H.F. Evaluation & General Likes and Dislikes - 11.17.15

     The interpretation that I hold of the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain can be summed up as a useless book with hidden satire that is not very recognizable unless you are studying and looking into the text. I claim it to be useless because in the end we find out that Miss Watson had died two months earlier and had left Jim as a free man in her will. So all of that fuss to get Jim into the free states was worth nothing, and to get Jim out of the custody of a man named “Nat” who had a fear of witches. However, I do not find this novel useless by the fact that it is satirical. That being it mocks racism, civilization, and romanticism. It mocks racism and partially slavery by including a friendship between Huck and Jim and also by using the word, ’n*****’  as it is used at least 205 times throughout the entire book. Civilization or ‘sivilization’ is mocked as he dreads going back to the Widow’s house as she civilizes him through religion and proper manners; civilization is also mocked in the family feuds between the Grangerfords and Shephardsons as they are wealthy families (seen by the amount of slaves they own) and how in the process of their feuds several people have died from each family.

     What have I liked and disliked about this novel? Personally, I liked the satirical standpoints that Mark Twain took on by making the narration in a first person point of view, especially by a young boy around the age of 12-13. The age level and the first person point of view makes it so that no matter how ignorant Huck gets or how mature he becomes throughout the novel everything is seen through his eyes and nothing is being altered or left out (unless exaggerated as it should be because children/teenagers like to exaggerate). One thing that I disliked a lot was the character of Tom as he was somewhat immature and his life was strictly about adventuring and the fact that if something was easily done, it was done wrong, and that it needed to be made harder. For example, when they were saving Jim Huck suggested that they should just lift up the leg on the bed to release the chain, but Tom though that they should saw off the leg of the bed and then release the chain which is obviously much more complicated. Another thing that I disliked is how slow the novel went on and how towards the middle of the book it jumped around (partially because Twain decided to stop writing and then continue again). 

     In conclusion, I felt that this book was somewhat useless but I enjoyed the satirical parts although they are not immediately recognizable by the reader unless they are searching farther into the text. I had some likes and dislikes about this novel, those being the satirical standpoints and the character Tom Sawyer as well as the pace of the novel as well as the pace of the book and the random jump towards the middle of the book.