Introducing the king and the duke into the novel shows how society will believe anything in spite of how foolish it sounds. The king and the duke go into town to earn money by scamming more people. The king goes into a church camp and pretends he is a pirate that wishes to start his life over. He gained the pity of the townspeople when “he busted into tears, and so did everybody” (142). Everyone wanted to give him money so the “poor man” could begin his life as a sinless man. The king’s act shows the gullibility of the church parishioners in the sense that no one had ever heard of the man and yet they were willing to give him their hard-earned money. Mark Twain also uses satire to poke fun at society’s love of cruel entertainment. Huck decides to visit the circus after the church group show, and he becomes astonished after seeing all of the amazing acts by the performers. When a drunk man requests to ride the horse, people become angry at him. The ringmaster allows him on the horse, and the viewers laughed unceasingly, especially at the times in which the man’s “ . . . leg [was] hanging most to the ground” (158) off of the …show more content…
At beginning of the story, Huck traveled to Jackson’s Island to hide from his close family and friends. He is startled to find a fire with recently-burned coals, but “bet [he] was glad to see [Jim]” (50), who was also hiding, but from Miss Watson and the slave-hunters. Most people of that time would view themselves as superior to a person of color, but Huck was happy to have someone to travel away with. The two formed a bond fueled by the need to be free, and their unlikely friendship only grew stronger throughout the novel. Society had long imprinted on Huck that African American people should be treated as inferiors, so Huck never hesitated to pull a mean-hearted prank on Jim. But, one day, Huck went too far with a prank. When Huck found Jim again after being separated because of the fog, Huck stated that the separation had never happened. Jim was highly upset and called Huck trash for making him feel so terrible. Huck then realized what he had done and apologized, stating that he never would have hurt Jim if he would have known the impact it had on him (96). Holding oneself on the same level as a slave was unheard of in the time period, so someone as likeable as Huck treating a slave with respect shows people that how they treated slaves was wrong, making this novel worthwhile to read. Because society had taught Huck that helping a person of