In the classic American novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain used satire to show the reality of American society and the nature of man. Using strong southern dialects and intellects, Twain satirized anything that he had strong feelings about. Utilizing his deep characters Twain satirized many aspects of pre-Civil War life, such as religion, slavery, and the hypocrisy of "civilized" society itself.
             Twain uses satire to make the church life of the Mississippi River more like entertainment than religion. During the time that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written, religion was an integral part of civilized life. This satire is apparent initially when Widow Douglas preaches to Huck about Moses. Huck doesn't appear to be bothered by her lecture, and states, "Here she was a-bothering about Moses, which was no kin to her, and no use to anybody, being gone, you see..." (02).
             Another example of how Twain portrayed religion with satire was the story of the Grangerford family. "The men took their guns [to church] ... and kept them between their knees..." (109). This is ironic in the fact that the sermon was, according to Huck, "a pretty ornery preaching-all about brotherly love, and suchlike tiresomeness" (109). Mark Twain uses Huck as a mechanism to question the blind faith of society towards religion.
             In the time that Twain wrote this novel, the Civil War had just ended. The war resulted in the testing of society's morals. Twain uses many events to characterize slavery and the treatment (or lack thereof) of blacks in the Civil War period.
             Early in the novel, it is evident that Huck believes in the societal stereotype that blacks are less intelligent than whites, along with other stereotypes that were projected on the black community. As the novel progresses, however, Huck begins to rely less on societies representation of the nature of blacks, "...he judged it was all up with...