Huckleberry Finn Romanticism Essay

Mark Twain, whose real name is Samuel Clemens, was one of the best, if not the best, authors of the 19th century. Twain’s most influential novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a critique of southern romanticism. He repudiated romantic literature as he felt that it imbued the reader with false hopes. For this reason, it appears to be ironic that Twain would incorporate elements of romanticism within a work that criticized such elements within literature. The novel contains elements of romanticism that appear throughout the novel. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is Twain’s exposure of romanticism. The character Tom Sawyer in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is the representative romantic. When he is first presented in the novel, one recognizes his role as a leader. Tom Sawyer creates a gang called ‘Tom Sawyer’s Gang’ due to Tom is the one who that directs pursuits and activities. Such activities are based on Sawyer’s exaggerated ideas of adventure. When the idea of ransom and kidnapping is discussed, Tom …show more content…
Finn is a neglected and abused boy whose father is a drunk. One sees the world from his point of view as he attempts to figure out the world that he lives in. One example is when Huck and Jim meet the duke and the king. Twain uses these characters to show how people in real life act, particularly romantics, educators and religious leaders. The duke and the king pretend to be elaborate and educated, when in reality they are just a pair of low-life scum. Huck comes to realize that the pair are nothing but criminals, "It didn't take me long to make up my mind that these liars warn't no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds." (Twain 125). Throughout the novel, Huck’s conscience starts to form as he deals with hypocrisy and fraudulence of the society around him. Unlike Tom, Huck goes about the world with a realistic