The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn....There was nothing before. There had been nothing as good since.” - Ernest Hemingway

2. The Author • Mark Twain (pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens) • Born November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. • In 1839, his family moved thirty-five miles east to the town of Hannibal, a city on the banks of the Mississippi, where steam boats stopped from both St. Louis and New Orleans

3. Twain and Racism • Missouri was one of the fifteen slave states when the American Civil War broke out, so Twain grew up amongst the racism, lynch mobs, hangings, and general inhumane oppression of African Americans.

4. Talented Twain • Twain was in demand not just as a writer, but as a public speaker as well. • Twain loved the Mississippi, at one time hoping to become a riverboat pilot. • His pen name, Mark Twain, is a river term, meaning “to sound the depths and deem them safe for passage.” Two fathoms deep (12 feet)

5. Professional/Personal Life • At twenty-six in 1861, Twain moved to Carson City, Nevada. • In 1864, he traveled to California and tried mining. • As a reporter, he traveled to a variety of cities in America. • In New York, he met Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, and Charles Dickens. • Mark Twain died in 1910. • FAMOUS WORKS • “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”-1865 (first story) • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer- 1876 (began working on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn this same year) • A Tramp Abroad- 1880 • The Prince and the Pauper- 1881 • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- 1885

6. Twain Fun Fact Born and died when Halley’s comet passed the Earth.

7. Characteristics of Realism • Focuses on common, ordinary life of everyday people • Often uses language to distinguish between classes. • Often focused on social reform • Focus on situations which often require compromise

8. Local Color/Regionalism is fiction that focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, and landscape of a particular region.

9. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Setting Point of View • St. Petersburg, Missouri • Various locations along the banks of the Mississippi River in Missouri, Arkansas, and Illinois • Middle of the 19th century, before the Civil War • First person point-of-view • Huck Finn is the narrator • His narration, including his accounts of conversations, contain regionalisms, grammatical errors, pronunciation errors, and other characteristics of the speech of Missouri boy with limited education.

10. Novel Structure • Bildungsroman • Coming-of-Age story • Irony • Picaresque Novel

11. Bildungsroman –German (novel of education) (Bil-donks-ro-man) • In such a novel, a young protagonist begins in turmoil, struggles toward maturity, meets various obstacles that initially defeat him. Later, the protagonist finds that he can overcome these obstacles through virtue and perseverance, and eventually triumphs.

12. "I'm leaving home…” • The Bildungsroman generally takes the following course: • The protagonist grows from child to adult. • The protagonist must have a reason to embark upon his or her journey. A loss or discontent must, at an early stage, jar him away from his home or family setting. • The process of maturation is long, arduous, and gradual, involving repeated clashes between the hero's needs and desires and the views and judgments enforced by an unbending society.

13. Examples from literature: • The novel ends with the protagonist's assessment of himself and his new place in that society.

14. Satire and Irony • Irony • Verbal Irony- saying one thing and meaning another • Situational Irony- a situation where what happens is unexpected and quite the opposite of that is expected • Dramatic Irony- the audience/reader knows the truth about something (an issue or event) when the characters don’t. • Twain’s writing is heavy in irony

15. Picaresque Formula Formula: Examples: • A rascal (of a low social status) making his living and way through life using his wits versus hard work. • Novel is based on episodes versus one big climax (some say lack of structure)

16. Picaresque Formula • The picaro (Spanish for rascal or rogue) is the central character who continually gets involved in predicaments that allow the author to satirize the social class. • Satire • the use of humor or sarcasm to poke fun of something to either point out a flaw or discrepancy or to promote a change in traditions or beliefs). • Usually satire is used with religion, government, or to specific people or groups.

17. Picaresque Novels Are Romantic (deals with adventure), but Realist (with details and descriptions)

18. An American Masterpiece Great Classics… Reasons • Employs wit and reason to deal with sins of society (slavery, lying, hypocrisy, taking advantage of the weak) • Huck Finn is a narrator that is very likable, even though he is imperfect. • Characters are stereotypes and easy to relate to

19. Huck Finn- controversial since first published • Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), author of Little Women, said: “If Mr. Clemens cannot think of something better to tell our pure-minded lads and lasses, he had best stop writing books for them.”

20. Censorship • Concord Public Library banned this book upon publication because it was not suitable for children. • The fear was that it taught children to do bad things like lie and steal, and that children would look up to a low class hero (Huck). • It also advocated the freeing of a slave (pre-Civil War). • 1957- NAACP charged that Huck Finn contained “racial slurs” and “belittling racial designations.” • 1980’s- Schools start to ban the book from being taught.

21. Censorship • 1990 – 2009 In the top five of the Top 100 Banned / Challenged Books List compiled by American Library Association • 2011- NewSouth Books to publish new version replacing certain word with “slave.” • Auburn University professor leading the initiative

22. Things that make you go hmmmm… • Take out a piece of paper and respond the following question. There is no right or wrong answer. Think carefully as you craft your response. • Do you think this novel is appropriate to teach in school? • Watch the video clip • On the same piece of paper, respond to the following question • Did your opinion change? Why or why not? • Discuss what you wrote with someone near you • Who wants to read their response to the class?