Mark Twain, Satire, & The Adventures of Huckleberry

Finn

Before we begin… • You already know that

Romanticism ended with the Civil War

• What followed? Realism. 1850 to 1900

• Photography allowed people to see the truth of the Civil War, a war they thought would only last a short time.

• The horror of the war caused people to lose their idealistic nature & gain a realistic view of the sadness of life.

The Civil War• Authors gained a first hand view

of the war. Walt Whitman worked as a military nurse helping the wounded

• Realists were a new group of writers who wanted to capture the reality of the world. (poverty, war, sickness, and tragedy)

• This was anti-Romantic because they were no longer inspired by intuition and nature, but rather by the REAL world as it presented itself.

Characteristics of Realism• Common, ordinary people • Set in the present • Examined the difficulties of

life• Highly detailed and

descriptive (especially of grotesque images of war)

• Regionalism: Sub category of realism; emphasized a specific location, their people and dialect (ie. The Deep South)

Continued…

• Naturalism: scientific view; experimented with psychology and sociology; studied human behaviors

• Naturalists were characteristically grim and pessimistic; they didn’t believe in God

Jot down your answers…

• Why should a school recommend that all American Literature students read a book that has been called

crude, racist, and irrelevant for the modern age?• Why should an American classic that has been read by

millions and that Ernest Hemingway called the "one book" from which "all modern American literature" came be declared unnecessary for 21st Century education?

• These conflicting questions are at the center of the controversy over Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn that we

confront today.

Meet the Author• Given name – Samuel Clemens • 1835 to 1910 (Witness to the shift

between Romanticism & Realism) • Pen Name – Mark Twain• “Father of American Satire” • Worked on a steamboat• Born in Missouri (setting for many of his

stories)• Famous for his humor, wit and charm

The beginnings of a classic…

• Twain began to write The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a sequel to his comedy Tom Sawyer.

• This new book was a serious and dark satire of slavery in the deep South.• He was forced to shelve the book, until well after the Civil War

(Reconstruction).• His personal life began to collapse:• His wife was sickly• His young son passed away• He made several poor financial choices• He continued to write and finished Huck Finn• Since its publication, the novel has been the center of intense controversy• It has been considered vulgar and racist by those who refuse to see

Twain’s satirical views.

Major Characters

• Huckleberry Finn – adventurous, young, kind (a bit of a hooligan)

• Tom Sawyer – Huck’s best friend and foil character

• Jim • Pap• The Widow & Ms. Douglass• The Duke and the Dauphin• The Grangerfords • Sally and Silas Phelps• Aunt Polly

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

• Plot: While traveling down the Mississippi with a runaway slave, an adolescent boy learns to decide for himself what really matters.

• Setting: 19th Century, small town, Mississippi River

What was happening in history…

• Written 20 years after the Civil War

• Slavery had been abolished

• Extremely race oriented & controversial

• Twain wanted to show the reality of racism & human nature

Thematic Ideas(Look for these as you read!)

• Racism and Slavery ( The reality of how people acted)

• Intellectual vs. Moral Education (Are the school educated smarter or more aware than those who understand morality?)

• Hypocrisy in “civilized” society• The quest for freedom• Twain’s satirical view of

superstition (a very Romantic ideal)

Things you should know as you read…

• The goal of the novel is to explore the racial and moral controversies that continue to surround society.

• The material in Huck Finn is sensitive and shockingly open. It is important to understand that Twain uses this method to show readers that we must not exhibit the same immoral tendencies as the characters.