The U.S. is a lot different now than it was in the nineteenth century. Slavery has been abolished and racism is looked down upon. Kids are expected to branch off from the family, to get a different career and make a life for themselves and just about everyone gets an education. The author, Mark Twain conveys the message that the discrimination and treatment of people based on class and religion, race, and gender in society is unfair and needs to change through Huck’s behavior in the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Huck is already pretty unconventional. His father is a drunk who went to prison, he lived by himself for most of his childhood, he found six thousand dollars in a cave that made him rich, which is always a rare experience,
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Huck is aware that his abusive father wants the money. “You’ve put on considerable many frills since I’ve been away. (Twain 23) You’re educated too; can read and write. You think you’re better than your father, don’t you, because he can’t? I’ll take it out of you. Who told you to meddle with such foolishness? The widow…Well I’ll learn her how to meddle…I’ll learn people to bring up a boy to put on airs over his own father” (Twain 24). During this time period, it was not expected for people to change the economic class they were born in, but “This generation celebrated self-made men, who had risen from the bottom to the top of society” (The Antebellum Era) as it has always been a part of the American dream. Pap seems to be part of the lower-middle class because he has no education, is biased towards racism when he 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 the country where they’d let that nigger vote, I drawed out. I says I’ll never vote again.” (Twaain 32-33), and relies heavily on alcohol. “It [alcoholism] interfered with work, squandered family resources, inflicted painand suffering on woman and children, caused social disorder, and was seen as a sign of lack of self-control” (The Antebellum Era), which is why the temperance movement was created. The temperance movement began in the nineteenth century to prevent people from over-indulging in alcohol and is an effect of the Second Great Awakening. His father, Pap, kidnaps Huck in order to get his money, but Huck gave his money to Judge Thatcher to avoid getting his money stolen, ”Well pretty soon the old man was up and then he went for Judge Thatcher in the courts to give up that money…and then I’d borrow two or three dollars off of the judge for him, to keep from getting a cowhiding. Every time he got
Huck is aware that his abusive father wants the money. “You’ve put on considerable many frills since I’ve been away. (Twain 23) You’re educated too; can read and write. You think you’re better than your father, don’t you, because he can’t? I’ll take it out of you. Who told you to meddle with such foolishness? The widow…Well I’ll learn her how to meddle…I’ll learn people to bring up a boy to put on airs over his own father” (Twain 24). During this time period, it was not expected for people to change the economic class they were born in, but “This generation celebrated self-made men, who had risen from the bottom to the top of society” (The Antebellum Era) as it has always been a part of the American dream. Pap seems to be part of the lower-middle class because he has no education, is biased towards racism when he 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 the country where they’d let that nigger vote, I drawed out. I says I’ll never vote again.” (Twaain 32-33), and relies heavily on alcohol. “It [alcoholism] interfered with work, squandered family resources, inflicted painand suffering on woman and children, caused social disorder, and was seen as a sign of lack of self-control” (The Antebellum Era), which is why the temperance movement was created. The temperance movement began in the nineteenth century to prevent people from over-indulging in alcohol and is an effect of the Second Great Awakening. His father, Pap, kidnaps Huck in order to get his money, but Huck gave his money to Judge Thatcher to avoid getting his money stolen, ”Well pretty soon the old man was up and then he went for Judge Thatcher in the courts to give up that money…and then I’d borrow two or three dollars off of the judge for him, to keep from getting a cowhiding. Every time he got