Theme Of Slavery In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

Superior Essays
In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the idea of slavery and racism were prominent. Further being developed in other works such as The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and “Of your Spiritual Strivings”, the first chapter of Arthur Symon’s Souls of Black Folk. These stories and narratives, in different ways, accentuated the real cost of slavery, and the horrors behind closed doors. They showed how blacks faced the most difficult of challenges, and the worst side of hatred. Despite it all, the injustices continued on, the reasoning behind slavery grew, and the racism turned toward hatred for a different color. As stated before, Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn showed the problem with slavery, …show more content…
As a slave, Douglass was unable to learn how to read or write, education in general was unallowed. It came to the point where he wasn’t even allowed to know his own age, or birthdate. As exampled in Chapter 1 Page 1 “I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday” (Douglass P.1) These were the conditions that a slave such as him lived under. The rules or laws made sure slaves remained that of cattle. That they forever had shackles around their feet no matter …show more content…
Punishment was also highly accepted during the time of slavery. Slaves were seen as imperfection therefore punishment, slavery itself was justified. As said by Douglass in Chapter 1 “very different looking class of people are springing up at the south...and if their increase will do no other good...therefore American slavery is right” (Douglass). So, punishing slaves was justified as long as the slave wasn’t killed. Many slaves experienced whipping, even at a young age. When Douglass was a child he saw his aunt getting whipped. “ It was all new to me. I had never seen anything life like it before...lived with my grandmother... out of the way of the bloody scenes that often occured on the plantation” (Douglass P.4). Bloody scenes, deep cuts and bruises it was all the same. Slaves were cattle, they were punished until they couldn’t be recognized. It was fine to treat a human being like this, for surely as long as they didn’t kill them, they could be

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Slavery was a huge part of history many years ago, and even after it became illegal many people had a hard time changing their way of life and thought. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a cherished novel that clearly addresses the reality of slavery and it’s everlasting presence on society. Humans are no stranger to racism and inequality in both fiction and real life, with people still being affected today. Even though slavery is legally ended, through the book characters relationships, morals, and actions Mark Twain sets the novel before the abolition of slavery to show that racism never really ended, and he is trying to change it.…

    • 109 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Huck Finn

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’s true meaning? Is it simply a chronicle of a young boy’s adventures? Is it rather a critique of southern racism? Or is it neither? Many critics debate this popular novel by Mark Twain about a boy, Huck and a runaway slave, Jim’s, adventures on the Mississippi River trying to get Jim to freedom.…

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Growing up, everybody is in search of their own identity, hoping to find their true self-worth. As a slave, you don’t have the option to expand yourself, particularly when it came to comprehending literacy. In the reading, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass, it shows us exactly what can come from a slave wanting to broaden his/her horizon in life. Mr. Douglass definitely had his shares of up’s and down’s, especially when it came to him gaining his own self-worth. Regardless of the mistreatment both mentally and physically, through the use of the master’s tools: fear and abuse, Douglass guides us on how he overcame the hindrance of dehumanization, he and the other slaves faced.…

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Frederick Douglass's 1845 autobiography titled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave, Douglass stresses the miseries of the institution of slavery (as he recalled during the first six months of his stay with Mr Convey—his master). In his autobiography, Douglass addresses the toll that the institution of slavery had place on his “body, soul, and spirit” in which he explains to the ignorant Northern region of the United States, that the institution slavery is “hell” and degenerating. In his crusade in an attempt to end the institution of slavery, Douglass hopes to educate not only the North, but the entire world to realize slavery as a sinister practice. Through his use of barbaric diction, inhumane imagery, and dreary…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This is a narrative of a slave who freed himself. He went by the name of Frederick Douglass. The book was very brutal and intense. This gave great incite on what slavery was like on the plantation. It also covered what slaves as well as himself went through during slave days.…

    • 1390 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Huckleberry Finn is Not a Racist Novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain has sparked controversy from its first publication because of the portrayal of the slave Jim. Set in the mid 1800’s a young boy named Huck escapes his abusive father, with a slave Jim, by faking his own death. They escape on a raft down the Mississippi River and try to free Jim. Jim’s treatment and use of offensive language in Huck Finn should not be seen as a racial aspect because of the depiction of Jim, the differences between Jim and Huck’s father Pap and how Huck and Jim’s relationship develops. These are all reasons why Huck Finn should not be known as a racist novel.…

