Friday, April 13, 2018

Book Review: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain



“Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities” was once said by a man by the name of Samuel L. Clemens, who was better known by his pen name, Mark Twain. In his most praised literary work, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the struggle between “sivilization” and freedom is apparent as Twain recaptures the reality of the Pre-Civil War Southern society surrounding a young boy.
Opening in the Mississippi River town of St. Petersburg, Missouri and following the events that occurred in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, along with his best friend Tom Sawyer, own a large amount of money which is being held by the trusted Judge Thatcher. Adopted by the wealthy sisters, Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, Huck is forced into a life of civilization, which involves schooling, manners, and church. When his drunken father, Pap, appear and kidnaps Huck for his money, Huck manages to escape and hide on Jackson’s Island. There, he encounters Miss Watson’s slave Jim, who has run away fearing separation from his wife and children and tormenting oppression from talk about his master selling him down the river to a plantation. Huck questions himself over the proper view in which he should consider helping a runaway slave. Nevertheless, he agrees to not turn Jim in. Over the course of the next episodes of the book, Jim and Huck experience a variety of adventures in which they learn lessons on morals, slavery and domination, friendship, and loyalty. When Jim and Huck at one point are sold back to their respective slaveries – Jim as a slave and Huck to the civilized society offered by Tom’s aunt and uncle – they try to escape, which results in Tom being shot in the leg. Jim sacrifices his freedom in order to save Tom, but then they receive news the Miss Watson had died two months earlier and had declared Jim to be free in her will. Huck finds out that his father is dead, which enables him to pursue a life without the “sivilizing”.
In understanding the historical context of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it is essential to consider the factors that influenced Twain’s writing. Twain, born into an economically disadvantaged family in Missouri in 1835, never received an education: instead, he educated himself by writing articles for his brother’s paper and spending as much time as he could in the library reading books. In 1859, Twain received a license to pilot steamboats, where he gathered most of his experiences concerning the Mississippi River. When the civil war came about, Twain briefly served under the Confederate army before moving out west where he commenced his writing career. Twain was very popular during his life time as he was the first person to include the vernacular dialects of the South and realistic styles in American literature.
Twain emphasizes the hypocrisy in society through the reoccurring theme of civilization versus that of freedom in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  In the beginning, Huck shows his disgust with the confinements of a “sivilized” life living with Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas. He seems annoyed as the fact that he “couldn’t go right to eating” when at the table and he “had to wait for the widow to tuck down her head and grumble a little over the victuals, though there warn’t really anything the matter with them” (1). In addition, Huck feels that he is in captivity by his drunken father. This theme can also be applied to Jim, as he is trying to escape slavery. Together, the two escape the bondages of civilization whilst traveling along the river. To further point out the hypocrisy in civilizations, every time Huck meets with civilization, he encounters misfortunes, whether that be the involvement with the Grangerford and Shepherdsons feud, the fraud King and Duke, or being caught on the run. Twain shows the irony in civilization with such situations as the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons that demonstrate barbarism with their ongoing feud which has resulted in the unnecessary deaths of several family members. In the end, Huck proves to remain unchanged from the beginning of the novel. Not being able to “stand” Aunt Sally because “she’s going to adopt [Huck] and sivilize [him]” results in Huck’s move “out for the Territory ahead of the rest” (232). This characteristic of the plot is influenced by Twain’s generation, in which the American West was a testing ground for American individualism and freedom.
Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain exhibits several dialects ranging from the region of the Mississippi River. The use of such words as “injun” and “warn’t” make the text particularly difficult to comprehend, seeing as the use of this dialect is not as common today. Despite the challenge of understanding the novel, I found this book to be a “page turner” due to the amount of action that was packed in each period of the story plot.

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