Mark Twain - Huckleberry Finn

A detailed Summary of Mark Twain - Huckleberry Finn

In 1884, Mark Twain wrote one of the most controversial and remembered novels in the world of literature, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain was the pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He was born in Florida, Missouri, Nov. 30, 1835. Due to the limited wealth of his family Twain often had to find inexpensive forms of entertainment growing up. He later wrote a book he called Huckleberry Finn which reflected his childhood memories of growing up poor. Huck did the same typical boy things as Twain. Growing up poor Twain saw life at a different angle, and growing up around black people wasn't uncommon for him. He was exposed to the way the black majority was treated and he also reflected this in his book.

When Twain was four years old, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, a small town on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River and the towns along it were used as the setting in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In his novel, he used the familiar dialect he was exposed to. He stated at the beginning of the novel, "the Missouri Negro dialect; the extremist form of the backwoods Southwestern dialect; the ordinary Pike County dialect... are used to wit...".

Clemens, Samuel L. The Adventures of Hucklberry Finn. New York City: Harper

Twain contrasted life on the raft with the ideas of the people on the Mississippi shores. Two feuding families, the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons, were used to show what lives of Southerners and their religion were like. The families had been fighting for thirty years, but no one knew the reason. When Huck asked if it was caused by land, Buck Grangerford replied, "I reckon maybe - I don't know". Both of the families took guns to church and discussed the sermon reported by Huck to be "a pretty ornery preaching-all about brotherly love, and suchlike tiresomeness". Twain used satire to make the society on the Mississippi River appear as a greedy place where values were twisted and church was more of an entertainment than a religion. Huck and Jim's perfect life on the raft was cut short when the two frauds came aboard. The Duke and Dauphin continuously lied and took advantage of the people on shore. These two caused many unwanted encounters with the towns' people along the Mississippi River. Huck, unlike Jim, quickly realized the men were "...just low-down humbugs and frauds". Huck was finally able to slip away from the Duke and Dauphin and continue with Jim on their journey. Huck said, "it's so good to be free again". The freedom did not last long though. The Duke and Dauphin soon returned. Huck "...Wilted right down to the planks... and [gave] up...". He told them that he did not like what they were doing.

In Huckleberry Finn, as they traveled down the Mississippi River, the values of Huck and Jim were contrasted against those of the people living in the southern United States. Huck (the narrator and one of the main characters) and Jim(another main character) were both trying to reach freedom. Twain based this book on things that were happening during this time in his life. Huck was introduced without a father in his life. Twain's father had died when he wa

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Approximate Word count = 1329
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English