Seilgrank () American Literature Huck Finn Thesis 10-8-97 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book. It is not a comparison of the hypocrisy in society. It is not a story about escaping from that hypocrisy. It is not a metaphor for life.
It is certainly not a symbolic comparison for the metaphoric simile of the literacy of Mark Twain’s pet earthworm Jim. It is a book. A book written to create enjoyment within the reader. Trying to analyze Huck is like when you ” re touring a museum and you hear some know-it-all in the back of the group stop and say, “Look at the distinct curves, the flowing form, the complete contrasts of the reds and blacks. Obviously the artist of this piece is trying to convey the deep hypocrisies in our sociological circle.”Actually, sir,” the guide says, “it’s just a fire extinguisher.” That is all Huck is; it’s just a fire extinguisher. (And, yes, I know I’m using a Huck-fire extinguisher metaphor and practicing hypocrisy myself, but don’t even think about trying to analyze me or you ” ll find yourself missing a limb.
) The reason Huck is simply a good book and not a metaphor or analysis of anything is because it more than likely is. Have you ever sat down to write something and thought to yourself, “Hey, I like this part right here. It reminds me of the conflicts that are occurring in today’s society. I think I will cleverly keep that idea as the underlying thread that holds my piece together!” Of course not. No one thinks like that (At least, no one who is at least halfway sane).
The Essay on Intelligence Book To Build A Fire
Intelligence (Book: To Build A Fire) There are characters at many levels of intelligence in literature. In Jack London's short story "To Build a Fire" the character lacks any intelligence. The cold "did not lead him to mediate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man's frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold" (483). This weak minded ...
Possibly you would think that the part you just wrote was kind of funny, and you like that way it fits in the story. And, OK, maybe somewhere deep in your subconscious, a little voice says, “Hey, I like this part right here. It reminds me of the conflicts in today’s society.” But of course, that’s just a small part of why you wrote it. You wrote it because you hope your readers laugh as hard as you did. That is probably what Twain did. He wrote a funny story that he got a kick out of, and simply hoped that we would like it too.
He didn’t want us to over analyze it and pick it apart; he wanted us to laugh! True, this book contains many examples of hypocrisy, such as society saying that all men are equal, but it’s OK to own slaves. Like that preacher who told the Sheperdsons and the Granger fords of brotherly love, which they wholeheartedly agreed with, and then proceed to pick up their rifles and blaze away at one another after the sermon; Huck finding it OK to steal from complete strangers, yet when it comes to “stealing” Jim from Miss Watson he considers it wrong; and the Duke and Dauphin preaching temperance and great Shakespearean dramas and drinking while they perform “Royal Non such” are all examples of the hypocrisies in the book. I can see how someone could conclude that Huck is a metaphor for the hypocrisy in society. Of course, give me a good half-hour to work and I bet I could convince you that Huck is actually a representation of Genghis Khan, and Jim was Washington crossing the Delaware. It’s back to the fire extinguisher: if you really want to, you can find evidence in anything to support your ideas, whether it’s there or not. Twain declared at the front of the book: “NOTICE: Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot will be shot.” It simply states that Twain does not want you to spend time looking for things in the book that are not in there.
It may seem like the book contains many morals, comparisons, and other tidbits of juicy genre to be chewed up and spit back out is ferocious analysis, but that is simply not the case. This is a classic example where the book can be judged by its cover. The cover says The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and that is all that the book contains. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Essay on White Man Huck Society Twain
Racism and slavery - One may wonder why Mark Twain would choose to write an antislavery novel some twenty years after the end of the Civil War. By the early 1880 s, Reconstruction, the plan to put the United States back together after the war and integrate freed slaves into society, had hit some shaky ground, although it had not yet failed outright (that wouldn't occur until 1887, three years ...
