As a country that prides itself with the idealistic notions of liberty, justice, and equality, the roots of America’s history deem otherwise. For centuries, an atrocious system of oppression was forced upon millions of African Americans. They were dehumanized, tortured, and murdered in ways that there are no words powerful enough to genuinely describe. As slaves cried and begged for freedom, the country based on democracy reared its ugly head and turned the other way, repudiating the very principles of its founding. Using his satirical writing, Mark Twain strived to identify and unmask the harsh realities of slavery, challenging the common discourses of society. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain provides an accurate portrayal
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Mark Twain accurately sheds light upon the oppression and dehumanizing treatment that Jim and African Americans as a whole faced on a daily basis to condemn society 's hypocritical nature. During the 1800s, African American slaves were brutally oppressed, ruthlessly denied the most basic civil rights, and savagely beaten to submission. Linda Brent depicts a slave’s viewpoint in the Incidents In The Life of A Slave Girl with “We are dogs here; foot-balls, cattle, every thing that’s mean. No, I will not stay. Let them bring me back. We don’t die but once” (Brent 34). For hundreds of years, African Americans like Jim were dehumanized to nothing but “dogs, foot-balls, cattle,” oppressed to the point that slaves would declare “we don’t die but once,” asserting that even dying would be better than living in this destitute situation. Throughout his novel, Twain provides an accurate portrayal of this oppressive treatment as Jim and the entire African American society are also constantly forced to subjugation in all aspects of life. Although the most extreme accounts of brutal degradation and traumatizing torture are not depicted in this novel, the widespread …show more content…
Twain’s novel forces his readers to question the implementations of liberty, justice, and equality in America, the so called “land of the free.” Ultimately, he takes a step in the right direction to advance society’s morals and
Mark Twain accurately sheds light upon the oppression and dehumanizing treatment that Jim and African Americans as a whole faced on a daily basis to condemn society 's hypocritical nature. During the 1800s, African American slaves were brutally oppressed, ruthlessly denied the most basic civil rights, and savagely beaten to submission. Linda Brent depicts a slave’s viewpoint in the Incidents In The Life of A Slave Girl with “We are dogs here; foot-balls, cattle, every thing that’s mean. No, I will not stay. Let them bring me back. We don’t die but once” (Brent 34). For hundreds of years, African Americans like Jim were dehumanized to nothing but “dogs, foot-balls, cattle,” oppressed to the point that slaves would declare “we don’t die but once,” asserting that even dying would be better than living in this destitute situation. Throughout his novel, Twain provides an accurate portrayal of this oppressive treatment as Jim and the entire African American society are also constantly forced to subjugation in all aspects of life. Although the most extreme accounts of brutal degradation and traumatizing torture are not depicted in this novel, the widespread …show more content…
Twain’s novel forces his readers to question the implementations of liberty, justice, and equality in America, the so called “land of the free.” Ultimately, he takes a step in the right direction to advance society’s morals and