Satire in Huckleberry Finn
Satire in Huckleberry FinnThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an acclaimed piece of work by one of America’s famous early writers, Mark Twain. Huckleberry Finn is looked upon as one of the great American novels of all time. The novel traces the story of a young man named Huckleberry Finn from conformity to the Southern way of thinking, to his own ideas. In the novel, Twain shows his opinion on certain topics by satirizes a variety of things such as the romantic mode, sophistication of southern ‘aristocrats’, and the hypocrisy of people.
Twain satirizes romanticism in this novel. The Grangerford’s are a family that welcome Huck into their home when Huck stumbles upon their house in the Kentucky swampland, and pretends to be lost. The Grangerford’s furniture, much admired by Huck, is actually comically tacky. You can almost hear Twain laughing over the parrot-flanked clock and the curtains with cows and castles painted on them even as Huck oohs and ahhs. Huck especially likes the poetry and drawings by the Grangerford’s deceased daughter. Huck describes the poetry verses and drawings so that it is vivid to the reader. The poetry and drawings are romantic, such as the painting of a girl holding a handkerchief, leaning over a tombstone under a weeping willow with the verse “Shall I Never See Thee More Alas” written by it. Huck adores this, however the reader is aware that Twain is making fun of the poetry and drawings. By using Huck’s narration, Twain is successful in creating dramatic irony. Huck likes the drawings, and thinks that the poetry is nice. However, the reader is aware that Twain is being sarcastic when describing the romanticism of the drawings and poetry and Twain uses his satire to let the reader know how foolish he thinks it is.
Twain satirizes the pseudo sophistication of Southern ‘aristocrats’ in this novel. The Grangerford family offers hospitality to Huck. Huck’s fascination with the Grangerford house permits Twain to compose an elaborate description. Through Huck’s narration, the house is described in detail. Dramatic irony is revealed again when Huck describes the nice clock and books that are perfectly lined up on the table. It is obvious that Twain is poking fun at the fact that many of the items in the house are there so...
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