Huckleberry Finn and the Tradition of "The Odyssey"

South Atlantic Modern Language Association

Huckleberry Finn and the Tradition of "The Odyssey"Author(s): Jack SolomonSource: South Atlantic Bulletin, Vol. 33, No. 2 (Mar., 1968), pp. 11-13Published by: South Atlantic Modern Language AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3196777 .

Accessed: 28/06/2014 10:15

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

South Atlantic Modern Language Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to South Atlantic Bulletin.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.31.195.118 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:15:38 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=samla

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3196777?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


March, 1968 SOUTH ATLANTIC BULLETIN Page Eleven

La f6rmula es antigua y lleva el nombre de teatro de tesis. Tiene inevitablemente un fondo entre tendencioso e ingenuo, que proviene de la intenci6n de enfrentar "buenos" y "malos" a base de un juicio subjetivo del autor sobre la bondad y maldad que viene determinado por una preconcebida presentaci6n de los hechos ... .8

When problems of liberty or politics are treated, the most frequent tech- nique (Buero, Sastre, and others) is to attack indirectly, using other times or countries, supposedly sug- gesting to the censor that there is no allusion to the present regime in Spain.

Beyond a doubt, today's most sig- nificant dramatists are Antonio Buero Vallejo (1916) and Alfonso Sastre (1926), both of whom have also published numerous critical articles. Sastre, the self-appointed theorist of the teatro social, has two books on the subject, Drama y sociedad (Madrid, 1956) and Ana- tomia del realismo. He is more mili- tant and more of an ideologist than Buero, but both are social realists, both essentially motivated by their radical disagreement with prevail-

ing political, social, and economic policies and conditions in Spain. Following the lead of Buero, the younger writers have reflected the sordid, forgotten, difficult, and gen- erally undistinguished existence of the pueblo. Key works of this movement are Un hombre duerme, Rod- riguez Buded (1959); El tintero, Carlos Mufiiz (1960); Los inocentes de la Moncloa, Rodriguez M6ndez (1960); La camisa, Lauro Olmo (1961); Los tarantos, Alfredo Mafias (1962); and Los verdes campos del Eden, Antonio Gala (1963). There- after comes the period of enforced silence of these and other young authors mentioned earlier, perhaps finally ended by the return of Buero Vallejo to the Madrid stage.

Despubs de un largo periodo de cuatro afios, de uno de esos significativos silencios a que aludo, aparece en el escenario del Teatro Bellas Artes An- tonio Buero Vallejo. Bienvenido sea. Su ausencia se hacia tre- mendamente acusatoria. Porque, obvio es decirlo, este autor trae siempre un viento vivificador y pol6mico a la empobrecida escena espafiola. Lo que, para nuestra ag6nica vida cultural,

es importante.9 The latest work of Buero, El tra- galuz, is described by Quinto as another "tragedia de la vida vulgar," observing that with few exceptions,

. . . todo el teatro de Buero Vallejo viene conformado por una fundamental preocupaci6n: retratar, con perfiles tragicos, hondamente psicol6gicos, la vida y los suefios de la clase media espafiola. Todo este grupo de dramas hacen de Buero un autor "neogaldosiano" en la medida en que tanto ambientes como per- sonajes se corresponden con el triste y deprimiente medio del Madrid habitado por las opri- midas clases medias. .. .io

It would seem, then, that at least for the present, the general outlines will continue to be the same, with the Spanish dramatic scene split between the teatro de evasi6n and the testimonial, sociological teatro com- prometido. An alternative is prom- ised by the work of Arrabal, but, for the moment at least, it does not seem capable of reuniting the two prevailing, divergent tendencies.

JANET WINECOFF DIAZ, University of North Carolina.

Huckleberry Finn and the Tradition of The Odyssey It has been noted by several

critics that the last nine chapters of Huckleberry Finn represent a fault in the novel. The observation here is that after the reappearance of Tom Sawyer there is a change of tone and a shift in the method of narrative development. Among the detractors have been such emi- nent figures as Andrew Lang, New- ton Arvin, Brander Matthews, Dix- on Wecter, and Lionel Trilling. It is quite true that at the beginning of these nine final chapters the journey is over, the young heroes resort to play-acting, disguises, and even more elaborate schemes in order to work out the conclusion of the story. In considering this criticism of the novel, however, one should remember that in one great epic, The Odyssey, when the hero, Ulysses, lands in Ithaca, disguises himself, and begins by cunning and ingenuity to make his way home, twelve chapters and half the epic remain to be told. The parallels between the two works do not cease with this single example.

