On the surface, Mark Twain’s ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ may appear like a simple and straightforward story about a boy and an escaped slave sailing down the Mississippi River. However a deeper look reveals underneath, a subtle confrontation of child abuse, slavery and racism.
From the beginning of the novel, Twain makes it clear that Huck is a boy who comes from the lowest class of the white society. His father is a drunkard who disappears for months on end. Huck himself is dirty and often homeless. He wears old, thrown -out adult clothes and rests on doorways and sleeps inside empty barrels. Despite the fact that widow Douglas wanted to help Huck “change” his way of living, he stubbornly resists her attempts and maintains his own irresponsible and carefree ways of living. The community failed to protect him from his abusive father, the widow tried to provide Huck with some of the schooling and religious training he had missed all these years, despite the fact that he has never been indoctrinated with social values in the same way a middle class boy like Tom Sawyer had been.
When the novel begins, Huck Finn is still a child, probably 13-14 years old. Apart from having a lot of freedom, he has also been the victim of some rather horrific experiences. Huck is the child of violent, alcoholic father, who behaves very abusively with Huck, the boy is often beaten up and injured. Not only physical trouble is an issue between father and son here, Pap additionally is also against Huck’s education. He resents Huck’s ability to read and write, and to be immersed in religious studies. The world of Widow Douglas, who agreed to take care of Huck, is a dangerous world, in Pap’s mind. He forces Huck to stop his education thus, ‘to return to his origins’ as Pap puts it. He wants his son to solely belong to himself as a thing and not as an individual, to do only what he orders him; like a puppet. “But by and by Pap got too handy with his hick’ry and I couldn’t stand it. I was all over welts”. He even kept him in the forest in a lodge away from the outside world and from people who were willing to help, he was locked and kept there like an animal whom Pap used for his convenience. Huck explains, “Once he locked me in and was gone for three days. It was dreadful lonesome”.
We as readers can acknowledge that Huck is a child in need of supervision. Everyone in the town knew that Huck is an abused and neglected child. As a result, he is taken in and cared for by widow Douglas who tries to provide him with a good home, discipline and manners along with strong Christian values. But with his child-like innocence and limited understanding of the larger world, Huck fails to understand the help he is being given and rejects the widow’s influence. Twain’s stress on Huck’s childhood illustrating a crucial theme within the novel; childhood innocence. Huck’s innocence is actually quite harmful; it is his view of the larger world that is limited hence he is incapable of distinguishing right from wrong.
However, Huck’s feeling of empathy helps his moral development by enabling him to imagine what it is like to be in someone else’s shoe. Huck experiences remorse and has guilt trips at various moments in the novel, and these feelings force him to question seriously regarding morality. Huck’s guilt is essentially tied to the religious morality he learned from Widow Douglas. Not long after he and Jim set out on their voyage, Huck understands that by aiding Jim escape he has done harm to Jim’s owner, Miss Watson. He explains: “Conscience says to me,…‘What did that poor old woman do to you, that you could treat her so mean?’…I got to feeling so mean and so miserable I most wished I was dead”.
Here Huck realizes that he has broken the Golden Norm of Christianity, and, he remains conflicted till the very last of what we see of Huck in this novel. The breaking point comes when he finds himself unable to pray, he realizes that in his heart he doesn’t believe Jim should be returned to slavery, and saying so in a prayer would be lying to God. When he eventually sets out to help Jim escape once and for all, Huck expels the last traces of guilt. Hence Huck demonstrates that he does have a sense of morality, be it misguided. Huck values his friendship with Jim by overcoming racial prejudices and learns to respect and love Jim.
A major contributor to Huck’s manner of living is his father. Pap’s vagrant, drunken lifestyle is an illustration of the common situation of the American families during the 19th century — a tramp like father and an impoverished family. Because of Pap’s abusive treatment, Huck fears pap’s return from his wanderings, which always signal a renewal of abuse towards Huck. Although Huck encounters many family groups during the course of his adventures, he constantly yearns for freedom and ultimately assumes the life of a tramp, detached from the obligations and civilised way of life. Under such abusive eye of Pap, Huck attempts to represent natural life through his freedom of spirit, uncivilised ways and desire to escape from civilisation.
We can state that Huck was a traumatised child while growing up — Huck is abused and subject to poison spilled by Pap about the whole society. He kept Huck in a distance from main stream society which made Huck sceptical of the world around him and the idea it passes on to him. Huck can be called as the “juvenile pariah of the village” because he was made to believe that the whole world is full of lies except for Pap. On the other side he encountered people who only tried to straighten him in a civilised Christian manner without considering his real needs. He never got to live the life of a normal teenage boy.
‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ by Mark Twain is the story of Huckleberry Finn, and his maturity that is developed through a series of events. This maturity has encouraged through the relationship between Huck and Jim, as well as the strong influence Jim has on Huck. Lionel Trilling claims that Huck finds in Jim “his truefather”. Truth is, Jim does not finds neither a father or a mother, but what is clear is that in Jim, he finds both. Jim’s real role in the novel, and it is to provide Huck with an opportunity for moral growth. And a father, does not only provide either DNA or economic help, but support, guidance and understanding. Throughout all of his adventures, Jim shows compassion as his most prominent trait. Jim is Huck’s true father because he took responsibility and risked his life for him.
There are beliefs on other things, but in this novel, it is clear that Jim took responsibility of Huck. Huck was not trying to find himself, but he acted as an uncivilized and ignorant boy. He needed direction and guidance though his friendship with Jim taught Huck a great deal about humanity. Sometimes, someone needs a little of strictness in their life. Huck is immature at first, playing practical roles on Jim, treating him the way Tom Sawyer would (as an inferior boy). Jim possessed some qualities that created a positive influence on Huck. However, Jim takes the job and teaches Huck how to be responsible and to care about other people’s feelings.
Jim risked his life for Huck. He and Huck try to escape from the duke and king but fail. Later on, Jim is freed by Huck and Tom, but risks his own freedom to help the doctor with Tom’s calf. He is again imprisoned and generously not killed on account of saving Tom’s life. “I liked the nigger for that, I tell you, gentlemen, a nigger like that is worth a thousand dollars-and kind treatment too” (ch. 42). Finally, Jim is free, Tom’s leg is healed, Huck, Tom and Jim got their way out. And so after this statement, you can notice Jim’s braveness and then is when Jim reveals his internal conflict: risks his own freedom, to help out Tom, which he basically did it to help out Huck, which leaves an impression of Jim being a good example for Huck, proves that he is more than a friend. Risking his life, his freedom, his path, taking responsibility of Huck and many other things.
In the end, what Lionel Trilling claims, is true. Jim is basically Huck’s father. Throughout this novel, we learn a lot about Jim, his good heart, how he does not give up on Huck’s immature attitude and offensive jokes and comments towards him and other people. He puts aside all those things and focuses on something, teaching Huck, making him learn about values, feelings, leadership, loyalty and most important, responsibility. It is impossible to not agree with the idea of Jim being a great character that builds amazing values and leaves a mark on Huck’s life. Jim as a runaway slave, trying to find a place that feels safe for him, trying to run away from all racial stereotypes, gets into Huck’s path. Leaving a mark, changing his life and turning into a father figure, showing compassion and not leaving him alone at any time, reveals the amazing personality of this character. Jim, Huck’s father. Not by blood, but by heart.
