Examples Of Irony In Huckleberry Finn
Irony in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn For centuries, irony has been used as a literary device by writers
Thesis: Irony is heavily used in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through religion, racism, and the fact that Jim is a free man throughout the majority of the novel.
One theme that possesses a rather unsurprising amount of irony is religion. At the very beginning of the book, Tom Sawyer gets it in his mind to start up a murderous gang of robbers with the neighborhood kids. One of the boys pipes up and says that he cannot get out much save for Sundays, but “all the boys said it would be wicked to do it on Sunday, and that settled the thing.” (Twain 15) It is nice to see that they have taken some of their Sunday school lessons …show more content…
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn follows Huck as he aids a runaway slave with his quest to find freedom, and despite the fact that Huck is nonetheless helping a black man run away from his master, Huck himself is not without prejudice himself. He just happens to be a little less racist than the other characters. “Here was this nigger, which I had as good as helped to run away, coming right out flat-footed and saying he would steal his children—children that belonged to a man I didn't even know; a man that hadn't ever done me no harm.” (Twain 137) The irony in this statement is that Huck talks about the children being Jim’s, but then he turns right back around and says that they belong to a man whom Huck had never met. Before 1874, children were considered property of their parents (SOURCE RIGHT HERE), and for Huck to say that he thought the children belonged to a man says that he does not consider Jim a man. This is not the only example of Huck not considering Jim a man. Throughout the novel, he makes comments about Jim such as him having “an uncommon level head for a nigger,” (Twain 105) and Huck believing that “cared just as much for his people as white folks does for theirs.” (Twain 226) The funny thing is that Jim is one of the most caring and intelligent characters in the entire book. Huck states that Jim oftentimes does not wake him up to take over the night watch because he wants to make
Thesis: Irony is heavily used in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through religion, racism, and the fact that Jim is a free man throughout the majority of the novel.
One theme that possesses a rather unsurprising amount of irony is religion. At the very beginning of the book, Tom Sawyer gets it in his mind to start up a murderous gang of robbers with the neighborhood kids. One of the boys pipes up and says that he cannot get out much save for Sundays, but “all the boys said it would be wicked to do it on Sunday, and that settled the thing.” (Twain 15) It is nice to see that they have taken some of their Sunday school lessons …show more content…
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn follows Huck as he aids a runaway slave with his quest to find freedom, and despite the fact that Huck is nonetheless helping a black man run away from his master, Huck himself is not without prejudice himself. He just happens to be a little less racist than the other characters. “Here was this nigger, which I had as good as helped to run away, coming right out flat-footed and saying he would steal his children—children that belonged to a man I didn't even know; a man that hadn't ever done me no harm.” (Twain 137) The irony in this statement is that Huck talks about the children being Jim’s, but then he turns right back around and says that they belong to a man whom Huck had never met. Before 1874, children were considered property of their parents (SOURCE RIGHT HERE), and for Huck to say that he thought the children belonged to a man says that he does not consider Jim a man. This is not the only example of Huck not considering Jim a man. Throughout the novel, he makes comments about Jim such as him having “an uncommon level head for a nigger,” (Twain 105) and Huck believing that “cared just as much for his people as white folks does for theirs.” (Twain 226) The funny thing is that Jim is one of the most caring and intelligent characters in the entire book. Huck states that Jim oftentimes does not wake him up to take over the night watch because he wants to make