Huckleberry Finn Education Analysis

Education In not only modern society but in past times as well, two major forms of education have been present. The first form of education is book smarts or a school education. The second form of education is common sense or street smarts. Over the years there has been many debates on which type of education is more useful. Mark Twain presents his ideas on which form of education is better through the actions and attitudes of several of his books characters. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain characters Huck, Miss Watson, and Tom all have different views on education. Huck tends to use his common sense more often throughout the book, and also voices his displeasure of school often. When Huck is addressing his current education he says, “I don’t take no stock in mathematics.” (Pg.27) This quote shows that Huck does not see any sense in the things he learns at school. After Huck had lived off the land for the the entirety of his life he does not see how things like math help him in life. Also when Huck is talking about how life was with Pap in town he said,” I didn’t want to go to school much before, but I reckoned I’d go now …show more content…
Twain gives Huck a great amount of common sense. This large amount of common sense has allowed Huck to be able to live off the land for a period of time. On the other hand, Twain gives Widow Douglas a great education. Both Huck and Widow Douglas used their education differently to live they desired. By doing this Twain is saying a person can be successful if they have practical knowledge or book knowledge. Twain also portrayed Tom to love books. This is not necessarily to promote book knowledge but more to show the valuable information and enjoyment out of reading. Overall, Twain made the characters of The Adventure of Huck Finn to all have their own views on