Society has always played a huge role in society and that can be see in the story of ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ written by author Mark Twain. Throughout Huck Finn the main character Huck, undergoes drastic character develop and experiences how much power society holds. He is able to overcome the power that society holds over his morality and develops ideas that fit into moral code. This trend of moral change continues throughout real American history up to the present day. So much so, that in my own life I had never had to experience the moral development at such at a notable level that Huck had to throughout his childhood. When a system of power estates a predetermined notion that is followed by a majority in society it is difficult for individuals to break out those fixed ideas and think and act freely in what lies in contention with their moral code and thoughts.
In ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’, the main character, Huck Finn struggles with finding the balance of adhering to society’s grip and what his own morals are telling him is right. In respect to his family, Huck and his father have none or minimal feelings of love or respect for one another. Huck’s feelings toward his father are a mixture of fear and hatred, all due to the way he is consistently mistreated and beaten by Pap on a regular basis. As slaves were once seen as property by white men, Paps sees Huck the same way, and never conveys or shows feelings of paternal care or love towards his son. The relationship between the two only exists because of blood. It’s essentially one of out of necessity.
Throughout the story, Huck’s perspective and attitude towards Jim drastically changes. At first, he simply thinks of Jim as a piece of property and an ignorant slave. However, that slowly changes into Huck thinking of Jim as a good friend and equal human being. Huck was brought up in a society that oppressed slaves in every form and aspect. Slaves were seen to be property, incapable of thinking for themselves and unable to possess any sort of feelings or individualized thoughts. This can be shown by the numerous times Huck pulled pranks on Jim. These pranks were a reflection of how Huck saw Jim at first. For example, Jim and Huck were separated in the fog and Huck tries to convince Jim that the event had never happened. He tells that Jim he had imagined all of it and to his surprise, Jim calls him out on it and scolds Huck for his lack of sensitivity. Huck 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”(Twain 49). This is a depiction of Huck’s air of superiority around Jim. He clearly thinks that Jim is of a lower status than him. Having to go apologize for his actions was difficult for Huck, he was forced to humble himself. The difficulty for Huck lies within the societal norms that make him think he is superior to Jim. This is a pivotal part of the story that shows development in Huck’s morals and character. Another incident that occurs is when Huck and Jim get into an argument over language and King Solomon. The argument goes on and finally, Huck says, “it warn’t no use wasting words–you can’t learn a nigger to argue. So I quit” (Twain 39). Here he expresses his predisposed idea of slaves. To Huck, Jim is unable to learn, utilize logic, and build an intelligent argument for the sake of conversation. Again this falls back on the ideas society has imposed on Jim due to the color of his skin.
This directly correlates with a reading called ‘The Princess Steel’ written by WEB du Bois in 1905. The story has a standout quote where a white character in the story says, “One would not for a moment have hesitated to call him a gentleman had it not been for his skin color. His voice, his manner, everything showed training and refinement” (Du Bois). The idea that an African American can act in a manner that was seen gentlemen like shocked the white male character in the story. It completely shattered all his stereotypes of African American males in one interaction. Society had made it unheard for him to even fathom the thought of African American males being intelligent enough to have him think he could have been of white ethnicity if not for his skin color. This is an example of society closing one’s mind and indirectly making them restrict their freedom of thought and fall in line with the majority of society’s preconceived thoughts.
Further down the story through all the trials and tribulations Jim and Huck experience together, Huck’s attitude changes. Huck learns to see Jim as an equal to himself and treat him with the respect of a normal human being despite the color of your skin. In the end, he even goes so far to say about Jim, “I know’d he was white inside” (Twain 341). This statement shows how Huck feels that Jim individually is, to an extent, his equal. His attitude towards Jim has changed from his feeling that Jim is below him and less of a human, to becoming an quasi-equal. This point can be furthered with an explanation written by, Cassander Smith, when he explains, “Whether Jim is called a slave or a nigger, Huck is still brought to the central moral dilemma…It is still a realist text centered on a central character’s conflict between his own moral center and social dictates” (Smith).
Huck is able to overcome the idea of what society sees Jim as and put those notions aside so he can use his own judgment to dictate the type of person Jim really is. Society has constructed his idea of being able to judge someone for what they truly are rather than what society says they are. Unknowingly his freedom of thoughts are being twisted and he is able to overcome those boundaries that society has placed upon him.
Another person that appears interacting with Huck is Widow Douglas. She has a predetermined idea of how Huck should be and Huck’s natural ideas of how to act are completely different from hers. This is an example of Huck demonstrating that he has the ability to go against society and stand up for his ideas. It it within and Twain shows that here in this interaction with Widow Douglas. Irony can be seen through their relationship and an example of this is when Huck is told not to smoke by Widow Douglas even though she secretly smokes herself. She is seen as a hypocrite and Huck being a child sees that immediately.
Another interaction Huck has is with Miss Watson, who tries to warn Huck about the consequence of going to hell. This ironic reference is a way of Twain reminding the reader that Huck is still in his childhood and portraying his sense of innocence to his audience. This is an example of Huck being able to think outside of society showing that his morals are flexible and measured to a certain extent.
Huck in the context of natural and domestic environments is clearly portrayed through the story. It lies directly within the main theme of the novel, which is the difference between civilization and freedom. Author Mark Twain suggests that civilization corrupts individuals rather than bettering them. This is clearly shown in the first chapter when Huck is forced to change himself on a fundamental level in order to mold into what Widow Douglas believes he should act. The structure of having to wear new clothes and only eating dinner when the dinner bell rings don’t fit into his normal tendencies as a person. An example of this can be seen when he says “a barrel of odds and ends” and uses this to compare eating dinner off a plate rather than a pig’s slop bucket (Twain 1). This is Twain explaining Hucks earlier life and notes that Huck actually enjoyed eating from a slop bucket rather than a plate that he is forced to eat on. Huck in relation to food can be seen as a notable theme in the story in that his interactions with food is aligned with how he would rather be, in nature and living freely. It is seen throughout the story that Huck is seen to be trapped in a ‘civilized’ world. He values freedom over structure implying that he doesn’t care about what society thinks and that he should be doing as he pleases without any restrictions implemented on to him. This power struggle is something he deals with throughout the novel.
‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ was written immediately after the enforcement of the Jim Crow laws, which were created to directly limit the rights of blacks in various ways that introduced new forms of oppression for African Americans. These new laws directly affected Jim in the novel and were part of the reason society treated blacks so unjustly due to the enforcement of these laws. This also affected Huck in that his upbringing was due the time of these laws and since he was still a child and everyone saw African Americans in such a negative light he just followed suit. Reconstruction and the establishment of white power in the South played a role in the enactment of these new laws. It is within these events that the context of the story was written which were during the year of 1884 by Mark Twain in response to the development of these laws. This furthered in an article written by Anders Schinkel when he voices that, “Writing in the aftermath of the Civil War, surveying all the blood and treasure spent to free slaves, and then Reconstruction collapsing, convict-lease, the rise of the Klan, Jim Crow, lynchings—Mark Twain eventually dedicated Huck Finn to the proposition that, contra Lincoln, there was no birth of freedom” (Schinkel). Ironically enough during a time where there was no true freedom for Africans Americans Huck feels restricted due as well. He struggles with the same problem as the African Americans and Twain depicts the power that society had to restrict individual’s thought process.
I can relate to Huck in that I don’t have the best relationship with my father but it isn’t to the extent of how Pap treats Huck. My father and I don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things but he still does paternal things to help me out as a person. I differ in Huck in that I had a support system with my family even through all the arguments and fights they still supported me financially through my whole life. Without all that financial support I wouldn’t have been able to experience things that have me made into the person I am today. As a person, I had never had any predetermined notions about a certain race or particular ethnicity that wouldn’t allow me to interact and become friends with anyone. Regardless of race, social ranking, or gender I saw everyone as an equal human being standing on this Earth. An example could be seen with middle eastern individuals in that society and media made them into the enemy just because of the actions of terrorist groups that predominantly were of Middle Eastern descent. That didn’t mean that the rest of the innocent Middle Easterners were terrorists but society established that stereotype. I have had Middle Eastern friends throughout my entire life and never once did I think when I meant them for the first time they were what society had made them out to be. I treated them with the respect and common courtesy of anyone I would ever meet. My own thoughts and judgment play more of a role than anything that society could say. I’m a person that isn’t really afraid to stand up for things that are wrong even if they are agreed with a group of people that are in power. I will voice my opinion and follow through with my actions if they aren’t up to par with my moral code. That could be in part of my upbringing in that living in the Bay Area has given me a very open perspective on life. This region of the United States allows for the freedom of new free-flowing ideas and voicing one’s opinion without fear for one’s life unlike back in the times of the Jim Crow laws in the South. During the reconstruction era, going against society was seen as absurd and unheard of. People who stood up for things they felt were unjust faced threats and things such as brutal verbal and physical abuse. The environment I grew up around wasn’t as judgmental as it was back in the late 1800s and could be seen as the complete opposite. There aren’t any laws that oppress a particular race and social groups are always standing up and protesting unjust things that directly affect their lives. The fear of having to succumb to power that society or an individual is almost nonexistent in how individuals have the freedom of having voicing ideas and opinions and not have to suffer in the same ways individuals back in the day had to in order to invoke change. The Jim Crow laws did not affect my race in any way in that the laws were specifically made to target African Americans. There were such a small population of asians living in the South and the very few that resided there were honored with ‘white status’. These families on numerous federal and state records appeared as white. Due to this, they were able to function and live fairly well in society. They did not have to face the poor treatment and segregation that African Americans experienced during the implementation of the Jim Crow laws.
Huck’s development is evident throughout the novel is not drastic but is significant. His shift in character is reflected through other literature about this time period. It is a snapshot of history at a time were freedom was restricted and difficult to break out. Fornetatuly enough character shifts similar to Huckleberry Finn’s occurred so society could be structured differently in the present today. I’m a product of that shift and I am able to use my moral and ethics to judge the world rather than have predetermined stereotypes drive the way I act in society in such a negative way. Not longer do individuals live in a society that suppresses free thinking and restricts standing up against ideas that allow for power to be in an abusive force in the world. Huckleberry Finn is an example that society has the ability to affect your freedom of thoughts and constrict what would be the morally right thing to do.
Religion is a very controversial subject, in this particular case it is presented in a satirical way under the words of Mark Twain. In ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’, Twain portrays religion as superficial, hypocrite and superstitious theme that goes along diverse parts of the text. Criticizes the conventional religion comparing it with the true religion of one of the main characters, Huck Finn. As far as I could see in the text the great majority, but not all the characters are devout Christians but also use their belief in religion as a tool to obtain certain things. It is such as it is in the reality that we live, they are hypocritical believers, since they claim to be devotees of religion but do not follow the ‘laws’ of being a Christian.
One of the aspects of the text that catches my attention is the way Jim represents a great influence in Huck’s life. How his perspective on religion changes as he matures. Others who influenced the belief Huck are Miss Watson, Douglas and as Jim mentioned above. A teenager, from the point of view of an adult, at the age that Huck Finn has at the beginning of the text (19 years) the way of seeing and analyzing things around him are logical and practical, this lends itself to be influenced, since the character not seem to have malice, for my concept. Some traits that are developed in him are the playful being but the practicality ahead, his logic in the way of thinking, compassionate towards others and inevitable, even having that soul of child. “Huck in fact would be incomplete without Jim, who is almost a notable creation as Huck himself. Huck is the passive observer of men and events, Jim the submissive sufferer from them; and they are equal in dignity. There is no passage in which their relationship is brought out more clearly than the conclusion of the chapter in which, after the two have become separated in the fog” (Eliot, T.S. T. S, Eliot on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: The Stonesong Press, 1988).
Huck’s wisdom is an odd mix of pragmatism, superstition, common sense, self-doubt, and a real understanding of nature. Wisdom is the quality of having knowledge, experience and judgment and throughout the text Huck has proven so many time this quality. We are talking about a text that was written around 1880, for my concept it is something quite uncommon for a teenager, of 19, to have the ability to think and analyze things the way Huck Finn does them, the way he sees them. Things that happen around you and interpret teachings is to be admired. There are several ways in which this quality manifests itself. The relationship that Huck presents with certain characters reveals that his intelligence goes beyond a child of his age in those times. One of the phrases he mentions that gives a lot to say about him is “Human beings can be awful cruel to one another”. Even an adult with a trained criterion finds it difficult to reach this idealization but Huck Finn is so easy that it is inspiring to see how he grows and teaches us throughout the text.
Another one that caught my attention ‘Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and a body is not got no business doing wrong when it is not ignorant and knows better”. For me this can be taken in two different directions, take a look at religious content to find what they think a God needs them to complete a humanist perspective on ethical quality is distinctive or humanist where don’t take a look at any God for standards yet think cautiously about what may be the most ideal approach to experience this methodology.
Ernest Hemmingway famously declared in 1935, “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.” One major aspect that makes it a contender for the “Great American Novel” is how the topic of race is presented within the story. The story follows a boy by the name of Huck Finn as he helps Jim, a runaway slave, to escape along the Mississippi River. Today, Americans have grown comfortable with racism resting just beneath the surface of our politics. We believe that our country had become less racist because we were not as brazen as we once were; for many, President Trump has shattered that illusion. African Americans and others, led by the NAACP, began to challenge the book in the 1950s, appalled by the novel’s portrayal of the slave Jim, its repeated use of the “n-word,” and characters such as Pap. While some consider Twain’s satire to be inherently racist, others see Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a powerful attack on racism. Though many of the characters within the novel are racist, Mark Twain utilizes satire, stereotypes, and character archetypes in order to offer a deep-seated critique of racism and slavery.
