FREE ESSAY ON USE OF SATIRE IN HUCK FINN

USE OF SATIRE IN HUCK FINN

The journey taken by two people down a river, is rarely thought of as anything more than
just an adventure. However, Mark Twain uses his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn, to explore and poke fun of many problems facing American society. Huck, the main
character, is considered an uneducated boy who is constantly under pressure to conform to
the civilized aspects of society. Jim, who accompanies Huck, is a runaway slave seeking
freedom from the world that has denied it to him for so long. In his novel, Twain uses
satire to demonstrate many of civilizations problems. 
In the beginning of the story, Huck sneaks away from his home to play with Tom Sawyer and
his friends. The boys start a gang and decide that one of the things they will do is
kidnap people, and hold them for ransom. The boys quickly discover that they cannot
ransom anyone because they don't know what ransom means. Tom has a theory as to the
meaning of the word, But per'aps if we keep them till they're ransomed, it means that we
keep them till they're dead.(12) Without any doubts, all of the boys agree with this
meaning of the word. In this segment of the novel, Twain uses satire to demonstrate that
even though something may be truly wrong, if civilization or society adopts it to be
true, then it is believed to be true. Twain may be specifically using the issue of
slavery as his target, in this instance of satire. 
During the time period in which The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written, religion
was as much a part of civilization, as was an education. Religion is one of the key
victims of Twain's satire throughout the novel. This satire is no more apparent then when
Huck's guardian, the Widow Douglas, preaches to him about Moses. Huck didn't think very
much of her lecture; Here she was a-bothering about Moses, which was no kin to her, and
no use to anybody, being gone, you see...(3) Twain uses Huck to exhibit his objection to
the blind faith that civilized society places towards religion. 
During Huck and Jim's journey, they encounter two men who refer to themselves as the Duke
and the King. Theses characters make their living by swindling people out of their money.
When they are eventually caught, they pay for their sins by being tarred and feathered.
Huck expresses his thoughts on the subject by saying, It was a dreadful thing to see.
Human beings can be awful cruel to one another.(294) Through this event, Twain shows that
crooks and criminals aren't the only ones that can be cruel. The crowd that considers
themselves to be civilized and opposing any such imprudent and cruel acts, actually
commits one themselves. Twain illustrates how a society that views themselves as
civilized can display such irresponsible conduct. 
Twain uses a boy and a runaway slave in, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, to not only
tell a story, but to express what he thinks are the problems of civilized society. Satire
is the key tool in which he uses to demonstrate these problems. Through Twain's use of
satire, we can not only poke fun at American society, but we can learn from its mistakes.
Twain turned an ordinary adventure down a river into an exploration of the problems
society, especially civilized society, faces. Because of the brilliant way in which Twain
intertwines satire into his novel, the lessons in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,
will be remembered forever.