Huck Finn Masterful Satire

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Colin Berndt

American Literature Exam #1

ENG 2320, CRN 17685

Huck Finn: Masterful Satire

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the most iconic picaresque novels in the history of American Literature. Everything about it points to the idea that the book is going to be satirical from the very beginning, and when you start reading, you clearly see that Huck Finn is indeed, a low class hero. In the very beginning, you see the satire come out nearly immediately, with an opening by G.G., as he explains that you cannot find meaning, plot or anything else in the book. (The notice) Afterwards, you find yourself reading an explanatory, in which Arthur states how everything is done based on the true dialects of the area it is based, and that if you believe that the characters are "trying to talk alike but failing," you are wrong. They are doing it perfectly. It was done, in short, to assure the reader that the words are, in fact, true to their nature and that everything was written correctly.

As you enter chapter 1, you learn about Huck’s past with Tom Sawyer and the problems that he faced in life. It’s here, that the satire of religion starts to come up. Huck’s aunt is talking to him, and trying to tell him of Heaven and Hell, and how he should strive to go to "the good place." Huck just laughed at it, saying "Then she told me all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there. She got mad then, but I didn't mean no harm. All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change, I warn't particular. She said it was wicked to say what I said; said she wouldn't say it for the whole world; she was going to live so as to go to the good place. Well, I couldn't see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn't try for it. But I never said so, because it would only make trouble, and wouldn't do no good." At this point, you have learned that Huck and Tom had found a load of cash in the last book, and that is essentially where this book is picking up.

Much of the book continues in this same manner, where everything is satirized throughout it. As Huck continues on with his story, you learn more about him, and see how everything in the world is seen the way that he would. Huck sees things very differently because of the satire he uses in his life, and that leads to the novel being completely satirical in and of itself. In chapter 33, it continues on, with more religious satire, which appears to be the favorite of the book besides the mocking of slavery. As they see the preacher, this quote comes up "He was the innocentest, best old soul I ever see. But it warn't surprising; because he warn't only just a farmer, he was a preacher, too, and had a little one-horse log church down back of the plantation, which he built it himself at his own expense, for a church and schoolhouse, and never charged for his preaching, and it was worth it, too. There was plenty other farmer-preachers like that, and done the same way, down South." This was meant to keep with the satire starting with Jim’s owner, as she was a good Christian also, and both of them were slave owners. Owning slaves was wrong in Huck’s mind, and this was just something to make fun of, that people living such "good" lives to get into Heaven could do something so evil and wrong.

At this point, you have already seen how Huck has become the low class hero needed to really make a picaresque novel. Huck has run away with Jim, and is trying to find a way to keep him out of slavery. This satirizes the way that southerners at the time were still thinking since it was just after the civil war, but it also makes Huck a great hero to Jim, keeping him out of a horrible life, and making him a free man. Granted, you learn later that Jim was free upon the owner’s death, and Huck didn’t really need to do all he did; it doesn’t change the fact that given the circumstances, he was a hero for Jim.

It’s no doubt that this novel is one of the greatest in American history. Many have a hard time reading it because of the dialect, but many more don’t catch some of the more subtle satire in it. The mastery shown in making a truly picaresque novel in this book is like no other. The portrayal of a hero from low class and the satire worked nearly perfectly to write, what is arguably the best book that was ever written.

Humanimals

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, shows better than nearly every novel ever written, how humans still hold animal instinct, and how our primal instincts are what make us human. In the very beginning, you start out with a fight. Jimmie and some other boys are fighting, proving dominance and strength. This is something that we see in the animal kingdom every day, whether it be a cat fight outside our window, or a Discovery Channel special on walruses. The instinct to fight is always there, and just because we, as humans, have adapted to change over time, doesn’t mean we don’t have this animalistic prime within us. In many animal cultures, the fight is to show dominance, in order to mate. With humans, it is no different. If you can prove that you are the top, you have a higher chance of gaining the best mates and carrying on your genes. Even in today’s society, you see it with money. Those that are intelligent or make the most money, tend to get the best mates, simply because that is our fight now. We fight to reach the top of the corporate ladder, or the top of the intelligence because those genes are necessary to keep living.

The novel, however, focuses on the lower class, who don’t have the money or intelligence to pass on in their genes. They instead, have the more animalistic instincts for survival. They fight to gain their mates, and to get the food they need. Everyone gets hungry. How you get that food all depends on where you stand. If you can’t afford it, you do whatever necessary to get it. "She wondered if the culture and refinement she has seem imitated, perhaps grotesquely, by the heroine on the stage, could be acquired by a girl who lived in a tenement house and worked in a shirt factory." This quote about Maggie in chapter 8, shows the instinct to survive. She was wondering if she would be able to do what she was seeing, even though she was part of a lower class who couldn’t possibly survive. It is here, that you see Maggie wondering how she can better herself, and strive to get what she needs to survive. She needed food, could being like this get that to her? Would she even be able to act like that?

Throughout the novel, the animal instinct continually comes up, and it is shown in many different ways. Jimmie fought, Maggie strived for more. The novel really shows how you are able to keep animal instinct, even if you aren’t acting like an animal. There are many ways for humans to show dominance over the rest, and the novel explores them. The higher class that is at the theatre shows their dominance with money. Those on the streets show it by fighting for their lives. This book, can be taken into account for many different things, so long as you always remember, that the animal instinct will always be there. Throughout reading it, you see how humans never really stopped being animals, we just changed how we act on instinct, we changed what makes us dominant. The instincts of finding ways to feed yourself, find the best mates, and keep your life are still there, but everyone does it in different ways.