Huck Finn

perAllison Lemack
Mrs. Brewer
American Lit.
1 March, 2013
A Nonconformist Narrator
Huck Finn was a misfit boy, caught in a very racial society. Society had morphed his brain into thinking that he was better than the slaves. After Pap mishandled Huck as an innocent child, his longevity will materially and intellectually be scared. A Father should be a mentor to those who are younger than them, yet Pap is the complete opposite of what anyone should look up to.
According to dictionary.com, the word reliable means to be, “that [one] may be relied on; dependable in achievement, accuracy, honesty”(Dictionary). The Adventurous of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain the author, has an interesting way of writing. Mark Twain uses a literary device that can make an unreliable narrator. Twain makes Huck sound like an unreliable narrator because his writing is very interesting which builds tension for the reader. An example of when Twain built tension was when he introduced a duke and king, who were con men. When Jim and Huck ran across the two men, Huck never knew they were con men. It was evident to the reader that the men were con men because their description fit one of a con man today. We cannot always believe and trust what Huck says because Twain manipulates between how the story can be portrayed and who the narrator Huck, truly is.

If The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn could be told from another characters perspective, the story would drastically change. As the reader, we go on all the adventures with Huck himself. We are able to read throughout the book and feel the fears and able to understand his personal thoughts. Being able to understand Huck’s personal thoughts, gave the reader personal assurance with Huck. Jim was Huck’s faithful companion along their journey down the Mississippi river. Even though society taught Huck that the white people were better than black slaves. Jim was a run away slave who ran into Huck on the river after he had escaped from Pap at the cabin. If the story could be told through Jim’s point of view, it would be completely opposite. We would not be able to have a personal connection and the story would not feel life like with Jim, how it is with Huck.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is told through a thirteen-year-old southern boy during the 1830-40’s, in first person point of view. In consideration of Huck’s young age, his education level is under par. Twain makes Huck address his readers directly, giving a friendly atmosphere and a one-on-one connection. In chapter six, Huck says, “didn’t want to go back no more. I had stopped cussing, because the widow didn’t like it; but now I took to it again because pap hadn’t [any] objections... But by-and-by pap got too handy with his hick’ry, and I could’t stand it. I was all over with welts. He got to going away so much, too, and locking me in. Once he locked me in and was gone three days. It was dreadful lonesome”(Huckleberry Finn). How Huck speaks is relevant to his education.
Huck Finn is caught in a very racial society and faces many obstacles during his adventures. Huck is thought to be a reliable adolescent for the way he portrays himself, meaning how his thoughts are against what society accepts. Huck embraces blacks as his friends, instead up treating them as slaves. Throughout the entire adventure with Huck he is seen as a reliable narrator.

Works Cited

"Reliable." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.
Twain, Mark, and Verne B. Brown. Huckleberry Finn. Chicago: Scott, Foresman &,
1951. Print.

Cited: "Reliable." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. Twain, Mark, and Verne B. Brown. Huckleberry Finn. Chicago: Scott, Foresman &, 1951. Print.