Satire is the use of humor and wit with a critical attitude, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule for exposing or denouncing the faults of mankind and their institutions in the hopes that it will lead to reform. Twain uses satire to ridicule many things in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. One instance occurs with the character of Tom Sawyer and the idea of Romanticism. His character is used to represent many of the weaknesses Twain saw in the Romantic view of life. Whenever Tom is present within the novel (towards the beginning and ending), the tone suddenly changes into one that is more playful, optimistic, and humorous. This shift in tone parallels the use of Horatian satire, which is a satire that is typically more easygoing and gentle. It also pokes fun at something, bringing it to a more positive light. An example of this occurs when Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and the rest of the gang raid a Sunday school after Tom says it is a group of Spaniards and Arabs enchanted to look like a Sunday school. In reality, the gang ended up comically raiding a Sunday school.
On the other hand, in regard to race, Twain employs Juvenalian satire, which is far darker, bitter, and more cynical than that Horatian satire. The use of this type of satire occurs as soon as Pap, Huck’s sorry excuse of a father, is introduced into the story. Pap is an alcoholic racist and sexist. He resents Huck getting any kind of education and is upset to learn that Huck is the first member of his family to learn to read and write. Pap’s only genuine interest in his son involves begging or extorting money to feed his alcohol addiction. The presentation of Pap, as an exceedingly stupid drunkard, attacks the idea of ignorance within society and the reluctance to accept change. Huck’s being civilized makes Pap feel inferior, and his progression in becoming educated contrasts with Pap’s ignorant stagnation.
The notion that such a fundamental person as Pap, because of the color of his skin be considered superior to a well-meaning, kind-hearted person of color like Jim, demonstrates the flaws and hypocrisy of civilized society. Compared to all the adult characters in the novel, Jim is the most genuinely “whole” of them all. Twain satirizes this in the novel by drawing parallels between Jim and other adult characters like Pap. In chapter 9, Jim symbolically replaces Pap as Huck’s father figure. When Jim and Huck stumble upon the dead body of Huck’s father, Jim shields Huck from this fact by telling him not to look at the dead man’s face because it looks “too gashly.” He does this to protect Huck from the pain of having to see his murdered father. In doing this, Jim shows Huck more kindness and affection than his real father ever did. This act of Jim causes him to symbolically replace Pap as Huck’s father figure. Throughout the novel, Jim also demonstrates his fatherly qualities by, among other things, giving Huck “fatherly” advice, and instilling him with wisdom.
Similarly, Twain also uses stereotypes in tandem with satire in order to emphasize his critical attitude toward racism and slavery. A stereotype is a collective idea or belief many people have about a thing or group that is based upon how they look on the outside, which may be untrue or only partly true. The stereotypical black person was generally considered a large child who was immature, irresponsible, unintelligent, and physically strong. Many slaves during the colonial period especially were often looked down upon as ignorant for their superstitious belief in witchcraft. Twain uses similar stereotypes within the novel, specifically surrounding Jim. Stereotypes by themselves can prove to be problematic, but by utilizing these with satire, Twain breaks the constraints around once-held derogatory views surrounding African Americans by showing how ridiculous these views are.
Critic Julius Lester argues that Twain does not take the character of Jim or the reality of slavery seriously. He specifically sees Huck’s kidnapping and entrapment by his father as a direct comparison made by Twain to Jim’s legal enslavement. He also reasons that Jim’s character would never be so ignorant as to follow Huck into various slave states as well as allow himself to get into dangerous situations. He also sees Jim’s sacrifice towards the novel’s conclusion as a hurtful stereotype perpetuating the idea that Jim is only a “hero” because he put the needs of Tom ahead of himself only because Tom is white. Lester believes that Jim’s total compliance throughout the novel slays all credibility in regard to any overall message of race.
Lester does have a point that stereotyping people is a type of prejudice and what is on the outside is only a small part of who a person is. However, Justin Kaplan says it best when he argues that Jim is the best person in the novel. He does this by transcending Jim’s stereotypical introduction through the development of his relationship with Huck. During Huck’s contemplation to rescue Jim, Huck recalls how Jim would “do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always was” (Twain, 200). If Jim was nothing more than the stereotypical slave, then Huck wouldn’t have felt this way towards Jim considering his experience with slave and master relations within Kentucky and Arkansas.
Within his first paragraph, Kaplan describes how Jim and Huck accidentally travel down the Mississippi due to heavy fog. This was also done in order to place the setting in a location that the author was familiar with, whilst evoking conflict within the plot. At the same time, this allows author Mark Twain to provide an array of instances of race and slavery issues that he can comment on through the experiences, struggles, and thoughts of Huck, the protagonist. Kaplan even goes as far as to say the use of racial epithets such as the frequent use of the “n-word” was to immerse the reader and describe the time and place this story takes place, thirty years before Emancipation in Mississippi. Such words are used to belittle African Americans during that time, and to justify how they were less than human because of their skin tone. Yet, Huck realizes through his relationship with Jim and his desire to find the truth despite being in a corrupted adult world, that Jim is a genuinely good person despite what civilized society will say about him due to his race.
Furthermore, the use of the fool and savior archetypes in relation to Jim adds to his character development and Twain’s critique of racism and slavery. In literature, the fool provides comic relief by crossing cultural norms. For example, Tom takes Jim’s hat off his head while he is asleep and hangs it on a tree branch above his head to scare him. Jim later talks about how it was the work of a witch that took him across the country, but the reader knows better. Much like the archetypal fool, Jim efficiently characterizes every character who comes into contact with him. The truest consistent and valid test of character within the novel is how others treat Jim, who is considered beneath most people due to his race. Not to mention, the stereotypical African American was characterized as foolish during the time in which the novel takes place. Jim possesses an innocent naivety about him that makes him not only a lovable, comical, and entertaining character, but it also allows us to act as Huck’s consciousness.
However, Jim’s progression and development throughout the novel transform his archetype into the savior. The Savior archetype takes hold of those who are naturally inclined to be caretakers, which is perfectly fitting for Jim as he adopts the role of Huck’s father figure. Jim is the Savior that overflows with a desire to be helpful towards Huck and always reliable in a crisis. He quickly distracted Huck so that he wouldn’t recognize the corpse they stumbled upon was Pap. Also, Jim’s greatest achievement within the novel is when he jeopardizes his only opportunity of freedom to help the doctor take care of Tom Sawyer, who had been shot in the leg. Typically, saviors endure a sizable sacrifice as the means of bringing that salvation about for others, a fate they do not deserve up to and including death or a fate worse than death. On the contrary, Jim’s huge risk is rewarded with his freedom as Tom tells him Miss Watson wished him to be free in her will. When Aunt Polly and the Phelpses hear about the assistance Jim gave the doctor in nursing Tom, they immediately unchain him, feed him, and treat him like a king.
