Literature Analysis #2



The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 

1. It starts off with a boy named Huckleberry Finn. He has may adventures with his friend Tom Sawyer. They like to talk about robbing people and becoming pirates. They never fulfill their tasks because they realize that they are not bad people. Huck is taken care of by the Widow Douglas because he doesn't know his mom and his father is a drunk. The widow believes that it is her Christian duty to civilize Huck. Then out of the blue, Huck's father comes back to take care of his son once again. So they go and they hide in a cabin until Huck realizes that he needs to run away from his dad. After a while of running, Huck goes to a small island and meets up with Jim, The Widow Douglas' sister's slave. Jim informs Huck that he heard that he was going to be sold and he didn't want to be any person's servant other that Miss Watson. The two go on many adventures and meet many people on the way and they meet some people named "the duke" and "the king. they go on many conning adventures with these two until they are finally able to leave them behind. Soon the two swindlers come back and tell Huck that they sold Jim so he may go back to his proper owner. Huck then goes to a farm, where they are holding Jim, and to his surprise he finds that his friend Tom was there as well. Tom comes up with an elaborate plan to free Jim. It turns out to be pointless because Jim had been free since Miss Watson's death, two months prior. Tom already knew this already and said he did it for the adventure and to have fun. They go back to Missouri and find that Huck's dad has died as well. It leaves off with Huck wanting to flee to the Indian Territory.

 2. A theme of this novel is that even back when Minorities were discriminated against, there was still many positive traits the author portrayed them as. For example, Jim the slave, was more than just a slave, he was an intellectual and was very good with advise. Huck had a good view of his wisdom first hand due to all the time they spent together while being runaways. Some may say it was racist for its use of the word "Ni**er", but they have to realize that Twain was trying to get a feel of the time of the book so they may be able to understand it better.

 3. Twain used the first- person and it showed that Huck was craving for adventure and surrounded himself with kids of the same nature. "Aunt Sally she's goin to try adopt me and sivilize me and I can't stand it." This is a call to adventure because it shows Huck is not contempt with being under some one's rules. "I took a good gap and a stretch, and was just going to unhitch and start.." this shows how fearless Huck is and shows how he feels capable of fending for himself. "I never felt easy till the raft was two miles below there and out of the Mississippi" this shows that even when he had some doubt, Huck was able to overcome it and move forward towards more adventures.

 4.  Literary Techniques
                   1. Irony- Good example when Huck found out Jim was a free man, but Tom wanted to make it more adventurous.
                    2. Metaphor- Used throughout the book, but one that caught my eye was "...he was sunshine..." used when Huck described  Col. Grangerford.
                     3. Personification- A great example was Huck saying "the wind was trying to whisper something to me" intended to make us believe that Huck is trying to get a sign of something good or bad.
                     4. Point-of-View- this story uses point of view and it gives us a better understanding of how Huck would talk and how he view certain obstacles.
                      5. Symbolism- Throughout the entire book when Huck and Jim are on the run and talk about being free, all the while they are traveling the Mississippi River and the river has become synonymous with freedom.
                       6. Simile- Twain used simile when he described the King and the Duke stating "they slept like dead people"
                       7. Allusion- There is a lot of allusion, but one that was very prominent was when alluding to Twain's other work The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
                       8. Imagery- The Mississippi River is used for imagery because it implies the life that Huck wants to live, a free and tranquil life.
                       9. Diction- The diction Twain used was very informal, it gave a sense of the time and it was easy to understand with its humor.
                       10. Setting- As in all stories the setting is vital to the story because it gives the reader a feel for the story and what to expect from it.

Characterization

    1. Direct Characterization- One example of this is when Huck describes Miss Watson by saying "... a tolerable slim old maid with goggles on..." this gives us a straightforward description of Miss Watson. She is further characterized when Huck states that she is religious and cares deeply for education. An example of indirect characterization is when Huck wants to leave rules behind an example is " it was rough in the house all the time... and when I couldn't stand it no longer I lit out." this shows that Huck does not want to be disciplined and civilized so he decides to run away.

   2. Mark Twain's does not change neither his syntax or diction when focused on character because it is in first person POV. Thus it does not give much room to change either because the story needs to be told by Huck Finn and it is better to be consistent.
  
   3. Huckleberry Finn would be considered a static character because even after being a runaway for quite a while, he still does not want to be civilized or live under someone else's rules. His spirit for adventure remains evident when he states that he plans to go to the Indian Territory.

   4. After reading this book, I did feel as if I met Huck in person. The entire book was so well written that it seemed as if I was on the Adventure with him. He was always able to inform the reader when another person was speaking just incase they( the reader) did not understand what the point of that part was.