Satire in Huck Finn

Satire in Huck Finn

  • Submitted By: AKSHAY54
  • Date Submitted: 03/20/2010 9:02 PM
  • Category: English
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Gupta Akshay

Ms. Penfield

A 318

10 December 2009

Satire in The Adventures of Huck Finn

The Adventures of Huck Finn is a book written by Mark Twain in the

Romantic Period. The Romantic period criticized the glorification of reason and

Science, and instead focused on emotions, intuition and mystical feelings. Mark

Twain satirizes the romantic beliefs and practices through this book. In The

Adventures of Huck Finn Mark Twain entices his readers with many moments of

satire through which he attempts to show the readers the most of the Romantic

beliefs are ridiculous and exaggerated.

The romantic period witnessed the exaggeration of criminal ideas in books.

People who believed in those ridiculous ideas were completely blinded from its

meaning and assumed it to be a convention. Mark Twain shows influence of

romantic books on Tom through the instance of the formation of a gang by Tom that

would kill and kidnap people. “So Tom got out his sheet of paper that he wrote oath

on, and read it. It swore every boy… but have curse put on it and be forget for ever”.

( ). He made every gang member sign the oath by blood and swear that nobody

will let the secrets of the gang out. But if someone spoke the secrets out then he and

his family will be slaughtered. Everyone commented on the oath being beautiful, but

asked Tom if he got it out of his own head. He replied saying that a few parts were

his thoughts but most of it came from the books he reads. He believed that the books

were the ultimate truth and everything in the real world had to take place in ways it

did in the books. He was unaware of what kidnapping meant but still considered it to

be a vital task for the gang to do because each gang in the books kidnapped people.

Mark Twain pokes fun at the unawareness of Tom. Tom is completely blinded by the

Romantic books. He wishes to so something, about which he does not have a clue....

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