Mark Twain's Use Of Southern Chivalry

Whilst in the small town in Arkansas two minor but significant characters are placed in the novel. Their presence has no significance to the plot of the novel yet they are still included. Through these events, Twain uses imagery and invective to reflect his feelings toward the injustice in the South. The small quiet town is described in vivid detail with “streets and lanes [of] just mud” (143) and the people were drinking a “considerable amount of whiskey… [and had] three fights” (144). This town is in the Deep South and has lost the sense of Southern chivalry reflected through the Shepardsons and Grangerfords. The conditions that these people are living in is quite similar to that of livestock, more specifically pigs. The “river’s always gnawing at [the town]” again, similar to a description of an animal. Twain describes these people in such a way that you start to think of them as animals. They are messy and unintelligent like pigs. Through his imagery the reader is able to get a better insight of a perspective of people living in the south. Along with the animalistic …show more content…
A part of them realizes that the enslavement of humans is wrong but no one is able to step up and do what is right. It is at the point where Twain shows that the South will never be able to overcome slavery as they are all cowards. In addition all of the members of the group are not even sure why they are doing this. It started with one man kind of suggesting an idea to a whole town going after a man. They are so easily influenced that they will believe anything. Sherburns speech is the only form of invective in the novel and it is used so Twain can reflect his own feelings of the Southern townsfolk by straight up calling them out on their faults. He is being blunt about his feelings and how they need to change themselves to fix the issues in their pathetic small