Examples Of Satire In Huckleberry Finn

Ethics, morals, traditions, and laws have a heavy influence on human behavior. From the moment a baby enters the world to the last breath he or she takes, society will influence their behavior to comply with certain boundaries. However, any abnormality outside of those boundaries is looked down upon. Human behavior is an issue that constantly emerges throughout all forms of literature. In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses satire to criticize human behavior to show how oblivious and naive society can be in making decisions.
Through Tom’s ridiculous behavior, Twain conveys how media and literature have had a consequence on society becoming gullible. Tom behavior comes from adventure novels and his dependency with
However, Tom, with his heavily influenced mindset, considers using a saw to take the leg from Jim's bed and worse, sawing Jim’s leg off. Huck questions Tom and regards his plan as foolish. Nevertheless, Tom says "It don't make no difference how foolish it is, its the right way and it's the regular way...I've read all the books that gives any information about these things" (Twain, 244). Tom has a knowledge developed by books, yet he is unaware that the material is not always valid and in accordance. He mistakes a fictitious world to be reality. Twain takes advantage of Tom’s undeveloped character to clearly reveal the satire toward a naive society. Though the quote takes aim at specifically a child, Twain suggests society exhibits a similar type of human behavior. Society has been absorbed reading novels and other forms of media to assume factuality. Yet, media is another form of opinion that is shared through the masses. Furthermore, Twain shows an event of ridiculous behavior when Tom wants to rob and murder people around town. He wants to steel cattle and hold people for ransom. Yet, Tom has no understanding on how to do this. When Tom explains this
Humans can be cunning and willing to go to extreme measures to benefit themselves. The Duke and King are notorious for this behavior. Incidentally, the duke and king intercept a message about the delayed arrival of the two brothers. They decide to go in the place of those brothers and steal the wealth of the deceased brother. Fortunately for them, no one in the town knows how the brothers look and they easily fool the people of the town. The Duke and King joke around saying, "Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side?" (Twain, 179). The King and Duke blatantly make fools of the people in the town. They regard their stupidity for being gullible. Twain says that people will travel to extreme measure to make their lives more pleasant. However, he uses satire to show an individual’s zeal can try to take the easy way out in life. It is human behavior for people to satisfy themselves in the easiest method possible yet, this will triumph the idea of morality and ethics. Furthermore, Twain uses satire to show how people are so trusting and accepting at times, they don’t even question an individual’s validity. It is purely ironic that everyone in the town would have complete confidence in the Duke and King’s identity even with Huck with them. Also, Twain continues to use irony in many instances to point out irony in many situations in the novel. Colonel Sherburn shoots the