Mark Twain'S The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn As A Racist Novel: A Study

MARK TWAIN’S
THE ADVENTURES
OF HUCKLEBERRY
FINN AS A RACIST
NOVEL : A STUDY
- KRISHANGEE BHATTACHARYYA
B.A L.L.B(1st Sem)
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
• To discuss the portrayal of racism and slavery in this novel.

• To discuss racial hypocrisy in the novel
• To discuss the moral confusion of “good” white people as depicted
by Mark Twain in the novel.
• To understand the society of America during the publication of the
novel.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Q.1) Discuss the portrayal of Racism and Slavery in the novel.

Q.2) What is the racial hypocrisy in the novel ?
Q.3) What is the moral confusion that Twain talks about in the
novel?
Q.4) What is the condition of the American Society during the
publication of novel ?
INTRODUCTION TO THE
AUTHOR
• Born on 30th November 1835, the tiny village of Florida, Missouri .
• Original name- Samuel Langhorne Clemens
• Moved to Hannibal at the age of four ; Inspired the fictional town
of ‘St. Petersburg ‘.
• Slavery and Racism were both legal in Missouri .
• “Mark Twain” - Clemens pseudonym
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ in 1876 ; Sequel- The Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn’ in 1885.
RACISM AS PORTRAYED IN THE
NOVEL
• Twain portrays a racist society of 1830s in an American southern
state, Hannibal.
• Uses satire in this novel to describe the foolish racist attitudes.
• The most controversial and the obvious racism is the liberal use
of the word “nigger” throughout the book.
• The racist attitude was evident in the character of Huck Finn and
how he treats to the runaway Negro slave, Jim.
• Jim was made to appear as the Negro stereotype of the times.
SLAVERY AS PORTRAYED IN
THE NOVEL
• Twain in this novel exhibits the perfidious ways of slavery in
America by ridiculing slavery’s outlandish ways.
• Slaves were considered to be “mere property” without any
emotions or personalities
• For example, Huck talks to Aunt Sally about a supposed explosion
• “ It wasn’t the grounding...that didn’t keep us back a little.
We blowed out a cylinder out a cylinder head.”
“ Good Gracious! Anybody hurt?”
“No’m ,killed a nigger”
“Well , its’lucky, because sometimes people to get hurt”
• Toni Morrison in his work analyses Huck and says he has
the attitude of a boy brought up in white American culture
itself.
• Huck‘s dual attitude prompts Morrison to say that Huck has
―a voice composed of black and white sound.
RACIAL HYPOCRISY
• Hypocrisy is defined as “a pretence of having virtuous character,

moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really
possess.”
• For example: Pap-Huck’s father.
• The hypocrisy that such a fundamentally flawed person because of
his colour of his skin is considered to be superior to a well-
mannered black person like Jim.
• Another example of racial hypocrisy is seen in the characters of the
King and the duke.
MORAL CONFUSION IN THE
NOVEL
• Mark Twain’s novel, ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ is full
of moral confusion.
• Good “white” people such as Aunt Sally, Miss Watson, have little
or no treatment in the injustice and cruel treatment meted out to the
blacks. They were otherwise shown as kind and compassionate
persons.
AMERICAN SOCIETY DURING THE
PUBLICATION OF THE NOVEL
• End of Slavery.
• Racial inequality still existed .
• Twain abhorred this situation .
• He was passionate on achieving racial equality feeling that it
was a moral right for America to allow African-Americans the
same freedom and equality as whites.
• Thus, his novel aims at criticizing the American Society and
its hypocrisies.
CONCLUSION
• At the end of the project, the research scholar would interpret the
various instances of racism and slavery in the novel.
• Instances of Racial Hypocrisy.
• Twain’s moral confusion that is depicted in the novel.
• Twain ‘s aim of criticizing the American Society and its
hypocrisies and his passion for achieving racial equality that
would allow African-Americans the same freedom and quality as
whites.
BIBILOGRAPHY
• Books
Internet Sites
1. Twain, Mark, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”( Penguin,
7. http://www.cmgww.com/historic/twain/
New York, 1986
8. http://archive.adl.org/hate-patrol/racism.html#.VjclPrcrLIU
• Articles
2. Gregory, Leslie, “Finding Jim Behind the Mask: The Revelation
of African American Humanity in Mark Twain’s Adventures of 9. http://www.britannica.com/topic/slavery-sociology
Huckleberry Finn.”(Ampersand Volume 1, Issue 1,1998) .
http://itech.fgcu.edu/&/issues/vol1/issue1/huckfinn.html. 10.https://marktwainahf.wikispaces.com/Major+Themes+in+
Huck+Finn
3. Fishkin, Shelley Fisher, “Teaching Mark Twain’s Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn (Huck Finn Teacher’s Guide,Culture Shock.
11.
1999). http://www.ijims.com/uploads/a019a97f7996bf6b5c10laila5.p
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/teachers/huck/essay.html df

4. Budd, Louis J., Ed; New Essays on ‘The Adventures of 12. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hypocrisy
Huckleberry Finn’(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985)

13.
5. Alberti John, “The Nigger Huck: Race, Identity, and teaching of
http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/civil-war-overview/
Huckleberry Finn”,(National Council Teachers of English, College
slavery.html
English, Vol.57, No.8, 1995) page 919-937

6. Hansen Chadwick, “The Character of Jim and the Ending of 14. http://the-artifice.com/the-adventures-of-huckleberry-finn-
Huckleberry Finn”,(The Massachusetts Review, Vol. 5, No. 1 analysing-racial-context-reception/
Massachusetts Review, Inc.,) pp. 45-66

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MARK TWAIN’S

• To discuss the portrayal of racism and slavery in this novel.

Q.1) Discuss the portrayal of Racism and Slavery in the novel.

• Hypocrisy is defined as “a pretence of having virtuous character,

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