    • 1683 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Often in the statements made by Douglass’ master lie the caveat to his ideological stance on race. When he is discussing that slaves should not learn to read, his master says “it would forever unfit him for the duties of a slave” (Douglass, p. 146). He admits, to a degree, that his way of operating and enforcing rules is flawed if there exists an attainable freedom through the skill of writing. The flaws in the ethics that so strictly conduct the choices and actions of their life reveal just how broken the idea of racial essentialism…

    • 1504 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    When describing the first time he witnessed a whipping at Captain Anthony’s plantation, he personifies the event. He recalls it as, “...the bloodstained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass” (5). He marks this event as an inauguration into the cruel reality of slavery that he was soon to enter. Additionally, Frederick Douglass uses a simile to portray how blind slaves are to everything they are being put through. He states, “ the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs,” (1).…

    • 1919 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain tackles the issues of Slavery in the United States (specifically the South). Twain does so by telling the story of a thirteen year old white boy named Huck Finn and his adventures with Jim, a black slave. It is important to note that Mark Twain wrote this book two decades after the Emancipation Proclamation, and while this abolished Slavery, racism was still a real problem of the South. Moreover, Twain establishes the significance of friendship in the novel. Through events such as Huck’s ‘band of robbers’ known as ‘Tom Sawyer’s Gang’ to his growing compassion towards Jim, it is clear that Huck treats friendship as a very serious matter his life.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Renowned author Mark Twain in his famous novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn satirizes two prevalent social practices rampant in the South of Pre-Civil War United States: slavery and white supremacy. He does this by employing the rhetorical strategies of irony, absurdity, and pathos to criticizes racism as well as Southern mentality on the topic. He accomplishes this through Huck Finn’s journey with Jim, a runaway-slave. Twain criticizes, through contrasting irony, the Southern mentality that blacks are inferior to whites. He portrays this mindset strongly in Pap’s personal views on African Americans.…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, author Mark Twain attacks the corruptness of Southern civilization after the Civil War. Through Huck’s wild journey in helping a runaway slave named Jim, Twain ridicules numerous problems facing American society in the 1800’s to give the reader insight on the social horrors embedded in the culture and lifestyle of Americans in the South. In particular, Twain satirizes the South’s perspective of “civilization” within white society and the underlying effect it has on their morals and freedom. Twain ridicules these specific attitudes and hypocrisies of the American people as they claim to be civilized and moral, but contradict themselves within their own actions and beliefs. Moreover, through his employment of situational irony and parody, Twain takes the reader along a journey uncovering the flaws of American civilization surrounding the South.…

    • 861 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    “We have to acknowledge that adolescence is that time of transition where we begin to introduce to children that life isn’t pretty, that there are difficult things, there are hard situations, it’s not fair. Bad things happen to good people,” - Laurie Halse Anderson. The concept of adolescence is a universal phenomenon that includes the transition from a child into a young adult. It is the exact moment where a young individual discovers their newfound values and incorporate those principles onto their own way of living. In the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain demonstrates the concept of adolescents through Huckleberry Finn; a young adolescent who struggles on the development of his own values due to the influence of society.…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, authored in the late 1800s by Mark Twain, is a widely known and loved novel whilst also being extremely controversial. In Twain’s writing, he dives into deep themes such as racism in the United States, how common and normal slavery felt to people of this time period, and the basic human morals that all people -not just whites- should possess. Twain’s famous novel takes place in the early 1800s, a time period in which inequality and slavery were widely praised and accepted because of how normal and common they were. This novel expresses true examples that took place during this time period, because there are many examples of racism included in Twain’s writing, which could potentially convince the readers to…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Education is one of the most important themes in Frederick Douglass’ 1845 autobiographical memoir Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. However, despite the emphasis placed on education, it is presented as a double-edged sword. On one hand, Frederick Douglass feels that the only way to secure freedom for himself and his fellow slaves is to through learning how to read and write and receiving an education. On the other hand, education is presented as damaging to the mind as Frederick Douglass becomes increasingly aware of the full extent of his servitude. Throughout the memoir, Douglass presents education as a negative force on the psychology of the slaves as well as incompatible with the system of slavery.…

    • 1028 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Mark Twain, an ingenious writer, develops a book call The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This book primarily focuses on an orphan boy call Huckleberry Finn and a runaway slave call Jim. They venture on the Mississippi River to meet and explore the world’s danger and social classes throughout the country. Moreover, social classes can create racism thereby, each social class needs to become more accepting of each other. Twain creates this intricate society by placing together various social classes during the 19th century.…

    • 1911 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays