Similarities Between Twain And Frederick Douglass

Mark Twain and Frederick Douglass both have interesting ways of writing. There are similarities and differences in their writing. They each have their own personal preference toward their style, tone, and perspective. Each story was a remembrance of boyhood written in first person. As evident, Twain’s story takes place as a boy in a town on the Mississippi River.

There are many differences in tone between Texas v. Johnson, and The American Flag Stands for Tolerance. The court opinion of the case Texas v. Johnson, has a very formal tone. The seminal document starts off immediately with and interesting first word, “We.” The word “we” implies that the court is working together on this case, not alone. A beginning example of the formal tone would be the word choices of “decline”, and “therefore,” which both sound formal, and it sounds as if they are being as careful as possible to not offend anybody reading the document. Instead of using informal language such as “cook up,” or “throw together,” they use the word “create,” which is an interesting choice, yet a calm word.

Mark Twain is often credited with writing “the” American novel. It is a good title for Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as the novel contains a myriad of themes that all come together at the end. One theme, however, stands out above the rest. The author uses both civilized life and natural life in varying levels of contradiction in order to represent the two sides of a person; the real side, and the side that other people see. Huckleberry Finn, being an honest young boy, expresses the true side of himself, because he does not feel he needs to hide anything about himself yet.

Frederick and Mark have very different writing styles. While Frederick tells facts and is very unbiased in his writing Mark Twain writes fiction stories that aren’t fact but have an underlying message. In this essay I will be comparing Mark Twain and Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass’ writing is shown very well in his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (by Frederick Douglass). An example of this is, “I was seldom whipped by my old master, and suffered little from anything else than hunger and cold.

Throughout the novel, it becomes apparent that Jim is not only a slave, but he is more like a father to Huck than Pap is. Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck’s feelings toward Jim changes from thinking he is just a slave, to a friend, and eventually more like a father-figure. There is more to this novel than just two boys floating along the Mississippi River. It addresses the seriousness of racism and abuse and talks about the importance of friends and family. Even though Huck and Jim come from different races, the time they have spent together really helps to surpass the discrimination happening and become not just friends,

We never learn his name, but this is his show—the novel chronicles his path to realizing his invisibility. Back then black people were “invisible”. We were basically nothing in the eyes of whites. All of it was kind of true so there isn’t anything unrealistic. If I could change one thing it would be him trying to prove himself to people because you don’t have to prove yourself to anybody but God.

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines morals as “the principles of right and wrong in behavior.” Since Huck is not particularly influenced by religious beliefs, his ideas of moral behavior are a tad different. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain shows Huck grow as a character from the start where he faked his own death, to the end where he decides to not turn in Jim. Huck considers Jim to be a friend, and the story reveals how Huck holds this friendship higher than other moral actions. Jim is a complicated subject for Huck because on one hand, he “steals” Jim from the widow, supports a runaway slave, and harbors a fugitive. However, on the other hand, he protects Jim from the “runaway capturers,” listens to his advice, and apologizes when he feels bad about hurting Jim’s feelings.

According to notablebiographies.com Tobias Wolff “tries to treat his characters honestly once he has developed them”. Also his "standards of honesty and exactness," and his refusal "to destroy his characters with irony that proved his own virtue." is evident in this short story. Even if this means the reader cringes at the dialogue of the characters such as: "You fat moron,", "I guess you think I 'm a complete bastard. ", and "If you want to piss and moan all day you might as well go home and bitch at your

He did not mean this literally or in his own words. He did not believe this and it was not meant to be written as true in the novel. As a very respected author, it is clear that Mark Twain is not racist, despite his somewhat racist and vulgar language, because of Huck’s morals representing his own, Twain’s important use of realism in the novel, and his positive character buildup of Jim. Twain’s reason for using the language in the book is to portray his theme of overcoming society’s expectations, (racism at the time), and creating your own based on your

Huck sees this journey as a quest towards freedom for not only Jim but also himself. Huck would be characterized as a proponent of individuality rather than conformity. Furthermore, Huck did not apprehend slavery and its contribution to productivity. Slavery is so inhumane and blacks should have just as much rights as whites. Towards the end of the novel, Huck’s true innocence is shown when he helps Jim escape his confinement at the Phelps’ house.