Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – 3

Ernest Hemingway probably summed it up best when he said, All groundbreaking American literature comes from peerless book by Mark twain called huckleberry Finn (source). Were dealing with quite a book here. Published in 1885, Adventures of huckleberry Finn, Twains follow-up to the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, carved natural filth into the American literary landscape in several ways. As one of the first novels to use a specific regions diction in its narration, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn set a precedent for many other intelligibly American works to follow. Some readers didnt exactly get this sweet colloquial style, however.Accustomed to the proper prose of Hawthorne, Thoreau, and Emerson, some readers didnt know what to do with Hucks particular way of storytelling. Aside from the novels new style of writing, Twains decision to use thirteen-year-old Huck as the narrator allowed him to include certain content that a more polish narrator probably would put one over left ou t. At first, Twains novel was labeled crass by some readers. The book was in time banned in schools for its use of the n-word which is teetotal, given that the novel is up in arms over slavery. Even today, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn makes Banned Books lists.Twains novel jumped heading first into one of the biggest issues of its day racism. Although the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed over two decades before Huckleberry Finns original publication date, African-Americans everywhere were all the same victims of oppression and racism. They were technically free, but often by name yet in Reconstruction-era America. Many southerners were bitter about the outcome of the Civil War. By guiding his characters through several states of the Confederacy, Twain was satisfactory to reveal the duplicity of many pre-war southern communities.As a southerner himself, Twain had first-hand experiences to draw on, and he was able to walk the fine line between realistic depiction and ironic farce. Not to mention, Twain created the now-iconic character of Jim, a runaway slave who convinces Huck that African-Americans be deserving of freedom, and that equality is a goal for which we all should be fighting. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is now considered to be one of the Great American Novels, mostly delinquent to how it so heartily champions the American ideals of freedom, independence, and rugged individualism.Hucks dedication to his proclaim moral standards and his bold sense of adventure and self-sufficiency have gain him a place in the All-American Hall of Fame. In addition, Twain is a hilarious storyteller, and the plot of this novel is a roller-coaster hinge on of moral dilemmas so trust us when we say that if you havent taken the ride yet, you probably should. Why Should I Care? Mark Twain wrote Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 20 years after the American Civil War. Slavery had been abolished, and the North and southwest were making up (albei t with some residual anger).So why publish a highly moralistic tale about a system that was no longer in place? Werent race issues a bowl over point once slavery was out of the picture? Hardly. Freedom didnt lowly equality by any means not legally, socially, or practically. (See Shmoop Historys Jim Crow in America for more. ) Actually, come to think of it, this isnt an superannuated notion at all. Rules and laws often dont accurately ricochet whats really going on. From a legal standpoint today, we have equality of race yet racism is still a problem.Men and women are equal, yet many still see a glass jacket for women in the workplace, meaning they often have invisible boundaries to advancement. That doesnt mean laws are useless. Laws may not immediately effect throw, but weve seen that they do precede change. While laws can affect how people act, it takes more to change the way we think. We cant rely on laws alone. Thats where The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn comes bet on into the picture. We need people like Mark Twain to remind us not to be self-congratulatory for starting a process in motion,