During most of the United States’ history, racism had defined the social classes, but in the developing years of the United States, it became a trend that spread throughout the nation. At the time, few authors dared to admit their society’s standards allowed their people to become callous and cold over something like the color of an individual’s skin and their origin, and the few who disagreed with the state of society did not write about it, in fear of their reputation. Only a few authors chose to write novels which reflect the true nature of the south without toning down the less desirable aspects such as the crude lifestyle of the poor, and the cruelty of some people due to racism as critic David Smith; he explains that "The book takes special note of ways in which racism impinges upon the lives of Afro-Americans, even when they are legally 'free '" (363). At the time, whites thought freedom meant no longer enslaving blacks, but racism became a new kind of enslavement that disguised itself as harmless prodding to make sure blacks did not surpass the whites. Twain hopes to reveal the hypocrisy in society’s expectations to his readers through the means of characters such as Huckleberry Finn and Jim to contradict and satirize them.…
