Racial Prejudice and Huckleberry Finn

Racial Prejudice and Huckleberry Finn

Adam
Instructor
Class
26 February 2013
Racial Prejudice and Huckleberry Finn
In the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn there are many sub-topics of realism stemming from the very broad topic of realism which is that of racial prejudice. The actual book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remains fictitious but most elements of the book are that of realism as it corresponds to the time period that the book was written. The sub-topics of realism stemming from racial prejudice include that of the Mississippi River and the almost metaphoric meaning of freedom and slavery, the cruelty of mankind that is forced upon one another whether it is deserved or not, and the use of a variety of dialects to properly correspond with the time of the book.
Realism occurs with the Mississippi River, as it is a real physical object. The Mississippi River in the book has a great symbolic meaning, as when the book takes place, slavery is not yet abolished. To both Huckleberry Finn and Jim, who is a slave, fleeing to the Mississippi River grants them their freedom. Both characters are looking for freedom but both characters are looking for freedom for different reasons. For Finn, he is looking to escape the abuse that he receives from his father. Jim also is looking to escape and find freedom, because Jim is a slave. Both characters have varying reasons, but both characters are looking for freedom. This is a sub-topic of realism that stems from the racial prejudice that occurred in this time period.
Huckleberry Finn when first starting his adventure was a relatively naïve individual. This can be expected as he was just barely a teenager when his journey started. The type of realism that Mark Twain uses is the cruelties in humanity amongst themselves during this period of time. Jim is able to open Huck’s eyes and shed the ignorance that he had on slavery. Slavery was something that Huck new one side to. Jim was able to shed the ignorance with giving him the other side of...

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