Summary: Huck and Tom decide to play a naughty trick on Tom’s Aunt Sally. They decide to remove and replace spoons, confusing Aunt Sally about the real number of spoons. Eventually, Sally breaks down and leaves, and Huck and Tom feel proud of their shenanigans. When Sally eventually finds out Huck and Tom’s real identities, she is as affectionate as before and even says to Huck, “Oh, go on and call me Aunt Sally, I’m used to it, now, and ‘tain’t no need to change” (291). Evidently, Sally understands the kind nature of the boys and embraces their jokes and mischief. Symbol: Huck and Tom’s spoon antics symbolize the mischievous but genuinely wholesome nature of boys. Although it stresses out Aunt Sally to no end, Twain’s narration suggests that
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Instead, he believes Huck to be lying. The above dialogue is an example of dramatic irony because the reader knows something that Pap does not.
While such a conversation may seem trivial or inconsequential, Twain uses this example of irony to illustrate a deep chasm of distrust and suspicion between Huck and his father. This sense of hostility between father and son reappears later in the novel where Pap even locks Huck in a cabin. Additionally, when Jim eventually reveals toward the end of the story that Huck’s father had died at the beginning of Huck, the news does not seem to even disconcert Huck the least.
Throughout the novel, Huck relies on his ingenuity and storytelling skills to escape problematic situations. However, when Huck hastily fabricates the name “George Jackson” (96) after being asked by the Grangerfords for his identity, he forgets it the next day. As such, he asks his new acquaintance Buck to spell his name. Treating Huck’s request as a lighthearted challenge, Buck spells “G-o-r-g-e J-a-x-o-n” (100), thereby enabling Huck to recall his made-up …show more content…
However, when Tom sees that Jim is somehow locked up and chained, he expresses wild disbelief and reveals that Jim had already been set free by the late Miss Watson two months prior. This is an example of situational irony: the reader does not know that Jim has already been freed, and Tom’s revelation comes as a surprise to every other character as well. As soon as Tom hears that Jim has been locked up again, he “rose square up in bed, with his eye hot, and his nostrils opening and shutting like gills” (289), alerting the reader that something very noteworthy will happen. Then, as he breaks the news to the reader, this final example of irony concludes the main plot of the novel and leaves the audience puzzled at first, but soon satisfied with the outcome of Huck’s adventures with Jim and
Instead, he believes Huck to be lying. The above dialogue is an example of dramatic irony because the reader knows something that Pap does not.
While such a conversation may seem trivial or inconsequential, Twain uses this example of irony to illustrate a deep chasm of distrust and suspicion between Huck and his father. This sense of hostility between father and son reappears later in the novel where Pap even locks Huck in a cabin. Additionally, when Jim eventually reveals toward the end of the story that Huck’s father had died at the beginning of Huck, the news does not seem to even disconcert Huck the least.
Throughout the novel, Huck relies on his ingenuity and storytelling skills to escape problematic situations. However, when Huck hastily fabricates the name “George Jackson” (96) after being asked by the Grangerfords for his identity, he forgets it the next day. As such, he asks his new acquaintance Buck to spell his name. Treating Huck’s request as a lighthearted challenge, Buck spells “G-o-r-g-e J-a-x-o-n” (100), thereby enabling Huck to recall his made-up …show more content…
However, when Tom sees that Jim is somehow locked up and chained, he expresses wild disbelief and reveals that Jim had already been set free by the late Miss Watson two months prior. This is an example of situational irony: the reader does not know that Jim has already been freed, and Tom’s revelation comes as a surprise to every other character as well. As soon as Tom hears that Jim has been locked up again, he “rose square up in bed, with his eye hot, and his nostrils opening and shutting like gills” (289), alerting the reader that something very noteworthy will happen. Then, as he breaks the news to the reader, this final example of irony concludes the main plot of the novel and leaves the audience puzzled at first, but soon satisfied with the outcome of Huck’s adventures with Jim and