Emmeline’s paintings can suggest that she enjoys painting very morbidly. As we learn from reading the book, Emmeline is so enthusiastic about her artistic pursuits that she would usually beat the undertaker to a new corpse. In some ways, adults would find Emmeline’s paintings precocious, but children would just think her paintings are clever. Emmeline could see life as morbid. But, relating this back to religion does praying keep death away from the Grangerford house? Or is seen as testing God in ways that are possible? If you were to reflect this back to current times, many parents would be very concerned if morbid pictures were being drawn by their children. These children would then have probably been sent for mental help! But on the other hand, her poetry reflects her life.
The book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson relates to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because Long John Silver believes that he is very religious, but still is willing to kill and murder to achieve what he wants. This is similar to the Grangerfords as they say they are totally Christian, but still take their guns to church and kill for their own means. Though for Silver and his men, the idea of inflicting physical damage to a Bible is worst and more frightening than violating the Bible’s precepts, suggesting a more ritual than spiritual outlook on religion. So this shows that religion can be more than just lies, and can be followed. Twain though, wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn intending it to be satire, but many have seen it as a racist book. However, racism is only one point out of many of Mark Twain’s concerns which are viewed in Huckleberry Finn.
There are many factors of why Huck is unable to write a poem for Emmeline. Being uneducated would not allow Huck to write such things as poems. Also, if Huck was to write something, would Emmeline like it, as Huck does not share the same morbid fascinations as Emmeline and prefers reality contents to fantasy? Huck would struggle as the poem would not be in reality. Although, Huck could believe that Emmeline is a fake; a spirit sent from somewhere above. How can someone be so into death and morbid artistic items and still be human? By saying that Huck would be unable to write for Emmeline, Twain is trying to say that Huck is uneducated and sees things in such a different way to everyone else in society. Huck sees Emmeline as a wonder – by having no taste in art or literature, he thought her poems and paintings were amazing. He wonders about a person being able to do such paintings, or even if people loved her as much as she loved others.
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The reader understands how Twain feels about the feud because Twain uses the feud to illustrate the hypocritical Southern aristocracy of the time. Huck explains how wealthy, civilised and respected the Grangerfords are. Though, this idea of civilisation shatters when a family with such a reputation, can destroy themselves due to their nonsensical behaviour. When Huck asks who knew why the feud was started, Buck replied ‘Oh, yes, pa knows, I reckon, and some of the other old folks, but they don’t know, now, what the row was about in the first place.’ This quote makes Huck start to realise that society is not what it is always made out to be; sometimes it can be evil.
The Grangerford-Shepardson feud is rather like Tom Sawyer when he was grown up and armed with weapons, as their notion of family honour accumulates to killing one another. Though the Grangerfords are a mix of contradictions: although they treat Huck very well, they own slaves and act behave more foolishly than anyone else in the novel.
3, In the feud, Sophia allows an outsider of the family, to become involved with the feud.
4, When Buck dies, Twain’s tone turns entirely serious, but as Huck pulls Buck’s body out of the river, Twain uses Huck to show emotion which isn’t shown throughout the book. The feud demonstrates how confusing the world Huck lives in is.
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2, Twain continues to attack Christianity within chapters 17-19, by using the feud to show that religion is nothing but lies. The Grangerfords say they are Christians, but they still have been fighting in the same feud for over 30 years, and many have been killed. This isn’t showing brotherly love though which is preached to at church each Sunday. What is the point in the Grangerfords going to church each Sunday – what do they ever learn from it?
4, The hogs are used in chapter 18 to show that ‘If you notice, most folks don't go to church only when they've got to; but a hog is different.’ This shows that people don’t go to church to worship every day, but only when they really have to on a Sunday. A hog is different because they go to church for shelter because of the puncheon floor which always stays cool, and because the building was never locked, so they were always guaranteed entry. The hogs could be used to suggest that a church is just a building, and that there is no reason for religion. Maybe even, that religion is just words that people do not follow, and pictures that no one understands, just like the Bible.
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Twain chose to set Huckleberry Finn at the time when slavery was permitted, because it is to show that although slavery was abolished in the 1830s, slavery is something that has never gone away and is still in our world that we live in today. Missouri was one of 15 slave states when the American Civil War broke out, so Twain grew up amongst racism and hangings. Twain believes that it is religious motivations which cause war throughout the world. Relating this back to Huckleberry Finn, this is possibly why a feud is used in the story because fighting can show the real side of a person and not what you see on the cover.
Chapters 17 to 19 shed new light on the issue of slavery by each family member of the Grangerfords, having their own slave to order around. Ordering a slave around, is just expected by the Grangerfords, and I believe that slaves shouldn’t just be expected, because they are humans like everyone else, and should be treated exactly the same as everyone else, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case, and still isn’t the case. Therefore, slaves such as Jim, look out for each other, and watch each other’s backs. In theory, Jim is now protected by the safety of Huck, and should feel guarded by him.
The theme of slavery reflects on the Grangerfords because they basically cannot be Christians, as true Christians would not have slaves and would never even dream of ordering slaves around. A Christian is meant to believe in a sense of ‘agape’, which is to treat everyone the same, and to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. The Grangerfords do not show any brotherly love at all, as they can still go out with their guns and kill people like they’re on shopping sprees!
Conclusion
Mark Twain uses humour and irony in the book, most often combining the two. He also uses satire through the book, showing that by using satire, you are poking fun at the mistakes and cracks in American society. An example of humour used within the book would be, ‘there’s a guy shot – he’s just full of lead’. This would be funny for the reader, but realistic at the same time, as men, mostly, would be shot several times, so this is relevant because of the realistic content. With all the humour and irony that Twain include into The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he can turn an ordinary adventure down a river, into an exploration of the problems society, especially civilized society, faces each day.
4, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was banned from many libraries because the book, in some eyes, can criticise many people, including many uneducated and ignorant people. The characters in the book could be seen as naive, as well as the storyline could be seen as naive. It is ironic when you consider the targets of his satire, because by reading the book, it makes you more ignorant. In theory, the book implies the less you read, the better educated you are. Many people may agree with this, but many others will not agree.
Throughout the book, Huckleberry Finn is passing messages to modern readers of the book. Things such as: religion is still big within society today, many people are told things by others, which we believe are true, but in fact aren’t true and that we should believe preachers, as in the 1800s, people were afraid of preachers. These are all thoughts of Twain, and are displayed in the book. However, Obama is the only person who has ever taken America away from the slavery side of society, allowing freedom and equality within this world. Still in the world, people are unable to go into a higher role of a job, because of who they are, and sexism still remains the same within society, by not allowing women to be paid the same wage as men.