Huckleberry Finn Literary Analysis

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn As one of the most controversial literary work in the world, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn receive ambivalent reviews from people. People debate whether it is appropriate to be taught in school throughout the centuries; some regard it as a classic, while others consider it as a trash. Set in a southern antebellum society, the novel describes the story between Huck Finn, a white boy, and Jim, a black slave. Mark Twain promotes anti-racism in the work, but not by direct expression. He uses techniques such as irony and satire to reproduce the situation of black people and asks readers for understanding. This intention requires readers’ cogitative thinkings. So The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is suitable for mature students who are able to think, but not young children. Many people are antagonistic toward The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because it seems offensive to the black people. Twain shapes many racist characters in the work such as pap who says “It was 'lection day, and I was just about to go and vote myself if I warn 't too drunk to get there; but when they told me there was a State in this country where they 'd let that nigger vote, I drawed out. I says I 'll never vote agin.”(Twain 39) Through this, being ugly to black people, pap does not recognize the rights of them. This is a country of freedom where each individual is naturally given the rights. Pap is being ignorant and illogically mean to black people. However, pap is not an exception in the work; most characters show their ignorance and hostilities to the black. Not only the character’s attitude, but also their dictions-using are considered an offense to black people. The most noticeable issue must be the usage of word “nigger”. The word originated as a neutral word from Spanish and Portuguese to describe black people, but as the word develops in the United States, it becomes pejorative. And as the society develops, people are now avoiding using the “n-word” because of its disrespectful meaning to the black. Nevertheless, Twain uses the “n-word” a lot in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which is not acceptable to people nowadays. People reproachfully find fault with language in the work. John H. Wallace’s article reveals people’s anger toward the novel, especially the black. Black parents and teachers repel the novel from schools because it uses the “n-word”; the NAACP and the National Urban League remove the novel from schools because it uses the “n-word”. Twain’s dauntless use of language gets The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn involved such troubles that many people object against the teaching of the novel in schools. However, there are people arguing that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a great work against racism. Twain uses language that seems offensive to help promote the anti-racism; he plays with the technique of irony and satire. “He’s a runaway nigger, and they’ve got him.”(Twain 220) “There’s two hundred dollars reward on him. It’s like picking …show more content…
In the work, Mark Twain applies techniques such as irony and satire, but not direct appealing language to reveal the theme, which puts the theme of anti-racism behind the language of racism. He mocks and satirizes the situation at that time to reveal the ignominy of racist people. However, not all people are able to understand. From the report of Boston Transcript, the members of The Concord Public Library characterize The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as “rough, coarse and inelegant ” and consider it as “the veriest trash”. Obviously they do not really absorb the meanings of the work; if they understand, they will not terribly defame it as this. Even some adults cannot appreciate the language and the meaning of the work, not to mention the young children. If the readers are not mature enough, they will mess up the real meaning. In the novel, without the awareness of the rights of black slaves, people proscribe and enslave them. What Twain’s attempt from this point is to summon people’s awareness of the natural rights of humans, including the enslaved. Nevertheless, the readers get confused with and question the natural rights of humans if they are not mature; it is important for the readers to be mature enough to read the novel, to read between the

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