Satire #2
When reading the novel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, we are exposed to many different types of satire.
Hypocrisy is a constant theme throughout the book and is certainly evident in the early chapters. In Chapter 1, Huck describes his life with his caretaker the widow as very proper. The widow Douglas is constantly pushing Huck “to do the right thing.” This idea of trying to ‘civilize’ Huck is played on throughout the book. ”The widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me;…” (Pg. 1). The satire here of course is that the widow tries to “civilize” Huck into polite Christian society, a society that tolerates both slavery and discrimination on a daily basis. Widow Douglas and her sister Miss Watson both want to reach the “good place” as represented by heaven but never consider that slave owning could be an impediment to that goal. During the time in which this book was set, slavery and racism was very much a part of what some people practiced. Although Huck is less “educated” in polite society than the Widow Douglas or her sister would desire, Huck has more awarenes than either of them. The escaped slave Jim becomes more than just the “nigger” Jim to Huck who starts to relate to Jim as a person. Huck has the self-awareness to begin to question the status quo of slavery and his attitude towards it. This seems to be a central irony and satire that the author develops throughout the book.
I think it show’s a lot about Huck Finn. that he has more awareness than both the Widow Douglas and his sister, who are far more educated than he is. The fact that Huck is begining to change his attitude toward slavery, and his closeness to Jim shows that he really isn’t this bad person that everyone sees him to be, and that if people forgot about the law on never allowing a slave to escape, they would find Huck to be a very interesting and special person.
Posted December 20, 2006, 10:01 pm