A Controversial Objective It is often that when an author writes literature they convey a specific message. These messages are not always evident to its readers and can frequently be misinterpreted. In the 4th most banned book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain hides an underlying message about the corrupt evils of a "civilized" society and the ridiculousness of racism. However, this message is often overlooked by many readers and is conveyed much differently than originally intended by the author. Even though Mark Twain 's message about racism and society is meaningful, it is not effectively conveyed because of it 's endless controversy, ambiguous confusion, and hypocrisy. Most importantly, the amount of controversy over The
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There is a diverse group of people reading this book, and not everyone is able to understand the dark satire that runs throughout the book. As Mason explained, the readers are not to be blamed as Twain is known for creating confusion. He says, "At every point, one must be aware of his ventriloquist 's voice, parodic themes, and ironic author commentary" (222). Meaning, that if the reader doesn 't keep these literary components in mind, they will have a very challenging time understanding that Twain is making fun of a racist, illogical society and just trying to get his point across. However, just because his underlying message is meaningful, it doesn 't mean that it is conveyed effectively because many completely overlook it and feel as if the message is too buried underneath all of the racist remarks, irony, and satire. The message is there, but it is not very clear. Especially, to people of a young age who may have trouble understanding the heavy satire. When this book is read on a literal level, the message is totally different, which causes much confusion in the …show more content…
Obviously, Mark Twain did not intend to come off as racist and insensitive because he was just trying to use historical facts and bring a societal problem to the surface. The downside of this is that just because Twain is presenting the world with an already known problem, does not mean that the problem of racism will be fixed. Twain 's message is very deep and meaningful, it just isn 't conveyed adequately. If it was, then there would not be so much controversy over whether or not this book is attacking blacks or if it is totally anti-racial. When read with satire in mind, the story has much more depth and complexity than when read on a literal base level, which presents a racist society and two people escaping their pasts. Finally, Mark Twain 's message is meaningful, yet hard to comprehend and discover due to the amount of satire and
There is a diverse group of people reading this book, and not everyone is able to understand the dark satire that runs throughout the book. As Mason explained, the readers are not to be blamed as Twain is known for creating confusion. He says, "At every point, one must be aware of his ventriloquist 's voice, parodic themes, and ironic author commentary" (222). Meaning, that if the reader doesn 't keep these literary components in mind, they will have a very challenging time understanding that Twain is making fun of a racist, illogical society and just trying to get his point across. However, just because his underlying message is meaningful, it doesn 't mean that it is conveyed effectively because many completely overlook it and feel as if the message is too buried underneath all of the racist remarks, irony, and satire. The message is there, but it is not very clear. Especially, to people of a young age who may have trouble understanding the heavy satire. When this book is read on a literal level, the message is totally different, which causes much confusion in the …show more content…
Obviously, Mark Twain did not intend to come off as racist and insensitive because he was just trying to use historical facts and bring a societal problem to the surface. The downside of this is that just because Twain is presenting the world with an already known problem, does not mean that the problem of racism will be fixed. Twain 's message is very deep and meaningful, it just isn 't conveyed adequately. If it was, then there would not be so much controversy over whether or not this book is attacking blacks or if it is totally anti-racial. When read with satire in mind, the story has much more depth and complexity than when read on a literal base level, which presents a racist society and two people escaping their pasts. Finally, Mark Twain 's message is meaningful, yet hard to comprehend and discover due to the amount of satire and