Use of Symbols, and Realism in Huckleberry Finn

Use of Symbols, and Realism in Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain, an American writer, his name real name is Samuel Langhorne Clements. As a young man, Twain worked as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River. He often mixed serious issues with humor and satirical piece. Twain used satire many times in his stories to criticize issues such as slavery, religion, hypocrisy, and most importantly the Southern American culture. As Twain's work reflects his won life, since he grew up living in the South around the Mississippi River, he understood the local culture well. Twain has used realism in the novel, he shows realism in the description of the setting, that of the characters, and even the way characters speak. Twain shows Huck's social arena. The novel speaks against the social injustice and inhumanity of early 19^th century South America.

As Twain had mentioned Mississippi River, where slavery was in the air. Because the main work of this time was the plantation, and this work of plantation was mainly being done by the hands of Black people. From this point, in South America, the slaves or blacks were regarded as inhuman, on the other hand among the white the poor white regarded as uncivilized ones.

The story is narrated in the first person by Huckfinn, who is a white slave, a slave to his own society , and his desire of freedom is directed against the whole South American culture, who lives with the two ladies widow Douglas and Miss Watson. On the other hand, we have black salve called Jim., And Jim's aspiration to run towards the Northern state as so he can meet his family indicates the condition of black people in South America. Twin shows Jim as the best example of 19th-century fiction of average negro slave.

If we see the dialect, Twain did a lot of research on how to use the dialect of different characters. He uses a dialect of slave and also a different version of a white accent. Huck who speaks in the south pre-civilized dialect had little education. His words are little clear and close to English than a slave Jim, who speaks in Negro dialect and a worse speaker than Huck. He speaks poor English. Here Twain represents negro as uneducated. Twain trough Jim Symbolizes the slave and the slave institution of South America. Twain through symbols depict the man's cruelty, hypocrisy, and superstition of the South American People. River the Symbol of freedom, functions as both an escape route away from civilization as well as a route to freedom from slavery. The river is a symbol of Huck's Journey into adulthood as a whole as well as freedom. It was the raft only where Jim and Huck started to enjoy their freedom, it’s not just a physical freedom but freedom of mind ( a captured mind). Huck earlier used to mock Jim being a black who doesn’t know how to speak and behave. But it was raft where Huck started understanding the slave as a pure human. This is how it was freedom from a captured mind for Huck. It carries them towards freedom, from slavery for Jim and freedom from civilization for Huck. The food is also as a symbol, a symbol of freedom. Twain directs freedom through the symbol of Food that when Jim and Huck got on Ralph and started eating food, they started having the real taste of food because now they can eat food on their own. It demonstrates that even though the food is the same as before, how it is being eaten has changed. Twain through the through the words of Jim writes “ there ain’t anything in this world so good when it’s cooked right and whilst, I eat my Super.

Conclusion

So here in the novel we can see how  Mark Twain has used the realism, with the

realistically believable characters. He used symbols to propagate the idea about slavery and civilization and the aspiration of freedom.