Social Criticism in Huckleberry Finn

Social Criticism in Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain’s Shots at Society in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn


Ernest Hemingway once said of Mark Twain’s novel, Huckleberry Finn, “All modern American literature comes from Huckleberry Finn.”   Mark Twain is perhaps one of the greatest American writers and is known as a pioneer for the American novel. His books during his time were immensely popular among rich and poor. He introduced the “adventure” style, where the main characters travel around having interesting experiences together. But during his life, Twain saw many injustices of society and his writing reflected these injustices. His most acclaimed novel, Huckleberry Finn has many criticisms of society in it. In Huckleberry Finn, Twain denounces the attitude of the Gilded Age, human greed, and religious hypocrisy.
In the middle of the novel, Huck comes across the Grangerfords, the highest aristocratic family Huck has ever seen. Huck thinks they are the best people he has encountered. They take him in and make him one of the family, feeding him and treating him as an honored guest. While staying in their house, however, he comes across the trappings of the house and makes a true observation about what material possessions the Grangerfords have. On the outside, their house is beautiful, and Huck says that he never “seen no house so nice and had so much style”(99). It has real brass doorknobs, a brick fireplace, and an extraordinary clock on the mantelpiece that has a painting of the town on it. The inside decorations look good at first glance but are really fake and worthless inside, much like the age that Twain lived in. Huck comes across a gaudy parrot made out of chalk and a crockery dog and cat(100). These are totally worthless to Huck, and he cannot understand why the Grangerfords have them beside the clock. The reader can only imagine how excited and amazed Huck would have been to discover a real parrot, dog or cat. After examining these fake animals, he comes across a table in that has a...