still the works of three authors stand strong as the writers of some of the most well-known books in history. Mark Twain's style is very distinct because of the stylistic elements he uses. One of the main elements he utilizes is Social Commentary. Social Commentary is when the author gives his or her own insights into the workings of society or the human mind. In Chapter 2 of 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,' Tom is forced to work on painting his aunt's fence while his friends play, but Tom finds a way to swindle them into paying him to do the work for him. On page 15, Tom tricks his friend Ben by saying, "Like it? Well, I don't see why I oughtn't to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence …show more content…

This quote shows what Twain later describes as a 'great law of human action.' This is Twain commenting on the fact that in order to make a man want something, you must simply make it difficult to obtain. Altogether, this evidence shows how social commentary is a large part of Twain's unique writing style. It is, in fact, one of the main reasons he started writing: to instill lessons of morality and astuteness into his readers. O. Henry has a very unique writing style. In his short stories, O. Henry shows many examples of irony/plot twists. Ransom of the Red Chief is a story about two men who decide to kidnap a boy. However, he treats the men as if they were toys, and drives the men crazy causing them to give the boy back. "I found Bill backed up against the side of it, breathing hard, and the boy threatening to smash him with a rock

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The quote is foreshadowing into the author's writing. Based on this quote, I can infer that the author wants the audience to know about Mark Twain before they read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, basically he wants the reader to get to know him before we start to read the

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830 Words | 4 Pages

He directly states that any “[p]ersons attempting…” to discover a motive will chance prosecution, any “...persons attempting to find a moral...” risk banishment , and any individual striving to find a plot “...will be shot” (Twain “Notice”). Contrary to usual authors that urge editors to discover a moral, Twain creates extravagant punishments instead, which leads to the thought that his efforts sit as an attention diversion from his secret morals hidden inside. Not only do the categories of racism and societal ignorance shine through his attempt of masked morals, but also the taboo on murder. Robbers on a broken down steamboat consider killing another man; however, the two decide against the decision because “...it ain’t good morals” (Twain 52). Specifically stated within an argument, Twain presents his own personal views on murder, which entails the involvement of personal morals, proving that in fact, morals build the basis of the

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1628 Words | 7 Pages

This fact also leads to the depiction of arrogance versus selflessness in the flagrant bias of Mark Twain. When Huck says “...It warn’t no use wasting words” he does not have fully sensible response to answer Jims argument. His pragmatism for Jim matures, but he doesn’t want to fully establish that reality. In conclusion, with his remorseful attitude, Mark Twain lets the reader and the overall world know that the white southern company is corrupt and prejudicially oblivious to acceptable

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904 Words | 4 Pages

Mark Twain gives the readers a sense of freedom in his book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain Portrays the sense of freedom through his characters Jim and Huck, in the entire book they are fighting for their freedom. In their fight for freedom they come across various people who are an obstacle in their journey. These people that Jim and Huck meet are a depiction of the American society and the government. Yes, I do agree that Mark Twain is pessimistic towards the American society and government even though there is a sense of freedom present in the book.

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704 Words | 3 Pages

Often times when Mark Twain talks about Sunday school or church in generals in the book Tom Sawyer he uses satire to explain some things in the book. When we hear about Sunday school or church we are often made to think of it as a funny or joking situation. We are told about a typical Sunday morning that begins with Sunday school. To get ready tom decides to go to Sid to “get his verses”. Sid had memorized his lesson days before tom who decides to get a “vague general idea of his lesson, but no more, for his mind was traversing the whole field of human thought and his hands were busy with distracting recreations.”

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1106 Words | 5 Pages

Many times in the novel, Tom figured out clever ways to get other people to do his work. Twain said that a law of human nature had been discovered. In order to make a man desire something, you need to make it hard to attain. Now, Mark Twain’s principal is called reverse phycology. It is used in our world in the marketing business.

