Essay, Research Paper
Marcus O? Mard3/11/97
English
A Satirical Position of the Old South
Elaborate utilizations of race, unprecedented statements about the function of faith and an overall jeer of the society of the old south service as a method of conveying Mark Twain? s sentiment of society. In his dude riverboat escapade The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain attacks the traditions of bondage, racism, and the recognized traditions of the old South. He helped expose the lip services of the southern society through this novel.
Twain bases steadfastly by his rules. He is a house truster that bondage is sinister. It was a deplorable establishment that was necessary to be eliminated. He said bondage was bad chiefly because it was hypocritical. We see this lip service throughout the book when Huck is able to interact with Jim and besides learn from him while the southern slave society dainties Jim as nil more than an object. We see the southern perceptual experience of black people in chapter thirty-two when Huck tells to Aunt Sally his narrative about the blown cylinder caput. When she asks him if anyone was hurt he said & # 8220 ; no? m. Killed a nigger. & # 8221 ; When she shows no emotion in her reaction it shows us how many southern Whites looked at inkinesss. We besides see at many times during the novel that Huck and Jim have a true friendly relationship. The spell out of their manner at many times for the public assistance of eachother and they develop a relationship to which they both contribute. Huck teaches Jim about diverseness, priests and swayers in chapter 14 when he reads to him about Solomon and Frenchmen. Jim besides teaches Huck an of import lesson on how people should be treated separately.
Another illustration Twain uses to demo the lip services of society is racism. Twain is non assailing the whole issue of race every bit much as the function race plays in society. Twain uses race to show the lip service of the rich and & # 8220 ; good refined. & # 8221 ; He starts showing these falsenesss of a society of snobby landholders by demoing the coarseness of their linguistic communication ( that is their overexploitation of the word & # 8220 ; nigger & # 8221 ; ) . Twain besides ridicules racialists through Jim and through Whites abashing themselves. Jim as a black adult male is supposed to be an hardhearted slave, yet he exhibits many emotions typically restricted to Whites at the clip. One emotion we see is in Jim is forgiveness. Jim forgives Huck for P
puting the practical Joke with the serpent in chapter 10. We besides see that Jim is at an emotional loss because he misses his married woman and kids. We besides see Whites act superior to inkinesss while they embarrass themselves. We see this in chapter six when Pap was mouth offing about the free black adult male from Ohio. Pap takes discourtesy to society allowing this adult male ballot when he says “and that ( him being free and a instructor ) aint the wust. They said he could vote when he was at home.” In this citation, Pap believes himself to be superior to a extremely educated adult male but in world makes himself look like a sap for making so.
Mark Twain? s next major statement about the lip services of society comes through faith. Twain felt that the spiritual beliefs of the southern society were hypocritical. He shows this through three major parts illustrations during the novel. The first comes when Jim is a slave with Miss Watson. She says that it is because of her faith she treats inkinesss as objects but the bible says that she should handle all people every bit. Twain besides includes the scene from the church. The Shepardson and Grangerford households gather to hear a & # 8220 ; good discourse about brotherly love ( chapter 18 ) , & # 8221 ; and both households have guns and so kill eachother. Finally and most significantly, Twain has his chief character Huck Finn openly reject faith. When Huck says & # 8220 ; All right, so, I? ll go to hell. ( Chapter thirty-one ) & # 8221 ; he is chooses to salvage his best friend Jim, instead that holding ageless redemption. That action shows Twain? s position of the importance of faith in the old southern societies.
Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain ridicules society. In the Duke and the Dauphin? s rendering of Romeo and Juliet, they receive no audience until the Duke topographic points & # 8220 ; adult females and kids are non admitted & # 8221 ; on their advertizements. Once they place that mark on their ad the involvement of the people begins to turn. This shows how volatile and hypocritical society is. Besides Twain writes about the reform system. The Judge believing that he had reformed Pap, gives him a coat and releases him to the populace. Almost instantly, Pap sells the coat for Alcohol. In the novel Twain remarks on society and how bogus it is. He refers to specific constituent of the southern society and makes allegorical statements protesting the function of racism, bondage, and faith in the bogus society in which Huck lived.
