Huckleberry Finn Civilization Analysis

In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, author Mark Twain attacks the corruptness of Southern civilization after the Civil War. Through Huck’s wild journey in helping a runaway slave named Jim, Twain ridicules numerous problems facing American society in the 1800’s to give the reader insight on the social horrors embedded in the culture and lifestyle of Americans in the South. In particular, Twain satirizes the South’s perspective of “civilization” within white society and the underlying effect it has on their morals and freedom. Twain ridicules these specific attitudes and hypocrisies of the American people as they claim to be civilized and moral, but contradict themselves within their own actions and beliefs. Moreover, through his employment of situational irony and parody, Twain takes the reader along a journey uncovering the flaws of American civilization surrounding the South. Throughout the novel, Twain satirizes specific aspects of Southern society, such as the idea behind civilization, through situational irony and parody. Twain employs the South’s depiction of civilization to show that no one is free from civilization and its misconceptions due its restrictive rules and order. He touches upon the idea that …show more content…
Twain’s main purpose in satirizing different aspects of American society is to open the eyes of the reader to the uncivilized ways embedded in the everyday lives of Southerners in their so called “civilization” after the Civil War. By applying situational irony and parody, Twain succeeds in poking fun at the South’s attempt at social reconstruction after they lost the “war between the states” in 1865. Overall, through his literary masterpiece, Twain aims to educate the reader on the outbreak of flaws endured within American civilization in the