Mocking the American Society
"That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth" (Twain 1). Mark Twain's use of satire is a prominent vehicle for his criticisms of American society in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He uses satire to show irony, exaggeration, and mockery to expose and poke fun at the American society. Three social institutions throughout the novel that Twain criticizes and satirized were greed, slavery, and family fighting.
The first use of satire used in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was greed. Greed is shown when Huck's father Pap returns back to town, he claims he is a changed man and wants his son back. Why would the town's drunk be able to come back and take his son? Well once he is told he cannot have his son, Pap then …show more content…
One giant family feud is between the Grangerfords and the Sheperdsons, which satirizes the Civil War. These families have been fighting for so many generations that they are born into the fighting and in most aspects do not even know what they are fighting for. This criticizes the Civil War in the United States, showing that many people fought for reasons they did not know. The reasons were from slavery to states rights and how people thought of it.
Twain is showing within this family feud how the Civil War escalated into something so deadly and violent, but could have been settled over if people had been more moralistic. 'Did you want to kill him, Buck? Well, I bet I did. What did he do to you? Him? He never done nothing to me. Well, then, what did you want to kill him for? Why nothing-only it's on account of the feud" (Twain 118). The fighting between the two families could have been stopped if they just saw that the reasons were so far behind them; they could move on instead just like in the south tradition was taught down and people inherited
"That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth" (Twain 1). Mark Twain's use of satire is a prominent vehicle for his criticisms of American society in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He uses satire to show irony, exaggeration, and mockery to expose and poke fun at the American society. Three social institutions throughout the novel that Twain criticizes and satirized were greed, slavery, and family fighting.
The first use of satire used in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was greed. Greed is shown when Huck's father Pap returns back to town, he claims he is a changed man and wants his son back. Why would the town's drunk be able to come back and take his son? Well once he is told he cannot have his son, Pap then …show more content…
One giant family feud is between the Grangerfords and the Sheperdsons, which satirizes the Civil War. These families have been fighting for so many generations that they are born into the fighting and in most aspects do not even know what they are fighting for. This criticizes the Civil War in the United States, showing that many people fought for reasons they did not know. The reasons were from slavery to states rights and how people thought of it.
Twain is showing within this family feud how the Civil War escalated into something so deadly and violent, but could have been settled over if people had been more moralistic. 'Did you want to kill him, Buck? Well, I bet I did. What did he do to you? Him? He never done nothing to me. Well, then, what did you want to kill him for? Why nothing-only it's on account of the feud" (Twain 118). The fighting between the two families could have been stopped if they just saw that the reasons were so far behind them; they could move on instead just like in the south tradition was taught down and people inherited