The similarities which one might notice between Huckleberry Finn

and The Odyssey do not necessarily suggests that Mark Twain deliber- ately set about to write an American Odyssey, but these similarities do reinforce the realization that the Homeric tradition is strong in our life and literature. Mark Twain was a man of letters, and as a man of letters he would have been fully aware of the story of Ulysses. One need not look far in American literature in order to discover other utili- zations of this journey theme. Among prominent examples are Hart Crane's use of the river motif in The Bridge, Walt Whitman's many uses of the journey theme in his poetry, and Melville's embodiment of the theme in the form of a sea voyage in Moby Dick.

The tradition of the odyssey can be traced all the way back to the Hebraic literature in which the exodus figures so prominently. In English literature one instantly calls to mind James Joyce's complete utilization of the structure of The Odyssey for the time scheme of Bloomsday, the day in which the action of Ulysses takes place. Earlier in English literature, John Gay,

in a poem called "Trivia, or the Art of Walking the Streets," described a walk through London. An analysis of the structure of the poem and the allusions to classical, mythologi- cal characters used by Gay reveal that the poet owes something to Homer's Odyssey.

Indeed, the English-Christian tradition is so involved with the He- braic and Classical Greek tradition that, as a part of what Jung calls our "collective unconscious," a man in Twain's position could not have avoided its influence. The entire Western Movement, in which Twain was so personally involved, may easily be called the odyssey of the American people. Twain's partici- pation in this experience has been recorded in Roughing It, The Jump- ing Frog collection, and Life on the Mississippi. The journey of redis- covery which Twain describes in the latter portion of Life on the Missis- sippi is a strong reflection of this

8. J. Pedret Muntafiola, "Aspectos de la problemrtica actual: teatro realista y teatro social," Yorick, Revista de Teatro, No. 2, (abril, 1965), p. 7.

9. J. M. de Quinto, "Cr6nica de teatro: El tr(gaiuz de Buero Vallejo," Ins1,la, No. 252 (noviernbre, 1967), p. 15.

10. Ibid.



Page Twelve SOUTH ATLANTIC BULLETIN March. 1968

tradition of the journey back home. But at the end of his journey Twain has not identified himself with the old familiar country; unlike Ulysses, Twain must face the fact that he has made for himself a new life.

What evidence does one find in Huckleberry Finn that Twain was influenced by the tradition of the odyssey? Obviously Huckleberry Finn is not entirely structured after The Odyssey. There is no basis in The Odyssey for many of the events in the book; for example, one could not satisfactorily trace Huck's dis- covery of Jim to a similar episode in The Odyssey.

What is obvious is that the tradition and essential pattern of The Odyssey is reflected in Huckleberry Finn. Twain appears to recognize certain parallels between the two stories as echoes of an archetypal motif in literature.

Both Huck Finn and Ulysses stand as national heroes, and not only national heroes, but heroes of a youthful nation; therefore, they are heroes involved with that nation's journeys of expansion. As they wander, Huck along the Mis- sissippi and Ulysses over the seas, these heroes exhibit bravery, cunning, ingenuity, and even the ability to lie successfully and magnificently when the movement of the narrative demands it. For example, Huck's escape from his father's hut and Ulysses' escape from the Cyclops are both accomplished by the exercise of these very traits. Furthermore, not least among the aspirations of each hero is the will to freedom, embodied in Huckleberry Finn in Huck's efforts to get Jim to a free state, and in The Odyssey in Ulys- ses' fight to free his home and his people from the tyranny of the suitors.

Interwoven with these basic themes and motifs one recognizes the universal theme of the search for a father. In The Odyssey it is simply expressed in Telemachus' search for Ulysses, but in Huckle- berry Finn, as in Joyce's Ulysses, the search is expressed more nearly as the frustration which evolves from this futile search. And it is futile in all of these works. Huck searches for his father, not for the purpose of identification, but for the protection that comes from the recognition of one's enemy. Joyce further reverses the theme and has the father image, Leopold Bloom, search for his spiritual son, Dedalus. In Ulysses Joyce makes identifica-

tion of the father-son relationship fragmentary or elusive for Bloom and Dedalus, and they never quite recognize each other.