Jim is both of these character archetypes to show Twain’s attitude toward the limitations and stereotypes placed on African Americans that were unjust, ignorant, and blatantly incorrect. Jim’s experiences demonstrate to the reader that he too struggles and grows. It is cognizant of the “American Dream,” a dream in which anyone can make it no matter their status, race, or social standing. Although Lester may argue that Jim was only conditioned to help his white “master,” Jim does clearly chooses to help Tom and manages to do a fine job in doing so. One can attain the title of savior and become a hero despite their race or limitations placed by society. At the end of the day, Twain demonstrates how anyone can achieve that “American Dream”
Through the use of satire, stereotypes, and character archetypes to offer a profound critique of racism and slavery. Calling for change with the use of satire, transcending racial stereotypes, and demonstrating the growth of an individual despite their disadvantages speaks a universal language that most can sympathize with and understand. Times have changed and hopefully, we are at a point in society today that can recognize the potential of an individual despite race, status, or social standing. As the federal government expands social programs redistribute resources and ensure social justice may we find ourselves in a world where the last thing we see is race.
Throughout the novel ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ by Mark Twain, it is evident that Huck does change and adapt to certain situations, places, and people. As we unravel the novel, we are shown a young boy Huck who just wants to go on an adventure, during this he meets Jim, a runaway slave, and on this adventure, he learns many lessons. As the novel progresses, Huck learns many things, such as to appreciate nature, learn to care for those in danger or need of help, and that violence and hate will only lead to more of the same.
With the progression of the novel early on Huck learns to appreciate the nature that he is surrounded by. As he is on the island with Jim, a storm comes crashing down, and they have to find shelter. As they hide in the cave, Huck watches the storm, he says, “Set the branches to tossing their arms” (Twain, 58), this means he is taking a moment to realize his position and take a moment to look at nature. This shows that he does learn to appreciate nature and care for it. Here Huck takes a moment to recollect his thoughts and freshen up his mind as Huck tells Jim, “This is nice… I wouldn’t be nowhere else but here” (Twain, 58). Here Huck learns to take a moment and really appreciate nature and storms. From this evidence, we can see that Huck does learn something. This shows how he does learn something on his journey and many more lessons to come.
We also see that Huck does not only learn to respect nature but also to care for those in danger. When he is stuck on the sinking steamboat with the robbers, Huck and Jim conduct a plan to steal the raft and leave the robbers to die. As Jim and Huck arrive at the shore, Huck has regret leaving the robbers to die, so he asks one of the men to help him by saying, “Pap and mam and sis and Miss Hooker; and if you’d take your ferryboat and go up there” (Twain, 87). This shows how Huck last minute had to lie his way to save the robbers’ lives. This also shows how he learns to care for others and try to help them when they are in trouble. In this situation, Huck could’ve left them dead, but decided to save the robbers, even if they are bad people. When the wrecked ship floats down the river, it is expressed that the robbers did not survive the wreck, while Huck says, “Then here comes to ferryboat; so I shoved for the middle of the river on a long down-stream slant” (Twain, 89). This shows the extra effort Huck tries to save these men from death, but death had already caught up to them, with this in mind, Huck does, in fact, learn the lesson of helping others in trouble.
As Huck and Jim meet the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons, Huck is attacked by dogs and saved by Buck Grangerford. As he stays with their family, he realizes the beauty of living in a big home with a good family. Yet as this trails on, we see that Buck shoots a Shepherdson, confusing Huck as he thought that Buck was a good man, but soon realizes that the two feuding families hate each other. “He said his father and his two brothers were killed” (Twain, 135) shows that Huck is disgusted by how these families act in such a way, where they can just kill one another just for non-rooted hatred, where there is no real reason behind all of this. We see that Huck goes to church and sees that both families sit with each other holding onto their rifles, also exposing how this is satire as how the funding families want to kill each other but are willing to sit in a church where killing is an act of sin holding their rifles. Eventually, Buck is murdered and hiding behind a tree, calling for Jim. “Good lan’! Is dat you, honey? Doan make no noise” (Twain, 136). This shows that Huck is relieved to see Jim and wants to leave this feud where people are forced to kill one another just for the heck of it. In this process, Huck learns that anger and violence will only lead to more of the same.
Throughout the novel, we see that Huck learns many lessons from respecting nature, helping those in need, and realizing that those who hold remorse for one another for many generations so forth will be carried on within their children. Huck learns this through his journey, and not only learns many more throughout.
Huckleberry Finn represented the lowest level of society: he has never felt family support, was mostly homeless, and maintained his independent ways. At the same time, was not indoctrinated with societal values and always distanced himself from the mainstream society. Huck was skeptical of the world and resistant to accept values it passed on to him. If Huckleberry lived today, he would be the most prominent leader in any political or public sphere. Huck intrinsically distrusted society and relied only on his experiences and it made him a person to admire.
As a politician, he would always follow his heart and do what he thought was right rather than what others would say. He would not be influenced by opinion of others and his principles would not change under societal pressure. Recalling his life story, he helped Jim, the runaway slave, because according to his logic and ideas of fairness it was right to help him despite of the fact that Jim was the property of another person. It would be wrong to say that Huckleberry was indifferent to laws. He understood laws but never accepted them as fair. He could become a successful politician who would think logically rather than be influenced by others. Huck would contribute to development and implementation of fair laws benefiting all levels of society.
As an activist, Huckleberry would always think through situations on its own merits and make conclusions which were right in their context even if society had a different view of situation. He was not taught about right and wrong and he gained all of his values through personal experience, he created his own rules, and fought against the preconceptions. The story of Huckleberry Finn is an example of how a person representing the lowest level of society can become a thinking and feeling human being able to resist the machine of society. Huck would significantly contribute to success of the modern-day social movements of minorities and underprivileged groups. He would provide support not because minorities are underprivileged, but rather because of his belief that everybody has the right to lead his own life and is granted equal rights. In many cases, Huck did not intrude into situations and seemed to be indifferent, however, he always analyzed everything around him and nothing was left without his attention.
Huckleberry Finn would significantly contribute to stabilization of global and national political and social life. He would be ruled by heart and logic rather than by prejudices created by society. He could make the difference because he was not dependent on opinion of others. Thinking, feeling, heart-driven, logic-focused, and independent – these are the qualities of Huck and, unfortunately, most leaders lack these qualities today.
