Huck Finn Analytical Essay

1400 Words6 Pages
“Examine what is said, not who speaks,” suggests an Arabian proverb. While this may be good advice, Mark Twin proved in his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, that communicating effectively may very well depend on who is speaking. His use of the character Huck Finn to convey his various views on society is much more effective than if he would have used another avenue, because the story is told from Huck’s first person point of view, Huck is an extremely relatable character, and Huck’s experiences bring him through struggles that deal directly with Twain’s opinions about the pre-Civil War social structure. Because Huck’s story is told in his own words from his own point of view, Twain is able to communicate his opinions very adequately. Twain quickly establishes the character and personality of Huck with sentences such as, “Then she told me all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there.” (Twain 2) By using Huck’s brash, but also childlike, voice as his mouthpiece, Twain is free to expose the reader to his own views and opinions. Twain does an excellent job of establishing Huck as a child, with all of the tendencies and feelings that a child experiences. “I was itching in eleven different places now. I reckoned I couldn’t stand it more’n a minute longer…” (Twain 5) Times such as this show that Huck is truly a child, and therefore allow readers to accept even more what Twain is attempting to communicate. Huck is incredibly honest for a liar, in that he exposes all truth to the reader, with no tentativeness or shame. Because this open and honest pseudo-relationship between Huck and the reader is established from the very beginning of the book, there is no doubt that Twain is able to make his opinions heard. Twain made this choice in order to give a sense of informality and closeness to the reader about Huck, and therefore a trust is established
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