Examples Of Satire In Huckleberry Finn

A great man once said “You can't debate satire. Either you get it or you don't” (brainyquote.com). Satire has been popular in media and literature. It is seen in movies, politics, books, and newspapers. But what exactly is satire? While is does not have an solid, concrete definition, it can be defined as using irony, humor, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose someone's stupidity and/or vices. Satire can effectively change people’s views by making them realize how incompetent they are. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, satire is shown effectively throughout the entire book. He ridicules religion, superstition, and education. Mark Twain uses different forms of satire effectively throughout Huck Finn to show real-life problems that took place in the 1800’s.
When Miss Watson would try to make Huck Finn pray and believe in her religion, Huck would not listen and he would always question it. Twain writes “Then Miss Watson, she took me in the closet and prayed, but nothing came out of it” (Twain 23). This shows how adults tried to place their religion on their children, but they were too young to understand. Adults in the 1800’s expected young children to understand such wild concepts. Twain is also criticizing religion as a whole; as much as people prayed, nothing came out of it. When Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn started a “gang”, one of the requirements was to fight. When one of the members, Ben Rogers, had to fight, he wanted to do it on a Sunday. Huck says “Ben Rogers said he couldn’t get out much, only Sundays, and so he wanted to begin next Sunday; but all the boys said it would be wicked do it on a sunday, and that settled the thing” (Twain 22). Twain is showing the readers how fighting others is against the Bible, but they would still carry on with the task any other day then