Huckleberry Finn Satire Analysis

In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim bond closely to one another, regardless of the fact that they belong to different ethnic groups. Huck, a coming-of-age teenage boy, lives in the Southern antebellum society which favors slavery. At the beginning of the book, Twain claims that “Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; and persons attempting to find a plot will be shot” (Twain 2). Ironically, through his experiences with Jim, the uncivilized Huck gradually establishes his own moral beliefs, although sometimes struggling against the influence of society.

In the beginning of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain proscribes his audience from finding a motive, moral, or plot. In using rhetorical strategies such as satire, irony, and humor he challenges the reader to look for deeper meanings not only in the Notice, but throughout the whole novel. His purpose was to shed light on the false ideals that society represents as seen through the eyes of young boy. The ironic events that prohibit Huck from being a dynamic character suggest the inadequacy of blind faith in society.

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.

In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, he utilized diction to illustrate the change in Huck’s view on slavery and more specifically, Jim; from believing that all slaves are subhuman and ignorant to befriending and respecting Jim as his equal.

Every person encompasses their own unique opinion. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck Finn possesses a conscience that makes him one of the most important and recognizable figures in American literature. However, Claudia Durst Johnson, a critic, believes that because of Huck’s actions the novel “is one of the most radical and darkly bitter books in the American canon. It represents the breaking of federal law as moral. It recommends disobedience and defiance on the part of young people.”

Irony in Huck Finn Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain takes place in the mid 1830’s to the mid 1840’s when slavery was still prevalent in the south. Although the book was set in the 1830’s to the 1840’s, it was not published until 1884, after slavery had been abolished in 1865. Slavery is an important topic of the book to focus on because it shaped the way people thought. A way that Twain shows the truths of slavery in the book is through irony. A specific scene that he used irony in was when Huck was helping Jim escape from slavery, yet Huck judged Jim for wanting to free the rest of his family which is ironic.

Although there are numerous instances where Huck’s moral growth can be seen, the individuals around such as Jim, will influence his moral growth greatly. Jim, a runaway slave, is the most influential individual when it comes to Huck’s moral development. During the beginning of the novel, Huck’s morals are primarily based on what he has learned from Miss Watson. Huck begins to become wary of such ideals that Miss Watson has imposed on him, and decided all he wanted “…was a change” (Twain 10).

To begin, Huck’s struggles within the deformed conscience of an entire society leads to his maturation. Throughout the book, Huck struggles within himself whether or not to follow his heart or to follow society’s deformed views. In one situation, Huck begins to feel guilty about helping a runaway slave, Jim, to freedom. Huck narrates, “My conscience got to stirring me up hotter than ever, until at last I says to it, ‘let up on me- it ain’t too late yet-

Twain’s portrayal of Americans--including common townspeople and Huck’s father--combine with Jim’s ironic false enslavement to shed

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.

The widow, Miss Watson, takes Huck into a closet to pray, and tells him to pray every day so he will get what he wants. Huck tries to pray daily, but becomes disappointed when all he gets is a fish-line with no hooks, when he prayed extra hard for hooks. “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” (19). When he asks Miss Watson about it, she tells him praying brings spiritual gifts. Unable to see any use for that sort of thing, Huck decides praying is probably not worth his time. Huckleberry Finn, an illiterate white trash boy who is at the bottom of society’s hierarchy, narrates Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain put the novel in the voice of Huck for his very literal thinking. His realistic views and perceptions provide much of the ironic humor of the novel. Huck simply reports what he sees, and the monotone narration allows Twain to show a realistic view of the common ignorance, slavery, and inhumanity that took place.

Huck has been burned with the idea that he is to blame for Jim’s escape. Huck ultimately feels guilty because he knows he has not done wrong but he has no reason not to believe what society thinks because he was only taught one way. Huck imagines an alternate scenario, thinking “s’pose [he]’d’ a’ done right and give Jim up, would [he] felt better... No…[he'd] feel bad” (91). Huck is aware that the right decision based on society is to give up Jim.

“Among many disparate attempts by scholars and critics to explicate The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, at least two interpretations have met with general acceptance: 1) the feud of the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons...represents a literally fatal flaw in the chivalric code of a decadent Southern aristocracy, and...Huck's desire to escape the strictures of civilization by seeking the relative freedom from social restraint represented by the river and the territories” (Hoy, 17). In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses a satirical approach to initially reveal the truths about the Grangerfords; however, these initial truths build to expose the aristocratic values of a southern family and how their views reformed Huck’s outlook on

Huck once again compares himself to Tom and furthers the conclusion that Huck must holds jealousy toward what Tom can do. In conclusion, Mark Twain does an amazing job of showing some of the extremes of pride, greed, and envy in ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’. Nobody ever wants to show their dark side to anybody, but sometimes its just brought out of them and sooner or later consumes

Twain foreshadows that Huck may go to other extreme measures to help Jim to freedom in the future, and indicates that the novel will take another twist in its closing. This also contributes to the sense that Huck is nearing desperation to help get Jim out of his