Analysis On Racism In Huck Finn Essay -- essays research papers

In July of 1876, a man by the name of Samuel Clemens began writing wizard of the just astir(predicate) important and influential works in Americas literary history. Under the pseudonym of Mark duad, the work was begun as a subsequence to Twains popular boys adventure newfangled, The Adventures of tom turkey Sawyer. As he progressed in the writing of the sequel, Twain, an author already famed for his humor, cynicism, and American social criticism, began to lean away from strictly the boys adventure style towards a more serious, critical look at parliamentary procedure. By the time Twain had finished writing the novel in 1884, eight years after it was begun, he had produced The Adventures of huckleberry Finn, his greatest work and perchance on of the greatest works of American literature. With The Adventures of huckleberry Finn, Twain attempted to exemplify his contempt for certain aspects of specific each(prenominal)y pre-Civil War Southern nine by means of with(predicat e) the eyes of the innocent Huck Finn. However, his focus was non entirely on pre-War Southern society, for criticism of aspects of modern society as a full-page was evident, as well as on aspects of human nature. Although Twain had congenital produced a superficial boys adventure novel, its in truth themes are not characteristic of such a genre. The themes that are veritable throughout the novel include that of hypocrisy, racialism, violence, and gullibility. These four themes represent the elements of pre-War Southern society that bear Twains main criticisms throughout the pages of the novel. Specifically, often of Twains critical focus landed upon the theme of racism. Racism, in all of its ignorance and crudeness, is present in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, from the Widow Douglas and Miss Watsons attempt to sivilize Huck to Tom Sawyers startling acclamation that Jim was already free. Huck is confronted with example after example of Southern societys internal racism, s ome of which Huck too has inherited. As Jim and Huck journey cut down the mighty Mississippi, Huck begins to lose those inborn racist sentiments in his through his uninfluenced sprightliness with Jim. By closely developing the theme of racism through Hucks internal struggle with reality and with societys reality, Twain attempts to illustrate his contempt for the outright injustice of one of societys most disturbing and irrational aspects.As the novel b... ...probes deeper into Jims despair, he discovers that Jim feels wholeheartedly guilty about an incident that occurred in his relationship with his deaf and dumb daughter. Jims great display of sense surprises Huck, for he has inherited the picture that a black man is not capable of such a degree of emotion. He was thinking about his wife and his children, away up yonder, and he was low and homesick because he hadnt ever been away from home before in his life and I do believe that he cared just as often for his people as white folks does theirn. It dont search natural, but I reckon its so. (Twain 23)Societys stamp that the black race was inferior to the white race in each way, including emotion, is illustrated in this sentence. Hucks surprise that Jim loves his family just as much as white people do is simply a belief that he has inherited from civilized society. Twain demonstrates the inherent racial wrong of pre-Civil War Southern society in a satirical manner. The ruling that black people do not care for the families as much as white people care for theirs seems utterly ridiculous to the reader. However, in the South, this notion was commonplace and accepted.