Theme Of Ignorance In Huck Finn

Mark Twain will be forever known as the ideal American writer. In, the novel The adventures of Huckleberry Finn Twain’s depiction of America could change that. Through his depiction he solely focused on the corruption in society, and stupidity as a pure form of entertainment.

In the beginning of the novel, Tom Sawyer a young boy with a good upbringing. Towards, the end of the novel Huck Finn meets up with Tom Sawyer and this is where the reader sees the change that society has brought upon Tom. “ You got to invent all the difficulties. Well, we can’t help it ; we got to do the best we can with the materials we got.” (pg. 238) The sensible thing to do in this scene is just to let Jim go but Tom decides to make a game out of it, and thinks nothing of it. Even, though Tom knew that Jim was already freed due to the will in Miss Watson’s death. “We got a splendid stock of sorted spiders, and bugs, and frogs, and caterpillars, and one thing or another ; and we like to get a hornets nest, but we didn’t.”. (pg. 265) Thought this Huck’s individuality gets altered and crush when Tom comes in with society’s norms with him. He begins to follow along with Tom’s plans even though he knows it’s wrong. Twain emphasizes that he doesn’t believe in upward mobility. That individuals will get squashed and will amount to nothing because society only views you as one way.

Twain satirizes the stupidity in this book with entertainment. Throughout the novel he is constantly reticuling the characters based on their choices. Everything that Huck, Tom, or Jim do is also backup with with their stupidity of their choices which he then makes it into entertainment for himself and the reader. In Chapter 10, Huck places a dead rattlesnake near Jim’s sleeping place as a prank. “…and [I] found a rattlesnake in there. I killed him, and curled him on the floor of Jim’s blanket, ever so natural, thinking there’d be some fun when Jim found him there.” (pg. 52) Huck decides to this this as entertainment for him. Even though a snake bit can even sometimes kill a man depending on the venom. As a result of this it makes Huck seem very immature and stupid. Severely parts in this novel also show how Tom Sawyer is also immersed by planing jokes on Jim. No matter how he does it even if he puts his or someone else’s life in danger. “ Jim, don’t act so foolish.

A prisoner got to have some kind of dumb pet, and if a rattlesnake hain’t ever been tried, why, there’s more glory to be attained in your being the first to ever try it than any other way you could ever think of to save your life.” (pg.262) While there is another stupid joke through this excerpt there is irony as well. While Tom tell Jim “ to save your life” he is actually making his life more endangered by telling Jim to tame a rattlesnake and keep it as a pet. Tom is very cynical and or cruel in this cause he knows exactly what he is doing and Huck doesn’t bother stopping. These two kids think its a game with Jim and manipulating him into being there very own source of entertainment. While Twain uses Huck and Tom to show stupidity as their own pure form of entertainment he also backs this up by, later on Huck apologizing for admitting to the fact that they have been abusing Jim though their whole adventure together.

All whilst twain is writing The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, he makes sure to implement the corruption of society and stupidity as entertainment to depict America. He shows the reader that though even a child as young as Tom Sawyer can be manipulated and changed through the bad influences as society by lying, being violent, and being self all to please himself with little to no guilt. As well Huck is then too persuaded and peer pressured to change due to Toms influence while being inhumanly cruel to Jim. Twain as well shows how Americans sue stupidity as entertainment. This can even relate to our modern society. The movie “Jackass” is a perfect representation of this. All while they are hurting themselves they find the purest form of entertainment for themselves and the audience watching as well. In relation to the book when they are “playing games” with Jim, they are in reality putting Jim’s and even some things themselves life’s in danger. All in all, Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn uses the corruption in society and stupidity as pure form of entertainment to depict America.