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884 Words | 4 Pages

Mark Twain emphasizes the theme that a person's morals are more powerful than the corrupt influence of society in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Based on how Huck Finn views the world and forms his opinions, he does not know the difference between right and wrong. In the novel, Huck escapes civilized society. He encounters a runaway slave, Jim, and together they travel hopes of freedom. But along the way, Huck and Jim come across troubles that have Huck questioning his motives.

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663 Words | 3 Pages

O.Henry is a mastermind behind his use of irony as he was using his irony to entertain the reader throughout the story. He was also using humor, and mainly using Johnny, and his actions to entertain and make the reader laugh. O.Henry was also using the perfect combination of words to paint a picture in the reader's head which definitely helped me understand the plot line much better. O.Henry's funny writing style definitely had showed itself in many great ways in his short story The Ransom of Red

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475 Words | 2 Pages

Most children go through a stage of rebellion once in their life at around their teenage years. In the picaresque novel, The Adventure of Tom Sawyer written by Mark Twain, portrays this type of rebellion through a young boy named Tom. Tom has made actions that were directly against instruction which had different kinds of consequences. The consequences of childhood rebellion positively affect a child and Twain illustrates this by having Tom go through many consequences mostly involving Aunt Polly or misfortune. Aunt Polly is an important figure to Tom almost as if she were his mother so Twain uses Aunt Polly to influence Tom with her actions and ways of thinking.

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1083 Words | 5 Pages

In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the reader gauges morality through the misadventures of Huck and Jim. Notably, Huck morally matures as his perspective on society evolves into a spectrum of right and wrong. Though he is still a child, his growth yields the previous notions of immaturity and innocence. Likewise, Mark Twain emphasizes compelling matters and issues in society, such as religion, racism, and greed. During the span of Huck’s journey, he evolves morally and ethically through his critique of societal normalities.

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1366 Words | 6 Pages

As a fiction writer, Mark Twain, whose original name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens, stands apart as a comic genius. In America, Mark Twain had popularized this new genre through two of his well- known novels. One is 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ' and the other 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn '. Mark Twain 's idea of a boy character is based on the picture of an average American boy. The American boy, by nature, is enterprising and mischievous, not a reserved character like his counterpart in England.

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559 Words | 3 Pages

Coming of age is not an "all at once experience. " It happens gradually as one slowly becomes mature. The main character, Tom Sawyer, from Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a great example of this. When the reader was first familiarized with Tom, he is shown as a prankster who cares about nothing and tries to skip work, but at the end of the novel Tom has matured, understands emotions, and knows what is right from what is wrong; therefore, Tom Sawyer has come-of-age.

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1320 Words | 6 Pages

Another example of metaphor in the novel is how Mr. Twain depicts the characters to enunciate his views of the bigotry of social norms pushing the reader in a sense to understand what he means. Huckleberry Finn with his innocence and Jim with a thirst for equality metaphorically portray the minorities, Pap the trope of humanity that are corrupted and deprived by those that are uncivilized. “You’re educated, too, they say—can read and write. You think you’re better’n your father, now, don’t you, because he can’t?

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516 Words | 3 Pages

Henry uses situational irony to convey his theme in the story “The Ransom of Red Chief”. Two thieves change from wanting to hold a kidnapped boy for ransom to instead giving the boy back to his father, along with $250.00. They quickly realize that the boy, nicknamed “Red Chief”, is not who they expect him to be, and their whole kidnapping scheme consequently does not go as planned. Eventually, Bill Driscoll, one of the thieves, begs to let the boy go back home even though they have to pay the boy’s father $250.00. Bill says, “You ain’t going to let this chance go, are you?”

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629 Words | 3 Pages

Because the narrator is so young, he can be a rebel without being threatening. When Huck and the rest of the gang swore to Tom’s oath, it seemed as if the gang they were creating was just a game. “Everybody was willing. So Tom got out a sheet of paper that he had wrote the oath on, and read it” (15-16). However, going back to Huck’s literal thinking, the reader sees it as no joke.

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