Given the fact that proponents of left-wing agenda in this country have been jamming the notions of political-correctness down the throats of ordinary citizens for quite a while, it comes as no surprise that many Americans now have grown increasingly suspicious, towards the classics of American literature, as being innately racist. Mark Twain is one of such authors. Despite his friendly attitude towards Blacks, expressed in many of his books, Liberal censors now accuse him of patronising African-Americans, by revealing them in his novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain”, as simply agricultural workers, not overburdened with intellect, as opposed to today’s Hollywood portrayal of Blacks as solemnly computer geniuses, FBI “tough men” and American Presidents. In their article “Racism and Real Life: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the Undergraduate Survey of American Literature”, Annemarie Hamlin and Constance Joyner suggest that “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” should simply be banned nationwide, simply because in it, Black Americans are not being praised to the sky as “intelligent and beautiful”, as it is the case with today’s many Hollywood movies: “Mister Twain has authored a novel that perpetuates the inexplicable, insidious, and heinous sense of entitlement that dominates an entire society, manifested in the seemingly innate characteristics and dialogues of the fictional, racist, child, Huck Finn” (Hamlin, Joyner. 2007). The self-appointed guardians of politically-correct morality, such as Hamlin and Joyner, also accuse Twain’s novel of being filled with racial slur – apparently, the word “nigger” is being used in it 48 times. In its turn, this makes Liberal whiners to think that the reading of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” may cause an emotional harm to representatives of racial minorities, even though that the word “nigger” is being used millions times by Black students in Canadian and American public schools, on daily basis, while referring to each other, without any visible harm being done to them, as a result.
Nevertheless, not too many people seem as being particularly eager to subscribe to Hamlin and Joyner’s point of view, simply because they cannot comprehend how it is possible to begin referring to one of American literature’s masterpieces as “racist piece of garbage”, simply because Liberal White degenerates, with silver rings through their noses lips and genitals, want them to. The author of this paper is one of them. Apparently, in never occurred to self-appointed censors that “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” cannot be thought of as being racist, in contemporary sense of this word, simply because at the time when Mark Twain was working on his book, the racial inferiority of Blacks could not become a subject of public discussion in principle, because of being self-evident. There can be no doubt as to the fact that Twain describes Jim as illiterate, overly prejudicious and highly unreliable individual, who likes to steal and who is absolutely incapable of relying on his own sense of rationale, while dealing with life’s challenges: “Jim knowed all kinds of signs. He said he knowed most everything… Jim said you mustn’t count the things you are going to cook for dinner, because that would bring bad luck. The same if you shook the table-cloth after sundown. And he said if a man owned a beehive and that man died, the bees must be told about it before sun-up next morning, or else the bees would all weaken down and quit work and die. Jim said bees wouldn’t sting idiots, but I saw him being stung” (Twain, Ch. VIII). However, Mark Twain did not know that in hundred years from his time, it will become a crime in America to even mention the fact that, during the course of IQ tests, Blacks score much lower, as compared to Whites. In his wildest dreams, Twain would never be able to imagine that, by the turn of 21st century, White Americans were to degrade to the point of being afraid to step outside of their houses, after it gets dark, as they rightly consider the process of “celebration of diversity”, on the part of representatives of racial minorities, as such that pose danger to their lives, especially if such “celebration” takes place under the cover of darkness. Therefore, we can say that the application of Liberal political labels to someone, who lived way before these terms were coined up, cannot be thought of as appropriate. To say that Mark twain was a racist, is the same as saying that Albert Einstein was much smarter that Isaac Newton, for example. By the end of 19th century, all European and American writers, philosophers, and scientists were racists, simply because they were not afraid of expressing their thoughts openly, as the concept of political correctness did not exist back then. After having set their foot on African continent, European explorers had found it being populated by primitive savages, who were never able to evolve beyond the Stone Age, and who were indulging in tribal warfare as their full time occupation. Therefore, it was only natural for Whites to think of Blacks as not being quite equal to themselves. This however, did not prevent Whites from growing increasingly sympathetic towards Blacks, as people who needed to be helped, in order to be able to get their act together. Mark Twain was one of such individuals. Even though that the thought of Black Americans being absolutely equal to Whites would never occur to him, he still thought that Blacks should be treated as human beings and not as soulless commodity. In fact, this idea represent a metaphysical foundation, upon which novel’s plot is based. Therefore, we can only agree with Mattlock Duczeminski, who in his article “Adventures of Huck Finn is NOT Racist”, suggests that Twain’s novel actually promotes tolerance: “Those who condemn the novel as racist propaganda are missing the point completely; Huck has lived his whole life learning that Blacks are unequal and should not be considered human, but only through his escapades with Nigger Jim does he find himself battling what he has been brought up to believe” (Duczeminski, 2007). If we blame Twain for being racist, we might as well blame the whole Western civilization for being racist in its essence (many hawks of political correctness do just that). And if we do it, in order for us to remain intellectually honest with ourselves, we should also stop utilizing technology, associated with this civilization. There is no need to use electricity (Edison was racist), we should ban plastics (Mendeleev and Dupont were racists), we should disband NASA (its founder Verner von Braun was not just a racist, but SS Sturmbanfuhrer), we should stop listening to classical music (as originating in European psyche, and therefore racist) etc. Why don’t we just strip of our clothes, put on a grass skirts around our waists, make spears out of wooden sticks, and start performing a cannibal dance? This would prove ourselves as being “non-racists” once and for all. However, even the most ardent promoters of neo-Liberalism appear as being not quite ready to stick to their own ideological doctrines; therefore, they should stop making ridiculous claims that the classical works of American literature (like Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”) must be banned from public libraries.
The issue of racism in today’s America, can be compared to a skin rush – the more it is being scratched, the more it itches. But it is not the prospect of relieving this “rush”, which prompts “lefties” to continue “scratching” it, but the fact that they derive a pleasure out of the very process of scratching, as the only thing they know how to do. What actually attracts readers to this Twain’s novel, is the fact that it contain politically incorrect motifs. If it was not the case, then “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” would have been forgotten long time ago, as such that does not represent any literary value. We need to understand that, in order for the work of literature to stimulate readers’ brain cells; it must be controversial in its essence. In his article “Huck, Twain, and the Freedman’s Shackles: Struggling with Huckleberry Finn Today”, Tuire Valkeakari is making a good point when he says: “Twain’s narrative is itself shackled and diminished by its view of African Americans as Others. However, being a transitional text written by a former, ‘desouthernized’ Southerner married to a liberal Northerner, the novel also clearly contains an effort, albeit a flawed and unfinished one, to transcend the limitations of post-Reconstruction racism and racialism” (Valkeakari, p. 30). In “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, author simply strived to describe the process of Huckleberry Finn broadening his intellectual horizons, as such that reflected Twain’s own intellectual transition. Author did not think of his novel other then something that was simply meant to entertain readers. There can be no doubt as to the fact that those who “struggle with racism”, as their full-time occupation, will find many racist motifs in Twain’s novel. However, before being granted a right to refer to “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” as “trashy racist novel”, they should have produced a literary masterpiece of at least the same value. Otherwise, they should be given a liberty to do with their opinions, in regards to Twain’s novel, just about anything, except for forcibly imposing them on everybody. Thus, we can say that the amount of racism, found in Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, directly corresponds to literary critics’ ability to act as professionals – the less they are professionally adequate, the more “racism” they will be able to find in this novel.
Bibliography
Duczeminski, Mattlock “Adventures of Huck Finn is NOT Racist”. 2007. Associated Content. 2008. Web.
Hamlin, Annemarie and Joyner, Constance “Racism and Real Life: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the Undergraduate Survey of American Literature”. 2007. Bnet Business Network. 2008. Web.
Mori, Kyle “The Racism of Huckleberry Finn”. 2007. Associated Content. 2008. Web.