The episodes of Huck's journey down the Mississippi are not so clearly defined and characterized as the episodes of The Odyssey; never- theless, at various points in the story of Huck's odyssey one is reminded of a similar event in the odyssey of Ulysses.

One such example of similar episodes occurs early in the narratives: Twain has Huck detained on an island imprisoned in a hut; and Homer has Ulysses held captive by Calypso. Only by cunning and initia- tive does Huck free himself. The gods force Calypso to free Ulysses. Here a claim for a parallel fails, but is resumed immediately because Ulysses must build his own boat in which to escape. Twain does the best he can for a young boy as hero; he has Huck find a boat.

The next episode, Book Six of The Odyssey, is the story of Nau- sicaa. Here Huckleberry Finn de- parts from the structure of The Odyssey. How easy it would have been for Huck to come out of the river and upon some young "Pike County" girls washing clothes in the river and hence duplicate this Homeric episode. Perhaps if Huck had been a bit older, and Twain a bit more daring, we would have such a scene. Instead, Twain moves from the Calypso episode in which Huck escapes from his father to the adventures of the cave from which Jim and Huck escape from a "Cy- clopish" setting. It is at this point that the reader who is aware of the traditions which have influenced the author of Huckleberry Finn realizes that Mark Twain, in all probability, did not write a conscious parallel of The Odyssey, but that the real beauty and meaning of such a reading lies in the recognition of these unconscious, subconscious, and heritage-germinated parallels.

In the light of this heritage and without pressing the parallels beyond the point of intelligent reading, one is reminded of the univer- sality which Twain's novel and characters gain by a happy, though perhaps accidental relationship to the story and characters of the first epic from which all other works profit.

Within the scope of this reading one might reflect on the following characters and incidents from both The Odyssey and Huckleberry Finn which show by their similarity the

generic charcter of the major con- cerns and developments of the narratives.

A siren is a most unlikely feature of the Mississippi, but an untiring search for the Homeric in Twain reveals the siren in Emmeline Grangerford. She is a poetess, a singer of songs, odes to be specific, and Huck is as enchanted as any Greek sailor would have been by the song of the Sirens. He expresses his admiration, but it is restrained by the literary taste of Twain. Huck says of Miss Grangerford's "Ode to Stephen Dowling Bots, Dec'd" that "If Emmeline Grangerford could make poetry like that before she was fourteen, there ain't no telling what she could 'a' done by and by." It is possible to draw a closer parallel between the talkative King, who so eloquently mangles the Hamlet soliloquy, and Nestor, the most talkative character in The Odyssey. And who could deny the Circe-like witchery of the wisdom of Mrs. Judith Loftus who changes, not men into swine, but boys disguised as girls back into boys, not by magic, maybe, but certainly by a trick.

The most shocking episode of Huckleberry Finn is probably for most readers the Grangerford-Shep- herdson feud, and few readers fail to react sharply to the incest of the Aeolus episode in The Odyssey. The similarity here is striking when one recalls that as surely as Aeolus is a king, Col. Grangerford is the pa- triarchal head of what Twain describes as an aristocratic family. There is no hint of incest in Twain, but surely the same disregard for outside blood motivates Aeolus and Col. Grangerford.

In listing possible parallels, one must not fail to note the fact that as Poseidon destroys Ulysses' ship, an almost godlike river boat destroys Huck's raft. Furthermore, the journey to Hades, common to all epic literature, in The Odyssey is found in the chapter called "The Book of the Dead." Huck, on the other hand, cannot descend to Hades as epic heroes do, but he descends as is permitted in the world of realism-he descends to the dead by association on two levels. He pre- tends to be dead early in the novel, and in the adventure of the Wilks girls he makes a confederate of a dead man by hiding the money in the dead man's casket.

