StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Book Report/Review Example

Cite this document
Summary
Mark Twain's celebrated novel Huckleberry Finn offers an intriguing case of analysis of American racial discourse and this novel is noted for its central themes of race and racism. Several critics have maintained that the novel's presentation of the issue of race is complex and uneven…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER93.8% of users find it useful
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"

Download file to see previous pages

It is essential to realize that the novelist adopts a strategy of subversion in his attack on race, in which he "focuses on a number of commonplaces associated with 'the Negro' and then systematically dramatizes their inadequacy." (Smith) In a reflective exploration of the famous novel by Mark Twain, it becomes lucid that Mark Twain has been effective in his attack of the nature of racial discourse in American society and his novel cannot be regarded as a racist novel. A profound analysis of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn in relation to American racial discourse confirms that novel is an important example of how the notion of Negro inferiority is presented through the narrative strategy adopted in the work.

One of the major concerns of the novel has been to illustrate the social limitations imposed on individual freedom by the American 'civilization'. In fact, it is wide of the mark to brand the novel racist, and the various attempts to consider the work as a racist novel do not take into consideration the specific form of racial discourse to which the novel responds. It is fundamental to realize that the novel by Mark Twain takes deals with the various essential ways in which racism impinges upon the lives of Afro-Americans, although they are legally 'free'.

Therefore, it is incongruous to attack the novel Huckleberry Finn as a racist work and, as David L Smith maintains, the novel is undoubtedly one of the major Euro-American novels for its explicitly antiracist stance. "Furthermore, Huckleberry Finn offers much more than the typical liberal defenses of 'human dignity' and protests against cruelty. Though it contains some such elements, it is more fundamentally a critique of those socially constituted fictions - most notably romanticism, religion, and the concept of 'the Negro' - which serve to justify and disguise selfish, cruel, and exploitative behavior." (Smith) Therefore, it is fundamental to consider the novel by Mark Twain as an American racial discourse in which, apart from revealing the attitudes about race or conventions of talking about race, race itself becomes a discursive formation, restricting social relations on the basis of alleged physical differences.

In an analysis of Huckleberry Finn as an essential American racial discourse, it becomes obvious that the novelist Twain attacks the general attitude of the Americans towards the concept of 'race' and 'the Negro'. Historically, the primary emphasis in the definition of 'race' in America has been on white supremacy and black inferiority and the concept of 'the Negro' has been realized as a socially constituted fiction. Huckleberry Finn makes an essential attack on this reified fiction and the novelist adopts a strategy of subversion in his attack on race.

In this strategy, the novelist focuses on various commonplaces connected with 'the Negro' and then systematically dramatizes their inadequacy. For example, he makes use of the term 'nigger', and reveals the superstitious behavior of Jim. Significantly, the term 'nigger' remains heavily shrouded in taboo as a major offensive word in the vocabulary and Twain's use of the term has caused serious damage to the credibility of the novel. However, a profound analysis of this term within the context of American racial d

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Book Report/Review - 1”, n.d.)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Book Report/Review - 1. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1512450-the-adventures-of-huckleberry-finn
(The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Book Report/Review - 1)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Book Report/Review - 1. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1512450-the-adventures-of-huckleberry-finn.
“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Book Report/Review - 1”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1512450-the-adventures-of-huckleberry-finn.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Hypocrisy in the Scarlett Letter and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Hypocrisy in The Scarlett Letter and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Professor number Hypocrisy in The Scarlett Letter and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn One of the foremost themes of the novels, The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin and The Scarlet Letter is the hypocrisy that is practised in the two civilizations that form the background of these novels and provide the historical templates on which the stories of the novel are based.... The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, on the other hand, is a critique of the lack of consistency in the moral and spiritual standards of the people of the southern states of America before the abolition of slavery....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Racism and Slavery in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain's novel ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' ostensibly explores the theme of racism and slavery through the plot and setting of the story, as well as through the range of characters involved.... … The historical context of ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' allows the author to explore the theme of racism and slavery in America during the 19th century.... The characters of huckleberry finn, Jim and Tom Sawyer all serve to highlight these hypocrisies through the representation of the various attitudes on the idea of slavery and Reconstruction, which each character personifies....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Racism Theme in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

This essay example "Racism Theme in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" will examine the theme of racism in the novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”.... hellip; The novel “the adventures of huckleberry Fin” one of the most recognized works of Mark Twain presents a clear picture of the racist attitudes that were held against the black slaves during the era of 1880's by the Southerners.... Racism is clearly evident throughout the novel of “the adventures of huckleberry Fin”, racist terms have been used throughout the novel....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The paper “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain” looks at the story of a boy living on the Mississippi River during the 1840s.... It relates the experiences of Huck and Jim, a runaway slave.... The narrator is Huck, a 13-year-old, semi-literate boy.... hellip; The author states that Huck has been brought up to see blacks as slaves, as property, as something less than human....
2 Pages (500 words) Book Report/Review

Symbolisms in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: The River and the Raft

 This report discusses Freedom is the theme of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; it is America's most ingrained problem, as well.... huckleberry finn, similar to other grand creations of the mind, can offer readers whatever s/he is able to get from it....
10 Pages (2500 words) Book Report/Review

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Culture Study

A writer of the paper "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Culture Study" discusses te point that the book has been highly condemned by numerous reviewers in the author's time as course and by numerous commentators in the current time as being racist.... The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has for a long time been perceived as Mark Twain's masterwork and a classic American literature and was the first critical American work that departed from European literary models....
5 Pages (1250 words) Coursework

INTRODUCTION TO FICTION

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn plot organization revolves around the Mississippi River as a… Jim and Huck consider the river as their medium to freedom.... The river changes its course as it runs First Sur Research Question How does symbolism as a literary technique play a significant role developing plots in both Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Salinger's A Perfect Day for Bananafish?... The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn plot organization revolves around the Mississippi River as a representation of freedom....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

INTRODUCTION TO FICTION

He wants his opinion to First Sur Research Question How do societal issues contribute as the backbone of plot development in Twain's “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and Salinger's “A Perfect Day for Bananafish.... Evidently, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn revolves around societal concerns to develop strong plot development that appeals the audience.... It compares The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to A Perfect Day for Bananafish through the analysis of the literary structures that make up the two texts....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us