|
The journey taken by two people down a river, is rarely thought of as
anything more than just an adventure. However, Mark Twain uses his novel, The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, to explore and poke fun of many problems facing
American society. Huck, the main character, is considered an uneducated boy who
is constantly under pressure to conform to the civilized aspects of society.
Jim, who accompanies Huck, is a runaway slave seeking freedom from the world
that has denied it to him for so long. In his novel, Twain uses satire to
demonstrate many of civilizations problems. In the beginning of the story, Huck
sneaks away from his home to play with Tom Sawyer and his friends. The boys
start a gang and decide that one of the things they will do is kidnap people,
and hold them for ransom. The boys quickly discover that they cannot ransom
anyone because they don't know what ransom means. Tom has a theory as to the
meaning of the word, But per'aps if we keep them till they're ransomed, it means
that we keep them till they're dead.
(12) Without any doubts, all of the boys
agree with this meaning of the word. In this segment of the novel, Twain uses
satire to demonstrate that even though something may be truly wrong, if
civilization or society adopts it to be true, then it is believed to be true.
Twain may be specifically using the issue of slavery as his target, in this
instance of satire. During the time period in which The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn was written, religion was as much a part of civilization, as
was an education. Religion is one of the key victims of Twain's satire
throughout the novel. This satire is no more apparent then when Huck's guardian,
the Widow Douglas, preaches to him about Moses. Huck didn't think very much of
her lecture; Here she was a-bothering about Moses, which was no kin to her, and
no use to anybody, being gone, you see...(3) Twain uses Huck to exhibit his
objection to the blind faith that civilized society places towards religion.
During Huck and Jim's journey, they encounter two men who refer to themselves as
the Duke and the King.
Theses characters make their living by swindling people
out of their money. When they are eventually caught, they pay for their sins by
being tarred and feathered. Huck expresses his thoughts on the subject by
saying, It was a dreadful thing to see. Human beings can be awful cruel to one
another.(294) Through this event, Twain shows that crooks and criminals aren't
the only ones that can be cruel. The crowd that considers themselves to be
civilized and opposing any such imprudent and cruel acts, actually commits one
themselves. Twain illustrates how a society that views themselves as civilized
can display such irresponsible conduct. Twain uses a boy and a runaway slave in,
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, to not only tell a story, but to express
what he thinks are the problems of civilized society. Satire is the key tool in
which he uses to demonstrate these problems. Through Twain's use of satire, we
can not only poke fun at American society, but we can learn from its mistakes.
Twain turned an ordinary adventure down a river into an exploration of the
problems society, especially civilized society, faces. Because of the brilliant
way in which Twain intertwines satire into his novel, the lessons in The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, will be remembered forever.
|