As surely, then, as in everyday conversation we use the Scylla- Charybdis motif when we say we



March, 1968 SOUTH ATLANTIC BULLETIN Page Thirteen

are in a dilemma, we are "between the Devil and the deep blue sea," or "between a rock and a hard place," and are perhaps unaware of the entire tradition of the expres- sion, Mark Twain was subconscious- ly influenced by the heritage expressed by The Odyssey. If content can be affected by this heritage, then it can be suggested that as a story- teller Twain is no more at fault in spending seven or eight chapters getting Huck on the river, devoting twenty-five chapters to the journey,

and eleven on the final episode than Homer with his four chapters of in- troduction, eight chapters of journey, and twelve chapters of final action. But more important than any defense of form is the recognition of the functions of tradition and heritage that seem to be working in a similar manner in both Huckle- berry Finn and The Odyssey, a recognition that has suggested in- teresting parallels, including a parallel in our final glimpse of the two heroes.

At the end of both Huckleberry Finn and The Odyssey the heroes look forward to another journey. In Tennyson's later projection of the character Ulysses, he seeks "To fol- low knowledge like a sinking star," and Huck says, ". . . I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can't stand it. I been there before."

JACK SOLOMON, Auburn University.

Theses for the Year University of Alabama

(Thesis optional for Master of Arts) ENGLISH

Currie, John Sheldon. Supernatural in Graham Green: A Comparison of Orthodox Catho- licism with the Religious Vision in the Major Novels. Ph.D. (0. B. Emerson)

Hendrick, Kingsley Monroe. The Metaphysical Conceit in the Poetic Theory and Prac- tice of John Crowe Ransom. (E. L. Wil- liamson)

Knight, Bryce Miller, Run, Cycle, Run. (T. J. Rountree)

McMillan, Norman Robert. You Can't Bring Them Back (Novel). (T. J. Rountree)

Merrill, John Starke. Straight from Satan. (T. J. Rountree)

Priestley, Mary Ellen. English Syntax in the Early Prose of Samuel Taylor Coleridge: A New Reading of The Watchman, 1796. Ph.D. (August H. Mason.)

Atlanta University ENGLISH

Hayes, Ida May. Social Criticism in the Fic- tion of J. D. Salinger. (Thomas D. Jar- rett)

Hutchins, Bertha Humphrey, Patterns of Imagery in the Poetry of Andrew Marvell. (Richard K. Barksdale)

Owens, Esther Marie. Gothicism in the Tales of Washington Irving. (Thomas D. Jar- rett)

Sharpe, Johnnie Lee Mitchell. The Evolution of Pessimism in the Works of Mark Twain. (Thomas D. Jarrett)

Smith-Campbell, Miriam W. Reading Interests and the Tastes of Sophomore High School Students Related to Certain Motivational Factors. (Thomas D. Jarrett)

Thompson, Ruby Lee. An Analysis of the Reading Difficulties of Selected Groups of Atlanta University Students Enrolled in Reading. (Lynette S. Gaines)

York, Emma Lee. Robert Frost's Theory and Practice of Poetry. (Thomas D. Jarrett)

Young, Eliza Marcella. The Search for Iden- tity in the Works of James Baldwin. (Richard K. Barksdale)

FRENCH Brown, Vivian Sylvia. An Analytical Com-

parison of Palissot's Les Philosophes and Sedaine's Le Philosophe san le savoir. (Benjamin F. Hudson)

Hollimon, Barbara Christine. A Comparative Study of Le Gendre de Monsieur Poirier of Augier and Les Corbeaux of Becque. (Benjamin F. Hudson)

Jones, Alberta Mackey. The Literary Value of Pascal's Lettres provinciales. (Benja- min F. Hudson)

Pitre, Merline. A Comparative Study of Le Legataire universel of Regnard and Le

Compiled by GUSTAVO R. HERNANDEZ University of Georgia

Barbier de Sdville de Beaumarchais. (Ben- jamin F. Hudson)

Thomas, Melvin Andrew. A Study of the Theme of the Refusal to Accept Reality as Portrayed by Female Characters in Three Plays by Jean Anouilh. (Benja- min F. Hudson)

Weary, Eula Mae. The Oedipus Legend as Evidenced in Corneille, Voltaire, and Gide. (Benjamin F. Hudson)

Willington, Russell II. Theme and Structure in Rodogune of Corneille and Le Thdbaide of Racine: A Study of the Baroque. (Ben- jamin F. Hudson)

