An Annoyingly Preachy Analysis

I first read "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" when I was about nine years old. I didn't dislike it, but I had the sense that there was something in it that I wasn't quite getting, so I put it aside and returned to it about six years later, when its very profound and always relevant message hit me right between the eyes. For those who are expecting a sequel to the rather lighthearted "Tom Sawyer," "Huck Finn" comes as a shock, for it is only on the surface that "Finn" is a mere adventure story. "Finn" is, rather, a biting commentary on the society of Mark Twain's time, but its theme transcends time, for we are all guilty of some sort of prejudice, or even downright hatred. We are all convinced of our superiority to some group or another, whether because of color or money or class or intelligence or another reason, generally a petty and absurd one.

"Huck Finn" takes place in pre-Civil War times, when owning slaves was not only commonplace but a sign of genuine respectability. Why, all of the best people owmed 'em, and what was wrong with that? Huck Finn, aka Mark Twain, saw plenty wrong with that, especially as he got to know his runaway slave companion, Jim. Jim's skin color may be darker but his blood, Huck discovers with a shock, is as red as Huck's own. And Jim wants what anyone wants - love, acceptance, a chance to be free. Just like Huck. As the two go down the river on Huck's raft, Huck is forced to see the truth, and to ponder why on earth it would be a sin to help Jim escape.

Along the way, Huck encounters a lot of very interesting people, and this only adds to his confusion. If fine folks see nothing wrong with killing each other and so on, Huck would rather be a heathen. Yet there is that little matter of going to Hell, which, Huck reasons, might not be so bad, since his best friend Tom Sawyer is bound to be there, too. It seems to Huck that the people who are claiming to be Christians have no love for anyone who isn't exactly like they are, and that maybe the true Christian thing is to help Jim - even if it means risking the torments of Hell.

Huck's moral dilemma is summed up in one sentence, "All right then, I'll GO to hell!" This one sentence got the book banned. I find that both laughable and sad. If any adult can actually read this entire book and not get it, then something is sadly lacking. Perhaps it is time for an examination of our own hearts if we will ban a book whose ultimate theme is brotherhood. I would also like to point out that the use of the n-word, which also caused an uproar, is done for a purpose, that purpose being to show the way that the slaves were looked upon as something less than human. In Twain's day it was a commonly used term, not considered derogatory at all. Again, if the use of that one word causes us to reject this book, then we aren't much better off than we were when it was written.

Twain's cynical outlook on life is something worthy of much discussion. Is it any wonder, given the phoniness that he saw all around him? And have we really come as far as we would like to believe, despite all of the lip service we give to lofty ideals? I mean, it's one thing to say you love your neighbor; it's quite another to invite him into your home. Twain, in the guise and voice of Huckleberry Finn, gives us a perspective that is both childlike and wise. Similar in theme to "To Kill A Mockingbird," it pulls out all the stops, whisks away the masks and shows us as we are. In shock, we may want to run from it, but the truth is there. Twain saw it and was not afraid to embarrass us with it. Through Huck, he gives voice to a principle on which our country was allegedly founded - that all men are created equal. In God's eyes, they are. We need to drop the scales from our own and see what Huck has been trying to tell us for decades.