Understanding Huckleberry Finn With Historical Approach
For years, Mark Twain’s classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has been misinterpreted by many people and ultimately, banned in some schools because of its content, which seems very racist to some. However, by using the historical approach, that is, analyzing the time period in which the novel took place and considering it while reading, one can understand Huck Finn better because they have some background knowledge on the book and they can see the book for what it actually is instead of something offensive.Slavery is one of the many hot topics present in Huck Finn, as its portrayal has the most impact on the reader. One must realize, however, that during nineteenth-century America, slaves were often mistreated and looked down upon by the white society. When Huck lies to Aunt Sally telling her the steamboat was knocked out by a cylinder-head, she asks, “good gracious, anybody hurt?” His reply was, “no’m, killed a nigger.” (Page 221) She simply dismisses the death of the African-American and says everyone was lucky. It would be out of historical context for Twain to have his white characters treat his African-American ones as equals because they weren’t viewed that way. Instead, Twain wrote the raw, horrible bu . . .
A historical approach provides reasoning for events happening in the novel, and clarifies, and may even justify, the use of dialect, word choice, and other literary tools. People built their lives around the Bible, so if one committed a sin they believed they were going to hell. It may be hard without this realization to stomach the idea of slavery being holy, as people may not understand why Huck views slavery in a way that one wouldn’t today. One must realize the thrill playing a little trick like this gave to the people of the nineteenth-century who led simple lives for the most part. Although this seemed funny and innocent at first, it turned out to be scary and could’ve been fatal. Unlike today’s society, people back then were extremely religious and they took the Bible word for word. People were curious to what was coming because they led simple, uneventful lives. Thus non-believers and con artists easily took advantage of them. The events in the book provide only a simple glance to the fun and violence associated with this time period. The pranks people played on each other weren’t meant to be harmful, although they usually were and the superstitions many held increased the fear. Because the rules in the Bible are hard to live by within society, there was a lot of religious hypocrisy in Huck Finn. During this time period, the South was struggling to keep up with the industrial and wealthy North. When knowing the religion of characters and the customs they are supposed to follow, it is easier to identify what type of person they are, be it gullible, hypocrite, or something else. Throughout the novel, Huck traveled to many towns with King and Duke and in almost every one of them they created some sort of show or scam.
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Acceptance Essays
