A young white boy from the Deep South, a runaway slave, and a daring adventure for freedom sounds like the setup for a literary disaster, right? Many people believe that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is deeply racist and disgusting and have tried to ban it from local public schools. However, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a great example of a book that broke down slave stereotypes and satirized Southern social constructs. Huckleberry Finn should be taught in schools because of its satire of pre-existing constructs and profound anti-slavery message. Satire is funny. Although many people interpret satire seriously, it is intended to ridicule a pre-existing construct, such as Christians. Although the lower class is lower in the social hierarchy, they still believe that African Americans are lower than them, in a non-existent class among them. slave and low class status. Huck's father, "Pap", is an example of this when he was about to vote while drunk, and was told by someone that "there was a State in this country" that would allow a n to vote and swore that he "would never vote". again” (Twain 24). The irony of this statement is that the man was drunk on his way to vote, but he believes that sober African Americans do not have the right to cast a vote. Although Huck is lower class, he is an “honest, clear-eyed individualist” who fights against a “corrupt social order” (Sawicki 48). Huck breaks the ironic chain of backward social constructs by questioning what he believes and being himself. Also, there is nothing ironic about slavery, but something can be said about those who hold slaves. Miss Watson, who is a wealthy Christian. Miss Watson is the sister of the Widow Douglas who is a “thin, tolerable old maid” with glasses (Twain 6). Widow Douglas represents the good part of society, the caring one who speaks to Huck about a loving God. Because she represents the good of society, Miss Watson represents the bad part. She tells Huck about an angry and vengeful God, torments him incessantly, and acts like a slave despite being a "true Christian". He tells Huck not to “put the idea of a civilized society is to be well-mannered, pious, polite, and gigantic. If this idea were followed, then everyone would end up in heaven, according to the common belief in the South at that time. These values are always present in Huck's life, but he fails to follow the rules. Huck says it's okay that he will "go to hell" (Twain 3), this is because Huck has realized the hypocrisy of civilized society. The heaven described by the Widow Douglas is too high and Huck believed that Tom and his other friends could not get there. Huck also doesn't have a great sense of entitlement. Shortly after meeting Jim, she decides that they are almost equals and care for each other. The mental crisis that Huck has towards the end of the novel shows that he wants to be good, but being good means turning Jim in. Huck knows that the good thing to do is to help Jim, and despite the consequences, he believes he has done so. the right
tags