Historical Context in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
While great literature is timeless, it is important to examine the historical context of literature to gain a greater understanding of people, places, and events. This insight allows us to see not only the characters clearly but it also brings us closer to understanding why people behave the way they do. When authors capture elements of history and place them into their works, we feel as if we are somehow closer to experiencing that history as reality. In mark Twain's novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, we have a novel that demonstrates how historical context explains characters and events with clarity. In his novel, Twain demonstrates how issues such as slavery and folklore affect individuals in almost every way. In fact, historical events and societal traditions shape the characters we encounter in this novel. The Civil War, Reconstruction, and a country torn between right and wrong make The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a masterpiece for capturing a slice of American life complete with its imperfections.The novel, in its apparent simplicity, peaks volumes about southern society. Justin Kaplan notes that Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a "man desperately needing to resolve his own bewilde
rment about conscience and the restraints and freedoms of the community" (Kaplan 227). This can be seen in Huck's struggles to find a balance between what he has been told is right and what he feels is right. His reluctance to believe in himself reinforces the difficulty in discarding what he has been taught. Huck understands what people have told him is right and wrong. Racism was prevalent and, because the country was still smarting over the Civil War, not everyone was coming around to accepting the fact that African-Americans were just as much men and women as white men and women were. Huck cannot blindly accept what he has been told about African-Americans because he sees Jim in a different light. Kaplan also quotes Twain as saying, "The conscience--that unerring monitor--can be trained to approve any wild thing you want it to approve if you begin its education early and stick with it" (Twain qtd. Huck and Jim are heavily influenced by what they have learned regarding folklore. All of these factors are significant but it is important to realize that they would not be as significant as they are if the novel did not carry with it the historical context of post-Civil War southern America. Another historical context that we see in the novel is that of superstition. An excellent example of this can be seen when pap communicates an almost "universal" opinion about African-Americans when he decides to enlighten the judge about a black man in Ohio having the right to vote. While we are reading from a novel, we must remember that it reflects human life. Huck, Jim, and those around them are united because of the society in which they live and the norms in which that society has placed upon them. The fact that Huck can see beyond this notion supports one of the main themes of the novel.
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