The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn: Critique Essay, Research Paper

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Critique

Biography

Mark Twain, the pseudonym of Samuel Clemens, was, as a literary writer,

a genius. His use of numerous literary devices throughout the novel are quite

unique. Examples of them would be, irony;

“Here was a nigger, which I had as good as helped to run away, coming

right out and saying that he would steal his children – children that

belonged to someone that had done me no harm.” p. 88; and colloquial

enunciation;

I ast ‘m if dey ‘uz gwyne to grab a young white genlman’s propaty,

en git a hidin for it?” p. 112

Samuel Clemens was a very controversial writer in his time. Although he

was fiercely criticized, he was among the first writers to incorporate views

other than that of a reverential main character into his stories, and he was

also a primary user of colloquial enunciation.

Plot Synopsis

The plot is, as the title suggests, about the adventures of an unruly and

carefree boy named Huckleberry Finn. The novel depicts the 1900’s southern

social climate in a manner that is not only satirical, but psychoanalytically

intuitive. In it, Huck, as he is commonly known, runs away with a slave named

Jim. As they travel along the Mississippi river, in the southern region of the

United States, they undergo many extraordinary adventures.

Analysis

One of the most predominant themes in this novel is that of deception.

Deception, in one form or another, is used with an avid consistency throughout

the story. Two personifications of deception were the characters, King and Duke.

They were “entrepreneurs” of deception (which is a polite way of saying

hustlers). Samuel Clemens writes about them so ingeniously, that after a while

the reader is able to understand the true nature of these tricksters, and that

most of what they utter is either fabrication or a twisted truth.

“I’d been selling an article to take tartar of the teeth-and it does take

it off,

too, and generally the enamel along with it.” p. 121

Samuel Clemens is contradictory in the way in which he utilizes

deception. He makes Huckleberry Finn deceive everybody into thinking that Huck

was killed in a fire. This is an example in which deception is brought out as a

good thing.