Human Nature: Exposed Essay, Research Paper

Human Nature: Exposed

More than a century ago, Mark Twain probably composed the single-most

important piece of American Literature to ever be composed. This work, widely

known as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, essentially follows young Huck on a

series of adventures and experiences with his close friend (and runaway slave),

Jim, as they both escape society’s burdens. The novel, in a sense, encompasses

everything good, bad and in between about and concerning the society of that

time. A majority of the novel takes place along the Mississippi river, with

Young Huck, and Jim each striving to attain a common goal, freedom from the woes

of society. In their journey, they come across many different people, and

encounter many strange and new experiences that all relate to a common theme

that is evident throughout the novel. As their journey progresses, the reader

witnesses many horrific and surprising acts, all performed by none other than

man himself. Looking deeper into the symbolistic meaning of many of these

passages reveals that man, in essence , is cruel, silly, and hypocritical in

nature.

Through his writing, it becomes apparent that Twain supports the

thematic idea of the human race being hypocritical. For instance, take the

scene in Chapter 20 where a group of people in Arkansas are listening to the

sermon of a preacher. In this descriptive passage, it can be inferred through

Twain’s writing that the average person of this time was in fact “blinded” by

religious influences. The significance of this event can be observed later on

in Chapter 21 where Twain describes the horrific abuse of animals. “There

couldn’t anything wake them up all over, and make them happy all over, like a

dog-fight–unless it might be putting turpentine on a stray dog and setting fire

to him…” (Twain 140). In putting the two preceding passages in perspective a

distinctive irony becomes visible. The same type of individuals whom practice

religion in good faith turn around and perform cruel acts to animals, for sport

of all things. This is hypocritical because the basis of religion is definitely

not to support or defend such acts, but that doesn’t seem to have any adverse

affect upon the average person who is merely “blinded” by glamour of religion

and what it stands for, not having any intention of carrying out it’s plight.

So all said and done, Twain wanted to make it clear to the reader in a subtle

way that these two scenes, in conjunction support the statement that Twain’s

writing makes the human race out as hypocritical in nature.

In addition of Twain using the experiences that Huck and Jim undergo to

illustrate that man is hypocritical, he uses these experiences to show us that

man is cruel and savage as well. Take, for instance this quote from Huck after

he witnesses the massacre of the Grangerfords by the Shepardsons. “It made me

so sick I most fell out of the tree. I ain’t a-going to tell all that happened-

-it would make me sick again if i was to do that” (Twain 115). That particular

excerpt merely illustrates to the reader what savage acts humans are capable

of doing. The horrific acts that humans commit become that much more disturbing

when it can be shown that such violence has no reason or justification. Twain

tells that to us when Huck is asking Buck Grangerford about when the feud all

started. “Oh, yes, pa knows, I reckon and some of the other old people; but

they don’t know what the row was about in the first place” (Twain 108). The

mere thought of such senseless killing, for reason which aren’t even known by

the ones fighting, is quite disturbing to say the least. Twain most likely

included this in the novel in order to show us what makes humans so savage and

cruel, to kill without reason.

The instances in which Twain, through his writing, exemplifies mankind

as cruel are not limited to the ones described in the proceeding. The instance

in chapter 30, where the Duke and King sell Jim to Mr. Phelps for 40 dollars

illustrates what cruel acts man will resort to just to attain personal wealth.

The following quote illustrates how the Duke and Kings cruelty impacted Huck.

“…but it warn’t no use–Jim was gone. Then i set down and cried; I couldn’t

help it.” (Twain 211). There’s only so much one can say about instances like

this, only that it is beyond comprehension how the Duke and King live with

themselves after the acts they perform. Perhaps the old saying “what goes

around comes around” actually applies in this case, because later on in chapter

33 the Duke and the king get tared and feathered by a mob of angry townspeople.

Here Huck describes what he is thinking while he witnesses it happen. “..it

seemed like i couldn’t ever feel any hardness against them more in the world.

It was an dreadful thing to see. Humans can be awful cruel to one another”

(Twain 231). So it would appear, that no matter what, the root of people, no

matter how it’s intended is cruel.

Yet another aspect of humanity Twain satirized through his writing is

our inherent silliness through the actions we conduct in our every day lives.

Here, in this passage Huck describes how he views the Wilkes funeral. “Well,

the funeral sermon was very good, but pison long and tiresome; and then the King

shoved off and got off some of his usual rubbage…” (Twain 182). Essentially,

through this Twain is just making fun of the way mankind mourns the dead. Twain

most likely wouldn’t bring such a passage into the book if he had not intended

it to convey such a message. Twain also in a way makes fun of human nature in

the way we are superstitious and hold faith in certain things such as religion.

“..the preacher was lining out a hymn. he lined out two lines, everybody sung

it, and it was kind of grand to hear it..” (Twain 131). The description of how

the people listening to the preacher echo his words like mindless drones, is

essentially humorous and silly, according to Twain. Through the little

insignificant things we do, it can be interpreted as silly when you look back

and analyze it.

As stated before, Twain in his writing of Huck Finn illustrates to us

that man is indeed a hypocritical and ironic sort. Perhaps it’s important we

touch base upon that again through this one passage describing the actions of

the Duke and the King. “First they done a lecture on temperance; but they

didn’t make enough for them to both get drunk on.” (Twain 209). That excerpt

merely supports the underlying theme of the novel that man is a debase species.

Through describing the class of individuals that the Duke and the King fall into,

he satirizes society in a negative way. However this negative satire helps us

to closer understand our society and perhaps change it for the better. Another

instance where it can be suggested that the human race is hypocritical and

ironic is through Huck Finn himself and the words he says right after he makes

the crucial decision to free Jim. “It was awful thoughts, and awful words, but

they was said.” (Twain 214). Although Huck made a positive

resolution, the fact those words were said indicate that there is an apparent

struggle between what he is feeling in his head and his heart, and that in my

eyes, makes him a hypocrite, supporting the fact that all humans are essentially

of a hypocritical nature.

Whether or not a century ago Mark Twain intended to imply that the human

race was in fact cruel, hypocritical and downright silly is essentially unknown,

most would tend to believe that it was. In this novel, Twain does achieve and

illustrate that theme successfully through the usage of many literary techniques

such as symbolism and satire. “But what is the significance of all this?” you

might be asking yourself, well frankly if one thinks about it hard enough, if we

take one big step back and look at the world as a whole, we can see it is in

fact flawed. Perhaps, when we read novels such as this one, it can help us to

more completely understand the world around us and in turn perhaps inspire us to

change our world for the better, eliminating all of the cruelty and hypocrisy we

see today.