Huckleberry Finn Personal Response

Great Essays
A Letter from Mark Twain I am sure that many people in your time are familiar with my famed narrative The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This book has been known for its ability to stir up quite the quarrel between many people of both my time and your time. In the past, this book received some of the most abhorrent critiques of any book throughout the ages. It has been said that my narrative has “but little humor, and that of a coarse type” and “more suited for slums than to intelligent, respectable people”. As time went on, I expected people to better understand what I truly was trying to say in this novel, as the human race is supposed to “evolve” as time goes on, but lets just say this has not been the case and my claims of the decadence of man from the higher beings of the animal kingdom still seem to hold true. The critique that my art receives is simply unjustified and cruel especially considering the fact that most of the ones who judge it are blind. In case they are reading this now, and I need to point it out for …show more content…
I present a multitude of complex themes in my “slum writing” that I feel every citizen of this country should learn from as the country as a whole would benefit greatly from such a horrid act. The fundamental themes of this book are racism and conformity. Now, some of the slower people might find themselves believing that I, myself, am a proponent of the judgment of another man or woman’s skin color whose is not the color of mine. This may cause them to take drastic measure such as censoring my writing and even banning it in some cases. I thought that this notion would have slowly died off as the human race became more “civilized” but I can see now how that is not the case as this crime is still being committed today. I can half-heartedly see how one might come to this conclusion after reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with the repeated use of the word “nigger” and the appearance of slavery. People have gone as far to

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    First, the appearance of character plays a vital part in defining whether an individual is an outcast. In The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, Jim becomes an outsider from the so-called “civilized” society since the day he was born because of his skin color. Throughout the story, Tom treats Jim no different than an object to entertain his imaginary adventures. It don’t make no difference how foolish it is, it’s the right way-…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I, myself, believe that I share personal experience with the main character Huckleberry Finn. Throughout the story Finn adores his freedom, and I myself display similar behavior. When Huckleberry Finn escapes is alcoholic father, he himself displays a unique behavior of praising and valuing his earned freedom. Although he's a character from a story, I myself am encouraged by the remarkable reaction Huckleberry Finn seems to acquire after he received his freedom. He was isolating in a painful and emotional environment while he was with his father.…

    • 123 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rough Draft of Huck Finn Essay The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a narrative realism novel, written by Mark Twain, and published in 1884. Based in several small towns along the Mississippi River, the main character, Huckleberry Finn goes through a series of events that will dramatically change his life, his morality, and his conscience. He is constantly having a battle between his upbringing and his conscience through events like; faking his death, witnessing a family feud, wondering around with Jim, and having to be around the Duke and King. Through his fake death, Huck shows a lot of courage despite the way that he was raised.…

    • 1545 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a timeless American Classic by Mark Twain, yet its ideas and philosophies are debated to this day. Many did not like the morals present in the book, along with the language, ideals, and actions of the main characters. The book targeted the controversial topics of the day and would forever be surrounded by that controversy which originated from the very backbone and attitudes of the everyday man. For Mark Twain in his novel, Huckleberry Finn uses Pap's caustic tone, and Huck's assertive tone to condemn the unfair treatment of others.…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Everyone of us is a perfect human being, deformed by the family, the society, and the culture.” Quoted by Alejandro Jodorowsky. Huckleberry Finn, the main character of the book, demonstrates one part of an epic adventure between his own heart and the society he lives in. It evidently states that Huck 's heart is in the right place and he can tell that society 's heart isn 't. His own deformed conscience was because of his community 's backwards outlook on the world.…

