Mark Twain’s View of Society Through the Novel Huck Finn

Society is defined in a different way by every person. The image a person holds of society is show through his or her actions and thoughts. Usually these actions portray a good vision of society. Although, sometimes, people image society as being full of evil and hypocrisy. Mark Twain’s novel, Huck Finn, is written with a negative view of society which is shown through the actions of the characters in the book and uses symbolism to put his point across.

Mark Twain shows the inherent greed present in society by the actions of the characters in his novel. For example, Huck’s father Pap says, “I’ve been in town two days, and O hain’t heard nothing but about you bein’ rich. I heard about it away down the river, too. That’s why I come. You git me that money-tomorrow-I want it,”(Twain 21) Pap is only interested in Huck’s money and once Pap gets the money he locks up Huck and uses the money to buy alcohol and get drunk. Pap then beats Huck once and does not stop until he passes out. Greed drives people to do whatever it takes to obtain money and then do whatever they want with it often without thinking of others. This is a prime example of one of the issues that Mark Twain does not approve of in his society. Huck Finn was written in 1884, at this time the industry was booming in the United States and powerful corporations were taking over.

Urbanization was occurring in all cities and the lower class was working very long shifts in order to make low wages to feed their family. Mark Twain did not like the people using one another to get more money only for themselves. Greed is prevalent in this novel and it does not only apply to Pap. The duke and the dauphin are two characters who claim to be the son of the King of France and the Duke of Bridgewater. These two characters carry out many cons that target the innocent and the trusting. They con the Wilks family, who just lost a family member, into giving them part of the inheritance by pretending to be brothers from England By taking advantage of the innocent, Twain is showing how people in the society act. In the time period that Twain’s novel was written in, immigrants from other countries were coming to America to find work. When they got here they had to work in factories and mines for long shifts and little pay so they could be able to feed their families. Twain did not approve of this so he showed his thoughts and beliefs by writing this book.

The author of Huck Finn portrays the society as full of racism with slavery which justifies slavery. The book was actually written two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued so all slaves were free at this time. Mark Twain sets the book before the Civil War when slavery was still legal. Mark Twain is trying to show that even though slavery has been outlawed by the government, there is still racism against blacks in society. For example, Mark Twain creates characters like Miss Watson and Aunt Sally who although they are morally correct and religious they believe that slavery is necessary for life and Miss Watson is the owner of Jim. These two people have no objection to selling Jim and separating him from his family.

This creates moral confusion and it shows Twain’s view that society as a whole is corrupt and evil. Also when Jim is captured by the Prince and the dauphin they sell him without thinking twice about it and they have no problem with it. Jim is bought with no questions and he is kept locked away so he can not escape. Jim is also called many different degrading names by many different people including Huck. Huck is taught these things by the society that he lives in and this confuses him because he becomes friends with Jim and he can not understand why people do not like Jim. Later in the book Huck begins to understand that society is not good and he wants to escape. These views are actually those of the author Mark Twain.

Twain uses Huck to show his true feelings toward society. In Huck’s society, people believe that they are treating blacks well. This is shown in the quote, “How is servants treated in England? Do they treat ’em better ‘n we treat our niggers? No! A servant ain’t nobody there. They treat them worse than dogs,”(Twain 167) People believe that slaves are better of in the hands of slave owners in America. Twain is criticizing the way that people are segregating the blacks in his time with the Jim Crow laws that were passed to limit blacks’ rights. Also at the beginning of the novel Huck believes what others tell him about blacks such as, “When we was ready to shove off we was a quarter of a mile below the island, and it was pretty broad day; so I made Jim lay down in the canoe and cover up with a quilt, because if he set up people could tell he was a nigger a good ways off,”(Twain 51) Later in the book Huck begins to realize that what society taught him is not always right. Huck shows this realization by saying that, “Each person had their own nigger to wait on them-Buck too. My nigger had a monstrous easy time, because I warn’t used to having anybody do anything for me, but Buck’s was on the jump most of the time,”(Twain 103) In this quote Huck knows that most people would love to have their own personal servant but when Huck gets the chance he does not use the slave. Huck had to much respect for black people because he was friends with one.

Mark Twain’s negative perception of society was shown in his novel, Huck Finn, by the use of symbols and different characters. Twain wrote this book in order to show other of his thoughts and feelings toward others. By criticizing society in the manner that Twain did, he was using the romantic ideas in literature at that era. The excessive use of symbols and also the way that he described people in a sarcastic was emphases this. Twain’s novel is one of the most discussed American novels and its themes and topics have gotten it on many banned book lists.

Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ed. Susan K. Harris. New Riverside Editions. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.