One of the First Great American Novels

One of the First Great American Novels

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” (1884) is an acknowledged novel of Mark Twain, which is regarded as being one of the first Great American novels. Along with its being one of the firsts, it is also the best literary work in reflection of the history, culture and social condition of its time. To talk about the plot briefly, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” tells the story of Huck, the boy, who runs away from his drunken father and other people around who are trying to civilize him. Twain begins his novel with summarizing the earlier events (their finding money) and introducing the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson by means of which he also refers to his prior book “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”. Then, Huck runs away from his father by making up a really intelligent plan and then is involved in many adventures until after reaching complete freedom.
Although Twain avoids complex plot and makes the novel more understandable in that way, in fact he includes many symbols, themes, motifs and literary devices in his novel. He also tries to describe different people so as to tell variable sights of society.
To begin with themes, racism and slavery have a really important place in the novel. When we look at the time Twain wrote the novel, we see that the Emancipation Proclamation and the end of Civil War fit two decades before it. However; during the period it was written, America, especially the South part, was still struggling with racism and slavery. Blacks were still having difficulties in life-events. Twain also represents this period taking Jim as example. In the novel Jim is a black slave of Miss Watson and he has superstitions and supernatural beliefs. Taking Jim as any black stereotype, Twain makes an allegory throughout the novel and while telling Jim’s story and actions he represents all black slaves in America. He means to say blacks are taken away from their families; they are purchased in exchange of money. No matter how they value moral attitudes and...

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