The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Essay

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Essay

  • Submitted By: vonnibo
  • Date Submitted: 02/19/2009 7:08 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 525
  • Page: 3
  • Views: 410

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Life’s Required Reading Manual? There are those who argue that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a racist novel, when in reality it is quite the opposite. The novel is merely an adventure story which exposes racism and compares the dilemma of a slave to the dilemma of Huck at the hands of Pap. The classic novel depicts how two young men, though obviously different in races, share a common desire to be free from their oppressor, and how they became close friends through their adventures towards freedom, in spite of their skin color and social norms of the day. There are many important lessons to be learned from Huck and Jim’s adventures together, and as one and causes a pause and self evaluation of one’s personal views and prejudices to take place. This novel should not be considered racist, or viewed as prejudice, but should be one of ‘life’s required reading manuals’. First, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written well over one hundred years ago when racism was a problem, and America was still struggling with the aftereffects of slavery. Although Twain wrote the novel after slavery was abolished, he set it several decades earlier, when slavery was still a fact of life. Twain’s depiction of slavery was an allegorical look at the prejudices and conditions of blacks in the U.S., even after slavery was ended. Huck is a poor, uneducated white boy, who distrusts the society that treats him as an outcast, and fails to protect him from Pap, his father and oppressor. Pap is an abusive, drunkard man who abandoned Huck some time ago, who returns and kidnaps him and takes Huck three without making sure that Huck cannot escape his clutches. Huck enjoys being free from school but soon grows tired of being beaten so much, and searches ways to escape his oppressor. Jim, on the other hand, is a slave, and in order to prevent being sold and forced to separate from his family, runs away from his owner and works...

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