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....