huckleberry finn and race
Many people think that Huckleberry Finn is a racist novel and they have even gone as far as banning the novel from certain schools. They base this view on the fact that the word "nigger" is used very often and they see the black people being portrayed in a degrading way to show that they are inferior to the white society. Contrary to this idea, Huckleberry Finn is not a racist novel. Mark Twain actually attacks racism by satirizing the lifestyle of the white people and shows that they have no reason at all to think that they are better than the blacks. This satirizing of the white people is effectively seen in the portrayal of the king and the duke. Mark Twain starts to mock the king and the duke as soon as they are first introduced in the novel. Their appearance gives a negative impression right from the start. The king is described as having, "an old battered-up slouch hat on, and a greasy blue woolen shirt," and he's wearing, "ragged old blue jeans britches stuffed into his boot tops."(Pg. 121) The duke is described as much the same. This first impression makes us feel as if these men are scum and we don't have a very good perception of them. The second thing that these men do also is used to mock society
in two ways. The first man (the duke) makes up a story that he was actually the Duke of Bridgewater. He said that he was the son of the infant duke that was ignored to take over a position. Not to be outdone, the second man (the king) makes up a story that he was actually the rightful King of France. Mark Twain uses Huck Finn to show what he thinks of these two men. "It didn't take me to long to make up my mind that these liars warn't no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds."(Pg.125) These men are putting up a false front just like society does and Mark Twain shows through Huck that he can see right through this false front. The second thing that is mocked is the fact that these people pretend that they are royalty. Jim wonders why these men carry on so much and Huck tells him, " . . .because it's in the breed. I reckon they're all alike," and he also says, "all kings is mostly rapscallions, as fur as I can make out." Mark Twain is showing here that society wants to feel established and be connected to royalty and what they don't realize is that most kings are scoundrels. The duke and the king really seem to fulfill this role of scoundrels quite well king and the duke really show that they are scoundrels by being very greedy. Mark Twain shows his disgust for societies greed through the king and the duke. He is trying to show that society today is full of greed and only concerning itself with its needs only. The duke and the ki
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 983
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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