Literary Elements In Huckleberry Finn

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear--not absence of fear.” A quote from author Mark Twain perfectly summarizes the evolution of Huckleberry Finn in his book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In this book, a boy named Huckleberry Finn, goes on many adventures along with his companion, Jim. Jim is a runaway slave that is wanted, and through the course of the book it seems that Huck’s priority is to free Jim and protect him. The book mainly takes place along the Mississippi River during the 1830’s-40’s, before the Jim Crow laws were introduced. Throughout the novel, Twain implements the notion that society’s manipulative views must be overcome by following one’s heart and having moral strength. He enforces this by using literary devices such as satire, imagery, and individual motifs.

The first literary device that Twain utilizes is satire. The author satirizes society and how many “civilized” people have twisted beliefs. An example of this is in the quote “‘Good gracious! Anybody hurt?’ ‘No’m. Killed a [African-American].’ Well it’s lucky, because sometimes people do get hurt…” (221) Huck was discussing a fake story of his travels to Aunt Sally’s home, and they seemed to neglect that an African-American is a human. This a dangerous belief, as it seems that even though Huck goes through major character development, he still see’s African-Americans as less than white people. This notion must be overcome in order for Huck to free Jim for

Specifically, he used satire, a selection of motifs, and imagery to display that society’s views must be overcome by following one’s heart and having moral strength. Several characters displayed this throughout the novel, but Huckleberry Finn stood out the most. His bravery and his ability to be unapologetic is written and developed by Twain in a way that connects with his audience and proves that there is hope in this