Critical Analysis Of Huckleberry Finn Essay Research

Critical Analysis Of Huckleberry Finn Essay, Research Paper

Critical Analysis of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain describes the

journey of a young boy and a runaway slave, Jim, up the Mississippi

River. One of the most important themes of the book is that society is

cruel. The book’s tone also changes. Sometimes its serious, other

times its funny, even silly. The book is classic because the tone

surprises and intrigues the reader while the themes teach the reader

moral lessons.

While Huck is on his journey he realizes that society is cruel. An

example of this would be when Buck tells Huck, “A man has a quarrel

with another man, and kills him; then that other man’s brother kills

him; then the other brothers on both sides goes for one another… and

by and by everybody’s killed off, and there ain’t no more feud”(Twain

109). Pap, Huck’s father, was very mean to everyone, but especially

Huck. Pap cannot read and does not want his son to be better than

himself. Pap doesn’t like the fact that Widow Douglas is trying to

“civilize” him. Pap comes home every night and physically abuses

Huck. During the day Pap would lock Huck in the cabin until he

returned in order to keep Huck from escaping. Nothing can harm a

child more than neglect and abuse.

The two ladies that take Huck in off the streets are Mrs. Watson

and the Widow Douglas. Mrs. Watson has several slaves, one of

whom was Jim. It gets to the point where she had no more use for

Jim, so she decides to sell him to New Orleans. Her actions are going

to separate and destroy a family. Jim decides that he would rather run

away than be torn from his family. This is another example of society

being cruel. Mrs. Watson doesn’t have any use for Jim anymore so

she decides to sell him like he is a piece of property.

During the journey, Huck and Jim run into the King and the Duke.

The King and the Duke aren’t anything but two “rapscallions” who

claim to be royalty so that they can get special treatment. One day

they come upon a religious camp meeting, and the King and the Duke

make up a story about being reformed pirates. He tells the

congregation that every time he reforms a pirate he says to them,

“Don’t you thank me, don’t you give me no credit; it all belongs to them

dear people in Pokeville camp meeting, natural brothers and

benefactors of the race, and that dear preacher up there, the truest

friend a pirate ever had”(Twain 133). Then he explodes into tears and

the people of the camp meeting do, too. The King uses people’s

feelings in order to gain wealth.

They go through towns and put on such plays as the Royal

Nonesuch, Richard III, and some others. Usually they are booed off

the stage and warned never to return again. The King, Duke, Huck,