    • 1243 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mark Twain describes Huck as a character of light and positivity. A character who shines as the protagonist of the novel. Huckleberry Finn in the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a protagonist who modifies over the course of the book. Huck starts off as reckless and unaware of the problems his actions cause. Huck is relevant to a teenager during their developing years into adulthood.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Banning the book “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” in schools has been a controversial topic ever since the book was published in 1885. Parents and teachers alike are afraid of the influence that this book could have on the student’s reading it. The young boys in the story participate in immoral, blasphemous, and illegal things throughout the whole story. But, the big thing that motivates schools to ban this book is the racism and the use of the word ‘nigger’. “The Adventures of Huck Finn” is still widely read because of its message to students to be themselves and follow their heart, its look into the mind of a slave, and Mark Twain’s choice of words spoken by the characters.…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the years there have been debates about teaching The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in school. People who want it out of schools think of the Huck Finn as “‘trash and suitable only for the slums’…because it struck them as coarse” (Source D). The people attacking Mark Twains’ work also say that the word “n*****” was abused and because of its overuse high school students are influenced to make fun of black people. On the other hand, the book represents a big part of our history that just cannot be erased despite the controversies. Even though there are many controversies about Huck Finn, Twains’ novel has stayed amongst us because of the history that was incorporated into text.…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Huckleberry Finn Makes His Own Decision. Huckleberry Finn is taken place where slavery and racism is hugely used and courage. Even though Huckleberry is not races himself, he believes in the same rules as the society around encourage. When he has to be put to the test whether what the right thing is in what mind state Huckleberry Finn must decide.…

    • 1409 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    (Twain). The letter, dated back to 1865, reveals Twain’s decision on what he found a calling to, satire in literature. Additionally, an example of satire used in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn includes, “‘ ...you drop that school, you hear? I’ll learn people to bring up a boy to put on airs over his own father and let on to be better’n what HE is. You lemme catch you fooling around that school again, you hear?’”…

    • 1556 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Prejudice is a timeless issue addressed explicitly in The Adventures of Hucklberry Finn. Nigger, a word stated over 200 times in the novel, is now the reason behind schools across America banning this classic. “Many critics read Huckleberry Finn as a lesson in the way that identity is formed by social realities” (Telgen) instead of the character of a person. Mark Twain, however, spent his early years around slaves, which shaped his “generally sympathetic treatment” (Rasmussen) towards African Americans portrayed through his writings. Many people view the explicit language in the book to be offensive and harsh, which leads to one seeing Mark Twain as a racist and as a…

    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Huckleberry Finn Conflicts

    • 2143 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Huckleberry Finn and Jim are new to the place and they fail to locate the mouth of the Ohio. They continue their voyage but their steamboat crashes down and both are separated unfortunately the next night. Huckleberry Finn is at the home of the kindly Grangerfords, a family of Southern aristocrats locked in a harsh and childish dispute with a neighboring clan, the Shepherdsons. The elopement of a Grangerford daughter with a Shepherdson son results in a gun fight in which a lot of people in the families are slaughtered hardheartedly. While Huck is caught up in the dispute, Jim comes again with the repaired raft.…

    • 2143 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The point of view of this novel is first person with a central narrator. At the beginning of the novel, Huck introduces himself to the reader and also refers to “Mr. Mark Twain”. This immediately shows the reader than he, not Mark Twain will be narrating the novel. By having Huck as the narrator, it puts the story into his perspective, his interpretation, and his voice. The narrator voice of Huck is very effective in this novel because we really get a sense of his thought process in very black and white situations (deciding to rat out Jim or not, whether to help Jim or not, etc).…

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Who Is Mark Twain A Hero

    • 250 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Bailey A. Hoyt Ms. Carr English 11 Block 3 21 October, 2015 Mark Twain as an American Author Mr. Twain was a very influential man. Twain’s general reputation as a classic author was one of the most admired by today's society and English professionals as well as possibly the most beloved, writer in American history. Although some materials were left unpublished during his lifetime, very little of his literary work is known by most americans than The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Which is a Classic most people will know of). Twain was always more in depth with his stories and how he wanted to make characters “flat”, he responds to human error with quick satiric verses that remind the reader that Twain as a classic author will always have a few…

    • 250 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Everyone retains a specific “human” nature; however, it is left up to the individual how they choose to interpret various aspects of human nature in their everyday personalities. In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain incorporates various characters to capitalize on the flawed aspects of human nature. In the novel, it is evident that Twain is showing his disapproval towards the way humans behave. Each character: Pap, Grangerfords and Shepherdsons, and the King and Duke are able to embody one side of the human race. How is it that one man is able to cause so much damage in someone’s life?…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays