Realism through Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim journey down the Mississippi stopping in various locations. Twain’s novel illustrates Realism to describe the characters, setting, and regional dialect. The regional dialect in the novel correlates with the time period in which Huck is traveling down the river. Huck and Jim are major characters throughout the novel as it is telling about their travels down the river. Twain’s description of them gives the reader an insight into their appearance and manner. Lastly, Twain vividly describes the setting of the river and cities to allow the readers a perception of the journey within the novel. Throughout The Adventures of …show more content…
First, Twain endorses the use of the word “nigger” throughout the book. An example of the use of “nigger” is when Huck struggles with his conscience and says, “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn 't ever sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn 't do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn 't done that one if I 'd a knowed it would make him feel that way” (Twain 95). The reader quickly discovers that “nigger” is only used as Jim’s name not as a derogatory name. In Huck’s culture, a “nigger” was an African American who was also a slave. “Nigger” in Huck’s day applies to all slaves, this word was used as a label much like students at St. Joseph’s Academy are called Angels. Even if you were a free man, but also African American, your label in society would be “nigger”. The reader finds this true just like a student in 2014 at Southern Illinois College wrote, “The character Jim, to whom racial epithets are most often attached, remains a ‘nigger’ at the end of the novel but not a ‘slave’” (Smith). She …show more content…
Twain’s dialect is often “found in verbs, otherwise the short sentences and clear actions are straightforward,” as said by an author of a literary criticism (Sloane). By using specific verbs, the reader detects regional language. When Jim says, "Say, who is you? Whar is you? Dog my cats ef I didn ' hear sumf 'n. Well, I know what I 's gwyne to do: I 's gwyne to set down here and listen tell I hears it ag 'in", it is an example of the dialect of the time period (Twain 6). Twain uses the dialect of the time to make the book realistic. Twain affiliates Jim, an undereducated man, with the “country” dialect because Jim worked as a slave and had little opportunities to learn. As a slave, he “speak using slang, shortened words, or improper grammar” which provides an understanding on the time period’s people (Fisher Fishkin). Twain even opens the novel by telling the reader, "In this book a number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri Negro dialect; the extreme form of the backwoods Southwestern dialect; the ordinary ‘Pike county’ dialect; and four modified varieties of this last" (Twain Explanatory). By beginning the novel with this short Explanatory, he removes the reader’s questions about the time periods and locations. Through the dialect, the reader is able to identify the time period and manner
In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim journey down the Mississippi stopping in various locations. Twain’s novel illustrates Realism to describe the characters, setting, and regional dialect. The regional dialect in the novel correlates with the time period in which Huck is traveling down the river. Huck and Jim are major characters throughout the novel as it is telling about their travels down the river. Twain’s description of them gives the reader an insight into their appearance and manner. Lastly, Twain vividly describes the setting of the river and cities to allow the readers a perception of the journey within the novel. Throughout The Adventures of …show more content…
First, Twain endorses the use of the word “nigger” throughout the book. An example of the use of “nigger” is when Huck struggles with his conscience and says, “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn 't ever sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn 't do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn 't done that one if I 'd a knowed it would make him feel that way” (Twain 95). The reader quickly discovers that “nigger” is only used as Jim’s name not as a derogatory name. In Huck’s culture, a “nigger” was an African American who was also a slave. “Nigger” in Huck’s day applies to all slaves, this word was used as a label much like students at St. Joseph’s Academy are called Angels. Even if you were a free man, but also African American, your label in society would be “nigger”. The reader finds this true just like a student in 2014 at Southern Illinois College wrote, “The character Jim, to whom racial epithets are most often attached, remains a ‘nigger’ at the end of the novel but not a ‘slave’” (Smith). She …show more content…
Twain’s dialect is often “found in verbs, otherwise the short sentences and clear actions are straightforward,” as said by an author of a literary criticism (Sloane). By using specific verbs, the reader detects regional language. When Jim says, "Say, who is you? Whar is you? Dog my cats ef I didn ' hear sumf 'n. Well, I know what I 's gwyne to do: I 's gwyne to set down here and listen tell I hears it ag 'in", it is an example of the dialect of the time period (Twain 6). Twain uses the dialect of the time to make the book realistic. Twain affiliates Jim, an undereducated man, with the “country” dialect because Jim worked as a slave and had little opportunities to learn. As a slave, he “speak using slang, shortened words, or improper grammar” which provides an understanding on the time period’s people (Fisher Fishkin). Twain even opens the novel by telling the reader, "In this book a number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri Negro dialect; the extreme form of the backwoods Southwestern dialect; the ordinary ‘Pike county’ dialect; and four modified varieties of this last" (Twain Explanatory). By beginning the novel with this short Explanatory, he removes the reader’s questions about the time periods and locations. Through the dialect, the reader is able to identify the time period and manner