Ray, David “Mark Twain should be an African-American Hero”. 1999. Bnet Business Network. 2008. Web.
Twain, Mark “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. 2006. The Project Gutenberg EBook. 2008. Web.
Valkeakari, Tuire “Huck, Twain, and the Freedman’s Shackles: Struggling with Huckleberry Finn Today”. Atlantis (Alicante, Spain), (28)2, 2006. p. 29-43.
TIn ordinary language it is common to use the words ‘hero’, ‘main character’ or ‘protagonist’ interchangeably, however in the language of dramatic theory, these terms are not identical; protagonists belong to a sub-set of main characters who undergo a change over the course of the novel. This change may be a literal change or a figurative change.
A usual form this change takes is the growth of a character from childhood to maturity or from mental immaturity to self-awareness. Three examples of such a change may be found in the novels Emma by Jane Austen (1775-1817), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Samuel L. Clemens also known as Mark Twain (1835-1910) and My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok (1929-2002).
In Emma, the eponymous protagonist Emma Woodhouse is, in the beginning, an immature, irresponsible and meddling young woman who blossoms into a mature and socially acceptable woman over the course of the novel. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huckleberry, a wild and adventurous rascal comes to terms with ‘civilization’. In My Name is Asher Lev, Asher manages to attain a level of reconciliation between the demands of his artistic muse and the norms of his community.
There are three literary elements which are potently applied in all three novels in order to portray the growth of the protagonist within the course of the novel. These three literary elements are; the use of point of view, the conflicts facing the protagonist and the use of symbolism to depict changes in the protagonist’s character. This paper aims to discuss the chosen literary elements that provide an in-depth insight of the personalities by elaborating author’s view about the growth of the protagonist in the course of the novel.
In terms of understanding protagonists Asher from the novel My name is Asher Lev, Huckleberry Finn from the novel Huckleberry Finn and Emma in the novel Emma, Asher Lev comes in front as the major character who has managed to bring better perception of the role of being a protagonist. Asher Lev has been projected as a character that was blessed with a community where one can live his life with serenity by practicing the ethical norms set by the community itself.
Growth of the protagonist has been shown from the fact that he comes into conflict with his values as bestowed in him by the community for the sake of his talent of painting. In the course of the novel, the author has projected the protagonist Asher to undergo turmoil as his parents did not want him to exhibit his paintings abroad because it rather reflected his anguish to the external world. The author has rather managed to provide a sympathetic concern with the protagonist that also motivates the reader (Potok, 2003).
Second in the examination of role of protagonists comes the character Emma projected by the author Jane Austen in the novel Emma. The protagonists has been projected as a complete stubborn and amazingly rich who tends to commit many wrong decision resulting a chaos in the length of author’s narratives in the novel.
The growth of the protagonist Emma comes visible to the readers as maturing by getting known the feelings of love and regret of matchmaking couple the way she wanted. The author has rather projected the character to be a negatively stubborn person who wanted to have everything. The character gets to know her flaws when she starts to know that she is a failure (Austen, 1816).
Huckleberry Finn is a feral child, who has grown up without parental control, he has been taught lots of things by those bent on ‘civilizing’ him, but he always ends up going against what he has been taught and doing what his heart tells him to do, despite being ridden with guilt at breaking the mores of society. In the end Huckleberry comes to reconcile with society, even while showing a glimpse of his former rebellious nature (Twain, 2007).
The literary element that differentiates the character Asher from the other chosen protagonists is the point of view. It has been observed that all three novels include narratives referring to point of view which is a literary element. For instance, in the case of Asher Lev, the narration or point of view helps us in understanding the growth of Asher from birth to mature age.
It is the narration that let us know that the protagonist discovered the talent of art within. We can understand the role of narration in shaping the perspective of readers regarding the growth of Asher by this quotation extracted from the novel stating, “As a matter of fact, observant Jews did not paint at all–in the way that I am painting.
So strong words are being written and spoken about me, myths are being generated (Potok, 2003, p. 3)”. The quotation completely states and helps us observe the growth in protagonist as he confirms that he has started to paint and that’s the level of maturity. Moreover, the quotation also explains that people were using strong words against him that shows that in the course of the novel, the protagonist will have to go strong to face the hardships.
The quotation helps the readers to understand the role of narration or point of view in elaborating the author’s view of protagonist. In a similar manner, in case of other two novels, the readers have also been persuaded by narrations or point of view to shape a perspective regarding the protagonist Emma and Huckleberry.
The role of narration in the novel Emma clearly projects the growth of Emma, the protagonist, throughout the novel. The type of narration observed in the novel Emma is objective narration that supplies the views of author for the growth of Emma. In the case of Emma novel, one can observe an omniscient narrator unlike My Name is Asher and Adventures of Huckleberry Fin.
The narration in the novel Emma describes Emma to be a handsome and extremely rich person which clearly changes it description style as follows, “The real evils, indeed, of Emma’s situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself (Austen, 1816, p. 76)”: As the quotations marks the maturation of character through omniscient perspectives. The quotation thus allows readers to shape perspective regarding the growth of the protagonist.
In the case of third novel, the adventures of Huckleberry Fin, we come to know that the role of point of view of narration is entirely significant as in this manner the perspectives of author come across easily but it is somewhere dependent upon the plot. It has been observed in the third novel representing protagonist, Huckleberry Fin, that the narration is visible in case of colloquial stating the protagonist to remain the same as in personality.
The only thing that changes around him is his environment influenced by incidents and adventures. For example, “The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her way (Twain, 2007, p. 32)”.
The quote states that protagonist for sure lived a terrible phase in his life but that could not change him or grow him in another personality. Thus it could be stated that the comparative pointer between the narratives with respect to the protagonist are quite precedent as it differs greatly. It shows that the literary element of point of view for sure shapes reader perspective regarding growth of the protagonist.
The second literary element that has greatly observed to serve as a perspective shaper for the readers of Emma, My Name is Asher Lev and Adventures of Huckleberry Fin is conflict. The second literary element is conflict that is visible in all three novels. For instance, in the case of My Name is Asher Lev, we can observe that the conflict is between the protagonist and his community.
The conflict between the protagonist and the community helps the readers to understand the source of growth in the protagonist life in the novel. The following quotation helps us in understanding that the conflict rather worked as a catalyst in the growth of the protagonist.
It goes as, “Away from my world, alone in an apartment that offered me neither memories nor roots, I began to find old and distant memories of my own, long buried by pain and time and slowly brought to the surface no (Potok, 2003, p. 113)”. The quotations shows us that the conflict between the community and protagonist gave way to the insight of protagonist and that he moved ahead to decide one thing from the options community and his passion.
The literary element of conflict also has a high significance in the novel Emma as the protagonist goes through troubles because of her self being. The concept of self being refers to the conflict that an individual probably have from himself. The protagonist grows in the course of the novel as coming to know the fact that self centeredness rather became a trouble. The following quote helps us understanding the role of literary element of conflict in the growth of Emma.
