Huckelberry Finn - Chapter 1 Commentary.

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HUCKELBERRY FINN

Chapter 1 Commentary

“There were things he stretched, but mainly he told the truth.” Straight away Twain shows us the irony and hypocrisy of American society through the eyes of the young and innocent Huck. For Twain’s story to come out as he has intended the voice of the narrator is a crucial part.  Twain has deliberately chosen a 13-year-old boy as the first person narrator to give the reader a greater sense of belief and trust which Huck quickly gains through his innocence. A young boy such as Huck would be less influenced by the world around him and, therefore, he will be telling the story straight from the heart and what he truly believes in. His vision isn’t clouded by the ‘sivilised’ society, which Twain perhaps purposely uses to symbolise the way in which American society attempts to place people into a certain stereotype.

The language Twain has used is very simple which reflects Huck himself. The grammatically incorrect English. This seems to give Huck more appeal as it further demonstrates his innocence and honesty. Further more, Twain provides us with two contrasting characters in the widow Douglas and Miss Watson in both their personalities and language they use. Their main concern is to behave in the manner that is considered by the society to be ‘sivilised’. This gives the reader the impression that they are fake and not true to themselves but rather more worried about what others will think of them.

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From the beginning it is clear that Huck believes to be trapped by what he believes to be a confined society. When he is away from this Huck feels ‘free and satisfied’ but now that the widow and Miss Watson have taken to ‘Civilizing Huck’, his new clothes symbolise the way in which he is feeling on the inside. Huck feels ‘all cramped up’ and ‘tiresome and lonesome’. He feels so lonesome that he ‘wishes [he] was dead’. All Huck wants is ‘to go somewhere’ and he ‘warn’t particular’. He is so desperate to get away from the society ...

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