Huck Finn 4 Essay, Research Paper

Naivety of Huckleberry Finn

The dialect that Mark Twain used in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” mocks the poor education and incompetence of the South in the late 1800’s. As the narrator of the novel, Huck Finn, fits the exemplary part of a young and naive boy. He does not comprehend the immensity of the world but, rather the small portion that he sees.

As Huck takes the reader through each episode of the book, he does not perceive any kind of humor in the word devices he uses. He takes them quite seriously and is portrayed as a naive character to the reader. Mr. Twain has purposely given the readers reason to believe he is mocking the characters in the book with this audacious

comedy.

Huck Finn says out of the ordinary things that most people would not have the slightest idea about. At the beginning of chapter one, the Widow Douglas tells him of Moses and the Bulrushers. He is eager to hear all about the stories of Moses until he finds out that Moses has been dead a “considerable long time.” Huck tells the reader that he “don’t take no stock in dead people.” To him, there is no lesson in these stories unless the person is alive and is related to someone.

The novel places realistic views and does not hold romantic value besides that of the character Tom Sawyer. Huck does not understand why Tom makes every task so complex yet, Huck is very admirable of Tom’s ideas. Throughout the book Huck asks himself if Tom Sawyer would approve of the way he deals with certain matters. This shows dramatic irony because Tom would not be stuck in these situations that Huck is in, in turn adding to Huck’s naivety.

This brings the readers to the Dauphin and Duke, who take advantage of Huck because of his gullibility, tricking him into thinking they are of a royal class and deserve superior care. As readers, we see the entire picture, past the fraud’s act. Huck goes along with the low life and cunning ways the Duke and King make money. A classic example of this is when the Duke and King, the scoundrels that they are, put on the stage production of “The Royal Nonesuch,” making their own success from the foolish townspeople.

Jim, the runaway slave displays a naive humor laced with superstition. This gives Huck a reason to believe in Jim’s example. They live a life of superstition and present ideas throughout the happenings of the novel. For example, when Huck comes upon a snake skin and picks it up to show to Jim. This was a bad idea because Jim becomes very worried and tells Huck there is going to be bad luck coming their way. Trouble did come, not just because of superstitious beliefs but, rather that Huck acts before he thinks. He comes across a rattle snake and kills it, thinking it would be fun to play a trick on Jim. This foreshadows that something is going to happen to Jim because he takes superstition so seriously.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a picaresque novel, written in first person narration form and has a hero of an odious level of society. It is a very realistic view and displays pragmatic situations and also verisimilitude. The novel is written episodically and gives off a taste of the naive narrator of Huck Finn, leaving us to remember him in a more applicable sense.