It follows as “The first error, and the worst, lay at her door. It was foolish, it was wrong; to take so active a part in bringing any two people together (Austen, 1816, p. 116)”. In this way, through the help of the above quotation, it could be understood that the protagonist turned towards a turning point to gain understanding with the right path. The conflict of individuality becomes visible in the novel with the help of conflict. The literary element conflict has not been made prominent in the case of Huckleberry.
The young boy Huckleberry does not have any of the conflict but the environment in which he grows in the course of the novel has rather conflicting instances. For instances, the environment set by the author around protagonist is conflicting to what we call a normal living. For example, “ hadn’t had a bite to eat since yesterday, so Jim he got out some corn-dodgers and buttermilk, and pork and cabbage and greens—there isn’t nothing in the world so good when it’s cooked right (Twain, 2007, p. 234)” .
Thus, with the help of the above quotation, it comes to our understanding that the growth of the protagonist Huckleberry is elaborated in terms of the conflicting environment he lives. Therefore, it could be said that the literary element of conflict is present in all three of the protagonists’ life but the intensity has been observed to be less in the case of protagonist Huckleberry.
The third literary element is symbolism which is quite evident in all the three novels. It can be stated that in the novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, has a strong support of symbolism which helps the readers in experiencing the growth of the protagonist Huckleberry. The symbolism in the novel Adventures of Huckleberry is the river of Mississippi.
The symbolism, the river of Mississippi, states the escape of the protagonist from all the mishap where he stays for longer hours on his rafts. The growth in the protagonist is visible as he has found out the way to cherish his life out of incidents that have rather shattered him.
The following quote states the reason why the protagonist will go to Mississippi river to escape. “It’s lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lie on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened (Twain, 2007, p.67)”.
From the quotation it comes visible to us that the protagonist does not really want to live a life full of negative incidents and he has rather grown to take his life where he wants to go. In this way, the readers experience the growth in the protagonist Huckleberry.
The literary element of symbolism plays a very major role in the elaboration of growth of protagonist Asher. The symbol used in the novel is ear-lock that shows the concern of religious closeness of Asher. In the course of the novel, Asher cuts his ear-lock that shows us the maturation of the protagonist.
The maturation of the protagonist is visible through the symbol ear lock because it was a symbol to show his belief in the rituals and value as his father had it and so he had that sort of hair style. The protagonist has been observed to cut his ear lock because he could not keep his religion and passion for art along as both of them were conflicting to each other. It was the religious belief that one should keep bonds strong and keep intensions within.
This idea comes visible from the following quotation. “As a matter of fact, observant Jews did not paint at all–in the way that I am painting. So strongwords are being written and spoken about me, myths are being generated: I am atraitor, an apostate, a self-hater, an inflicter of shame upon my family, myfriends, my people (Potok, 2003 p.87).”The protagonist cuts his ear lock which is action and a symbol indicating the growth of the protagonist in the eyes of readers and is a mere elaboration.
According to the protagonist, it was not the logic to keep the same haircut as his father did. In the case of third protagonist Emma, the symbolism is the word game that many characters in the chapter 41 play. The symbol of playing the word game actually illustrates misunderstandings among characters that rather work a source of growth of Emma in knowing something he never knew and changes his mind set to look at the things.
In this way the readers come to know the growing phase in Emma. The quotation adds a meaning to the statement of symbolism as, “Seldom, very seldom does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken; but where, as in this case, though the conduct is mistaken, the feelings are not, it may not be very material (Austen, 1816, p. 132)”. This means that the literary element of symbolism for sure plays a major role in all three selected novels.
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it could be stated that the role of protagonist is very important to bring transition to the plot of the story and that the protagonist itself grows throughout the novel with the help of literary elements. The literary elements such as point of view (narratives), conflict and symbolism contrastingly and comparatively in the three protagonists namely, Emma, Asher and Huckleberry helps the reader to understand the growth of the protagonist in the course of the novel.
We have observed in the above analysis, that in particular, the element of narratives clearly reflects the idea of author and the second person. Narratives allowed us to understand feelings and attributes of protagonist from a different angle. Following the same manner, the second literary element of conflict also helps us in creating a perspective. It has been observed that the element of conflict takes place in all three stories Emma, My Name is Asher Lev and
The adventures of Huckleberry. The conflict has been observed in the stories differently from respective antagonists present in the novel. Thirdly, we have also noticed that the element of symbolism has also played a major role in elaborating us a different angle for setting our perspective. It has been studied that raft for Huckleberry, ear lock for Asher and word game assures maturation instances in the characters.
References
Austen, J. (1816). Emma. New York: Printed for John Murray.
Potok, C. (2003). My Name Is Asher Lev. New York: Anchor Books.
Twain, M. (2007). Huckleberry Finn. London: Evans Brothers.
Account for Huck’s ability to lye his way out of scrapes
Huckleberry Finn is an interesting character who is shown to be witty and smart. Even though he has had a hard time in his childhood, he has still learned a few things on the way. A particular “talent” that he has is to lie his way out of any situation. This gives him an advantage over others. It is obvious that he uses it to own advantage but sometimes, to help others.
Huck has been communicating with the worst people imaginable. This gives him valuable knowledge of adult life. He realizes that lying can get him far. He uses it many times to deceive people. The fact that he is a great actor helps him make people believe.
Not only Huck’s lies are a negative thing, but it is also positive when he helps Jim out. This shows that life and hardships have still taught him the right thing. He also understands that morally it is not right to lie, but sometimes, there are exceptions. He finds it acceptable to lie to make a good deed and does not hesitate to do so. As he had experienced so much, he pretends really well.
More importantly, his character adjusts to the situation. He acquires the role of the liar and follows it to the end. He does it so well that people have no doubt. As he feels morally forgiven, it keeps his conscience clean. This lets him stay in the role and feel no hesitation.
His ability to lie so effectively comes from several factors. One is the knowledge of people and human character. He is well aware of his capabilities and uses them. As he has “the good” on his side, he feels no remorse. His imagination and charisma finish the package of a perfect liar.
Explain why Huck pretends to be murdered
There are many reasons why people would want to deceive others in major ways, and several things contribute. Huckleberry Finn goes as far as to fake his own murder. In doing this, he has accomplished several things. But, there were also a few reasons for his actions. His personal wants and goals were activated by the environment he was in.
His individual life was one of the causes. The relationship with his father was a shaky one and this was a plausible reason. He was afraid he would get into trouble again. By faking his death, he escapes punishment. But mostly, this was a smaller reason.
As he gets accepted into “higher” society, he realizes how difficult it is. The complications make him do things he never wanted to do. He gets tired of wearing proper clothes and having a schedule. He wants to find a way out by lying, but the type of lie must be of the needed quality. As such, he decides that by faking his murder, people will stop thinking about him.
Huck’s simulation of own death has also a socio-personal characteristic. He realizes that the society of people is not for him. Mark Twain wanted to show that some people cannot function in a “normal” society. Huck is escaping the unknown civilization but in a way, he is escaping from himself. He leaves his problems behind and finds peace by being himself.