Huck Finn Essay - Judgement Day
American society is a "damned human race." By this label, actually
a title to one of his later works, Mark Twain reveals his distaste towards
the hypocrisy of American life. In his novel, Huckleberry Finn, Twain uses
satire to criticize the many ideas he saw so frequently in society through
the plight of Huck and Jim. Twain condemns the practices of the times through
presentation of societal, moral, and religious hypocrisies.
Twain satirizes religious practices through the pretentiousness of slave owners.
For example, Miss Watson, the owner of Jim, insists that all her slaves learn
Christianity. Every evening she "fetched the niggers in and had prayers"(Twain,
p.13). She regards herself as a pious individual, and believes that by doing
this, she will go to heaven. But this forcing slaves to be Christians contradicts
the true values of Christianity. Twain knows the falsehood of this practice.
Likewise, this attempt of slave owners to Christianize their slaves can be
seen through the actions of Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas, whom Huck encounters
at the end of the story. When they lock Jim up, he reports to Huck and Tom
Sawyer, "Uncle Silas come in everyday or two to pray with him, and Aunt
Sally come in to see if he was comfortable"(Twain, p.238-239). Although
these two are generally kindhearted people, they still want to sell Jim and
gain the reward. Thus, they adhered to the same beliefs as the rest of society,
and just as Miss Watson, they try to teach Jim Christianity before they sell
him. In conclusion, the efforts of slave owners to Christianize their slaves
reveal religious hypocrisy in American society.
In addition to religious hypocrisies, Twain demonstrates the moral hypocrisy
of American society through selfishness and greed. When Huck asks the slave
hunters to help his sick father, they refuse for fear of catching the sickness.
One hunter tells Huck, "Now we're trying to do you a kindness; so you
just put twenty miles between us"(Twain, p.94). Twain knows that by human
nature, man is selfish. The irony is that these hunters are willing to hunt
down humans, but they will not help a sick man. Huck knows the pettiness of
these selfish hunters, and therefore succeeds in fooling them. Similarly,
this selfishness of the slave hunters is depicted in one of the final chapters
of the novel. In this scene, farmers chase Tom, Huck, and Jim when they escape
from the Phelps's'(Twain, p.262). These farmers are willing to kill them to
secure the Phelpses' financial "investment" in Jim. This represents
society's willingness to harm a fellow human being for money. Thus, Twain
illustrates the selfishness of society through actions of slave hunters.
In a like manner, Twain reveals hypocrisies of society through weaknesses
and bogus concepts. An example of one bogus concept is the idea honor. When
Huck looses Jim in the middle of the story, he lives as a guest in the Grangerford
household. There Buck introduces to him the Grangerford-Shepherdson feud.
Buck explains, "A feud is this way: A man has a quarrel with another
man and kills him...and by and by everybodys killed off and there ain't no
more feud"(Twain, p.110). This irrational concept of honor violates common
sense, a concept extremely important to Twain. Pride, a concept that most
men feel the need to prove, will eventually lead to a downfall, as was the
fate of the Grangerford household. On the other hand, Twain displays the weakness
of society through the Wilks episode. When the king and duke pose as the Wilks
brothers, the king gives a dramatic account, "and works himself up and
slobbers out a speech, all full of tears and flapdoodle...till it was just
sickening"(Twain, p.161-162). This episode satirizes the gullibility
of the human race, and because of this gullibility, imposters, like the king
and duke, are able to prove so successful. Generally humans allow their emotions
to prevent them in facing reality. Furthermore, this event also shows the
greed of man. In short, Twain demonstrates hypocrisy through the ridiculous
concept of honor and gullibility of society.
Mark Twain holds an aversion towards society because of its moral and religious
hypocrisies. I do not blame him. Even though I do not share the same sense
of hatred of American society, I do recognize it's hypocrisies and flaws.
Even though this novel was written 120 years ago, many of the problems Twain
identified still exist today, even in Oakland. One major example is the concept
of honor, seen through frequent gang violence. Oakland has one of the highest
homicide rates in the country because people feel the need to prove themselves
by shooting each other. Maybe one day these hypocrisies will cease to exist,
but that day, I think, will be Judgment Day.
12-01 NM
