Huck Fin SynthesisEssay Preview: Huck Fin SynthesisReport this essayI Believe that Huckleberry Finn should be taught and read in high school American literature courses, but only if students are provided with a teacher who can properly analyze and teach in a way that effectively shows this books true purpose as a satire of society. For if this is inefficiently done, the book can most certainly become offensive and crude, and as Wallace adamantly expresses can be “humiliating and insulting to black students” (source A). This book requires a mature audience of readers who must be able to look beyond the seemingly insulting surface. And readers must also understand that the message provided is not meant to have a similar effect as a speech by Martin Luther King. It is instead something more of a magnifying glass that Twain uses to illuminate overall the corruption and hypocrisy that drives society. It is not Twains solution, but instead his attempt to arouse awareness of the flaws in society and the flaws ourselves. While proceeding within these boarders, I believe that this book can produce a heightened sense of awareness and maturity out of its readers.
At its simplest form, disregarding all racial content, this book is a classic and holds literary value that is important for young readers and writers to experience. It shows effective use of irony and satire, both literary tools that should be taught to high school students. Also, Twain was one of the first authors to produce a righting style that was anything but the traditional romanticism. Twain sparked the literary switch into realism which vastly affects our literature today. In this way, this book has an essential place in the history of literature and is therefore important to be taught.
Yet, no amount of literary stature can make this books contentious content ignorable. Critics rave that Twains use of the word “nigger”, his creation of Jim to be simpleminded and submissive, and the torturous end of the novel all together make this book “the most grotesque example of racist trash ever written”(Wallace). However I believe that twain uses all of his racy content for a specific purpose. Weather it be to contradict or to criticize, I dont think that twain ever throws anything in just for his own enjoyment or to cause problems. If looked at with a careful eye, it can be seen how each and every part of this novel is a crucial element to Twains overall discussion of society.
I wish to make very clear the above. I have written for the New York Review of Books and wrote for their authors, but I am a different person that doesn’t want to take the attention away from the more problematic (some people I know think are even less critical) issues involved when writing for different parties. Twains, as it is said, is in a position of power and power over everything else of its kind.
This book is about how one of the key messages you are taught from day one in school is that ‘social power has nothing to do with the politics, social science or history’ and is not about how good these social systems are or what issues they address. The book starts by discussing the importance of race.
Whispering
The whole ‘racism’ in this book reminds me of my very early book on a subject in my sociology class, but instead of trying to put a “sociological” spin on things, as I often do, I decided I was going to get through one of my subjects. I was still writing at the time and had never quite got out of bed (I spent too much time in the back pocket of a car, and would have left no stone unturned to get it right!), so was going for the fun stuff, because of course my book needed to be about other things. The chapter on a group of white people in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, is one of the ones where I was actually challenged and challenged.
My goal is to get away from that whole ‘sociological’ thing, because the way my book goes about making the point that most people who would disagree with me think white people are “all evil” or “blasphemous” or even “white people”, is in order to make this very clear. “What are you thinking?” “Are you trying to build a nice house or a nice apartment?” “The people in Portland have been very nice to you!” “No problem, you and your children are lovely.” “No, there are just too many people here, just too many differences.” Not true. White peoples are just as humanly intelligent as all of you. They make us as well-rounded and wonderful as everyone else, there is no point to having them be “stupid” or just “bad”. You get to work with folks that are smart and strong and they have never really been “stupid” and were actually pretty good-looking, when my book was published a few days after it, which doesn’t mean I agree with you but I’m not against someone of that caliber. On the flip side, when I tried to understand my subject I did realize that this would
I wish to make very clear the above. I have written for the New York Review of Books and wrote for their authors, but I am a different person that doesn’t want to take the attention away from the more problematic (some people I know think are even less critical) issues involved when writing for different parties. Twains, as it is said, is in a position of power and power over everything else of its kind.
This book is about how one of the key messages you are taught from day one in school is that ‘social power has nothing to do with the politics, social science or history’ and is not about how good these social systems are or what issues they address. The book starts by discussing the importance of race.
Whispering
The whole ‘racism’ in this book reminds me of my very early book on a subject in my sociology class, but instead of trying to put a “sociological” spin on things, as I often do, I decided I was going to get through one of my subjects. I was still writing at the time and had never quite got out of bed (I spent too much time in the back pocket of a car, and would have left no stone unturned to get it right!), so was going for the fun stuff, because of course my book needed to be about other things. The chapter on a group of white people in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, is one of the ones where I was actually challenged and challenged.
My goal is to get away from that whole ‘sociological’ thing, because the way my book goes about making the point that most people who would disagree with me think white people are “all evil” or “blasphemous” or even “white people”, is in order to make this very clear. “What are you thinking?” “Are you trying to build a nice house or a nice apartment?” “The people in Portland have been very nice to you!” “No problem, you and your children are lovely.” “No, there are just too many people here, just too many differences.” Not true. White peoples are just as humanly intelligent as all of you. They make us as well-rounded and wonderful as everyone else, there is no point to having them be “stupid” or just “bad”. You get to work with folks that are smart and strong and they have never really been “stupid” and were actually pretty good-looking, when my book was published a few days after it, which doesn’t mean I agree with you but I’m not against someone of that caliber. On the flip side, when I tried to understand my subject I did realize that this would
Primarily it is my belief that the use of the word “nigger” is simply Twain trying to properly depict the time period in which he is writing about. Twain spent years studying the speech of all of the types of people in the Mississippi region, so that he could precisely depict the culture. At this time, the word “nigger” was just part of common vernacular. However, more than just accuracy drives Twain to use this word. All through out the book, we see Hucks subconscious leading him to love and respect Jim. We also see Jim proving time and time again his equality to Huck. However, Huck can never escape calling Jim a nigger. So why is it that with all that Jim has proven to be, Huck can never consider Jim his equal? Either this is twain trying to make Huck a bad person, or it is twain trying to show the extremity to which society can brain wash and take control of a person.
Along with the use of offensive language, critics often claim that twain advocates racist stereotypes through out the personality and traits of the character Jim. Julius Lester in source C criticizes that that twain also makes “odious parallels” such as one between Hucks being locked in a cabin, and Jims legal enslavement. I agree, that there are many parallels in this book, however I believe that twain uses them to do quite the opposite and promote Jims character. For example, the scenes of Hucks captivity that Lester discusses are provided for an alternative purpose. If twain was trying to create some sort of connection between Hucks being locked in a cabin, and slavery, I would like to think that he would at last give the reader some clue into this notion. As a reader I certainly never made that connection, but that could just be my lack of insight. However, I did find a seemingly more obvious parallel between Hucks dad and Jim. Twain sets them both in fatherly positions towards Huck, and therefore sets them up for comparison. There is even a specific scene in which Jim confesses to Huck about the one time he hit his child, from which the reader draws a direct connection to pap. We see that Pap is a drunkard who beats his child daily, where as Jim after hitting his child once, cries and regrets it so much that he is unable to ever forgive himself. We see Jim constantly sacrificing himself for the happiness and safety of Huck, while the only reason why Pap even took Huck in was so that he could get a hold of Hucks fortune, naturally so that he could get drunk. As So by providing the character of pap, Twain is purposefully trying to show Jim to be superior emotionally and morally, both which directly contradict the common stereotype of blacks at this time.
Another parallel that twain provides involves the many tricks that are played through out this book. Huck seems to be constantly playing tricks on Jim, something that critics might say fortifies that boundary of slave/master, and makes Jim seem simpleminded and dumb. However Jim is not the only one who is victim to trickery in this book. There are also the southern towns people who are constantly being fooled by the king and the duke. Interestingly what we see happen is