Expression and Perception in Huckleberry Finn
Taking advantage of the immense popularity of an earlier novel,"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)," Mark Twain began working on itssequel, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)." The second workfocused less on adventure and more on the slavery problem that then ragedin the South, but put the work aside when it did not blend with theoptimism of the Gilded Age that followed the Civil War. This optimism,however, began falling apart in the 1880s when the political program ofreconstruction - whereby the defeated South would be reintegrated into theUnion as a slavery-free region- collapsed because of the severe impositionsof the North that embittered the South. Many Southern politicians tried tomaintain power by controlling and oppressing black men and women whom the "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" became even more famous thanTwain's earlier novel and enshrined him as one of America's preeminentwriters. At the same time, it was the object of huge controversy because ofits treatment of the slavery issue and his expression of rage over theinjustices of his time. The novel was banned by the trustees of the ConcordMassachusetts public library (March 18, 1885), whil
e others criticized itas vulgar and racist, particularly for its use of the word "nigger. com), the chief humor of the novel was identified inHuck's individualistic worldview and his manner of expressing thisworldview. It explained away Twain's innate capability to delve into the mix ofextravagance and caricature, held in check by the deep seriousness andcandidness that characterized his boyhood. The length of it was worth the time,with the illustrations dramatically adding to the fun it bestowed to thereader. " Itdeplored that he made a reputation and a fortune out of humor, and out ofthis, he became ". Both Huck and Jim wore the masks manufactured by their Southernsociety for the purpose and under those circumstances - typical of Southernhypocrisy, especially towards racism. The review noted that the story peaked with Tom's freeing Jim whom heknew was already freed. This ability tocreate and present silly and unrealistic adventures was precisely Twain'sgenius, and his very nature alone could account for such a force with whichfantasy materials were transformed into a readable work of literary art. The articlecrowned him not only as a maker of that scarce blessing called "mirth" butalso as one of the greatest contemporary fictionists. The vividness and originality of life, the natural display ofcharacter in action, all the excitement of adventure - plausible or not -merged as a work for which readers should be grateful. The newspaper highlighted Twain's inventive genius to which thereseemed no limit, and its range and originality were right in the novel. The review article found in the novel everything that a reader lookedfor in one. The Library Journal paperback (1997) contained the restored editionof the Finn novel, including four previously unknown episodes, discoveredin 1990. The othermembers found it similarly rough, coarse and without elegance in dealingwith experiences, as a whole "un-elevating" and more suited to "slum" andunrespectable readers.
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Acceptance Essays