Witherspoon, Irma Jean. A Comparative Study of Le Bourgeois gentilhomme by Molibre and Turcarets by Lesage. (Benjamin F. Hudson)

Auburn University ENGLISH

Athey, Elizabeth Blair. A Study of the Moral Values Found in Four of Jane Austen's Novels. (Jack Durant)

Benson, Eris Bonner. The Influence of the Second Attributive in Six English Ver- sions of the Books of Mark, Romans, Hebrews and Revelation. (Ward Allen)

Coumes, John Valsin. A Study of Some Place- Names in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. (Leo G. Gosser)

Dunn, Royce Eldridge. A Study of Biological Influence on John Steinbeck's Proletarian Novels and Analysis of the Group-Man Theory. (James R. Woodall)

DuPree, Nancy Barker. Comedy in Sir Philip Sidney's New Arcadia. (Ward Allen)

Emmel, Gayle Jerome. Death in Bierce's In the Midst of Life. (W. R. Patrick)

Geyer, Charles William. Whose Woods? Pos- tures and Tradition in the Prose and Poetry of Robert Frost. Ph.D. (Eugene Current-Garcia)

Hillhouse, Virginia Cotten. A Study of the Alliteration in St. Thomas More's A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation. (Ward Allen)

McGriff, Ruth Charlene Byrd. Puritan Con- cepts of Morality in the Novels of James Gould Cozzens. (Maaison Jones)

Moore, Amelia Irvin Smith. Queens and Damsels in Distress: Medieval Tragedy in Malory. (Thomas L. Wright)

Newman, Patricia Ann. In Tristram's Parlor: An Analysis of the Reader-Writer Dia- logue in Sterne's Tristram Shandy. (Jack Durant)

Perkerson, Martha Augusta. Two Centuries of Waste Land. (James R. Woodall)

Rawls Leonard Wiley. The Moral Theme of Caelica. (Ward Allen)

Smith, Nancy Joyce Evans. The Drama of William Wycherley: A Stylistic Analysis of Two Plays. (Jack Durant)

Weissinger, Ila Rae. The Romantic Vaga- bond in the novels of Knut Hamsun. (Paul Haines)

Zimmerman, Rosalind Tarver Lipscomb. The Relation of Character and Function in Some Principal Shakespearean Women. (Norman A. Brittin)

Clemson University ENGLISH

Gooch, Dixie Reed. Recognizable Patterns of Characterization and Plot Structure in Five Major Novels by Henry James. (C. B. Green)

LaRoche, Jellie C. A Concept of Crime in the Middle English Metrical Romances. (M. A. Owings)

Loadholt, Phyllis Richiedine. The Development of Thomas Hardy's Vision. (C. W. Jen- nings)

Smith, Leonidas Constantine III. Existential Categories in Eight Plays by Tennessee Williams. (R. J. Calhoun)

Duke University ENGLISH

Armistead, Jack Murray, Samuel Johnson's View of the Sublime. (Benjamin Boyce)

Armitage, Christopher Mead. Louis MacNeice: A Biographical Account and a Study of His Prose Works. Ph.D. (Lionel Steven- son)

Beard, Sara Scott. Measure for Measure: The News That is Old Enough. (George W. Williams)

Belflower, James Robert, Jr. The Life and Career of Elizabeth Lynn Linton (1822- 1898), Victorian Woman of Letters. Ph.D. (Lionel Stevenson)

Berger, Thomas Leland. Venice on the En- glish Stage, 1594-1640. (Dale B. J. Ran- dall)

Buehler, Laurie Oliver. Objectivism in the Poetry of William Carlos Williams. (Ber- nard I. Duffey)

Cate, George Allan. The Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin. Ph.D. (C. Richard Sanders)

Clark, James William, Jr. Frances Ellen Wat- kins Harper, 1825-1911: A Literary Biog- raphy. (Louis J. Budd)

Foster, James Joseph. A Preliminary Text of Pierre Bersuire's Reductorium Morale, Book Fifteen, Prologue. (Robert A. van Kluyve)

Gilbert, William Henry. Unity through Re- sonance: The Function of Imagery in Browning's The Ring and the Book. (Lionel Stevenson)



Huckleberry Finn and the Tradition of "The Odyssey"

Documents

Transcript of Huckleberry Finn and the Tradition of "The Odyssey"