Mark Twain is regarded as one of the most prominent American authors. Twain wasborn Samuel L. Clemons several years prior to the Civil War in a small town ofHannibal, Missouri. Much of his boyhood was spent frolicking in the muddy brownwaters of the Mississippi.
After his fathers death early in his life, Twain washired for his dream job as a Steamboat Captain on the Mississippi River. Thischance was cut short by the start of the Civil War. Twain spent several years asa confederate volunteer, but this did not last either. Twain struck out for thewest hoping to make a fortune as a silver prospector. The only richness Twainachieved searching for silver was plenty of experiences on which he could write.
His first successful publication “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog” isa collection of stories Twain heard while living in the mining camp in Nevada. After his failed attempt at a quick fortune, Twain returned to the east. This iswhere he published his most famous works which included Tom Sawyer and it’ssequel Huckleberry Finn. Twain was regarded as a humorist because of his livelyimagination that sent his stories into the realm of outlandish. His most highlyacclaimed novel Huckleberry Finn appears to be nothing more than a boys tale atfirst glance, but in actuality it is taught in college literature classesbecause of it’s underlining satires and themes.
It was even considered to besubversive at the time when it was written because of it’s anti-governmentideas. This story as it appears tells of a young boy, Huckleberry Finn, and hisadventures as he travels down the Mississippi. Along the way he picks up a fewpassengers. The first of these is Jim, a runaway slave. Huck, as he is calledfor short, decides instead of turning Jim into the authorities, that he willhelp him get to the free state.
Before long Huck and Jim are accompanied by toscam artists, the King and the Duke. The novel elaborates on the tales of thesefour completely different individuals as the float lazily down the Mississippi. Huck journey down the rivers is not only an adventure, but it is also aconversion from boyhood into an adult. Twain uses the cover of an adventurousboys tale to satirize many of the things that he found to be wrong with society. Although the book was published more than a decade ago, many of the problemsthat occurred in Twain’s society are still prevalent today. One such topic thatTwain satirizes heavily in the book is the institution of religion.
Thiscriticism of religion can be seen from the start of the book all the way throughto the very end. A problem that Twain finds very disgusting about theinstitution of religion is the hypocrisy. An example of this is the WidowDouglas. The Widow Douglas is more concerned with the behavior of other peoplethan she is of herself. In one case she tells Huck that he cannot smoke becauseit is dirty; God would not approve, but she herself dips snuff. Another thingthat Mark Twain finds ridiculous about religion is the pure stupidity of it all.
As in his short story “Letters From Earth” where Twain criticizeshumans belief of heaven, Twain does so in a more light hearted manner inHuckleberry Finn: “she went on and told me all about the good place. Shesaid all a body would have to do there was to go around all day long with a harpand sing , forever and ever. So I didn’t think much of it. But I never saidso. ” Although it doesn’t seem like much of an attack on religion, Twain socleverly does this many times throughout the story to make a vivid point. IfMark Twain were to write Huckleberry Finn today, there is no doubt that he wouldbe quick to make these criticisms about religion again.
Everyday people have toopen there newspapers and turn on their televisions to news of Priests andministers molesting young boys and stealing others money. If anything it hasbecome worse of a problem than before. There are men that stand out on collegecampuses and on busy street corners yelling and screaming about the downfall ofthe sinner society of which many are a part of. The Brownsville Revival inPensacola would no doubt be a critical point for Mark Twain if he were stillable to write about it.
This is a huge church committed more to making moneythan to helping the people as they claim. People still believe in heaven as aplace in the clouds with no bitterness, just days of boredom sitting aroundpraising God. Religion may not be as prevalent in people’s lives as they were inthe past, but the same problems still exist. Another topic that Twain playsheavily upon is human gullibility. In Huckleberry Finn there were few peoplethat could not be persuaded into anything.
This may have been Twain’s solepurpose behind the characters the King and the Duke. Although these charactersadded life to the story, they were con-men, although not very good ones. Unfortunately they were still able to prey on the gullibility of the people. Theone example that stands out so strongly is the production of Shakespeare. Eventhough the King and the Duke were not actors and didn’t know any moreShakespeare than the average man, they convinced the towns people to pay moneyto come and see them act: “them rapscallions took four hundred andsixty-five dollars in that three nights”(363). The same type of con artistsexist in the world today, but they also occur at a much larger scale.
Thesepeople prey on the human gullibility of people, and their instincts to trust. One such type of company that preys on the gullibility of people are the financecompanies. People that are so desperate to get out of a financial rut will puteverything they own on the chance to for one time have financial freedom. Thisis just a fantasy though. For the few who do manage to make it out of afinancial situation this may have been a good idea, but many end up worse offthan they were before after losing everything they own. Twain’s ability to coverdirect criticisms of society with the cover of a boys tale as in HuckleberryFinn is still unmatched to this day, and the problems in which Twain found faultin his own time are still very much prevalent today.
It just goes to show thatthere are some things which cannot be changed with time. Some of the satiresthat Twain used in his book are not so real today though. With the abolition ofslavery, one of Twain’s most pointed criticisms, the satire became a piece ofhistory. Huckleberry Finn was written at a period during Twain’s life when hestill had a sense of humor, but his bitterness was always evident throughout thebook. Outline Thesis Sentence: Although the books was published more than adecade ago, many of the problems that occurred in Twain’s society are stillprevalent today.
I. Religion (Twain) A. Hypocrisy B. View of Heaven II.
Religion(Present) A. Hypocrisy 1. Bible thumpers 2. Brownsville Revival III. HumanGullibility (Twain) A. The King and The Duke B.
Shakespeare Production IV. HumanGullibility (Present) A. Big Finance Companies B. Prey on poor
