Humor in Huckleberry FInn

Huck’s Humor Samuel Clemens uses humor thoroughly in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It is an important factor in his writing. It is not only there to entertain the writer but it also conveys serious messages. He uses humor to make people think about things. In the very beginning he says “Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot” (Clemens 2). His use of humor in the beginning of the book makes the reader actually think about the morals, motives, and the plot. He tells the reader to not do these things but as a result of human nature they do the exact opposite of what he requests. Clemens uses humor to hold the reader and to get his point across to the reader. Clemens uses humor to bring up various topics. One of the things he discusses is right and wrong. Huck thinks “What's the use you learning to do right, when it's troublesome to do right and ain't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?” (Clemens 76). Clemens points out that there isn’t really a good reason to do right. We all rely on morals, religion, and most importantly, the law to keep people from doing wrong. While this quote is funny it also points out some unavoidable facts. Beliefs and standards are the only things keeping people from doing wrong, yet a majority of people hold tight to these beliefs and standards and choose to do right. This quote makes the reader personally question their beliefs. It makes people question their reason to keep doing the right thing. It fortifies their beliefs by making them realize what their beliefs actually are and why they follow them. Another issue that Clemens brings up through humor is people that are religious hardly go to church unless they have to. He says “There warn't anybody at the church, except maybe a hog or two, for there warn't any lock on the door, and hogs likes a puncheon floor in summer-time because it's cool. If you notice, most folks don't go to church only when they've got to; but a hog is different” (Clemens 91). Most people only go to church because its whats expected of them by society. They don’t just go to church because they want to during the middle of the week. The only go on Sunday mornings because it would be socially taboo not to go to church during the time. People say that they enjoy God and their religion, but they only go when they are required to. Hogs enjoy the cold and they are willing to go somewhere that is cold to cool off. People should be willing to do the same thing for what they enjoy. They take what they have for granted and only visit church when they are required to. People are too used to everything being handed to them and Clemens points this out with his humor. Clemens also brings up the lack of faith in leaders in their people. The king belittles by calling a majority of them fools. The king says “Cuss the doctor! What do we k'yer for HIM? H'aint we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain't that a big enough majority in any town?” (Clemens 142). Clemens makes a joke of calling most people fools but he also points out the leader’s lack of faith in the people. The king believes them all to know nothing. That unfortunately represents most leaders in the world. This may or may not be true but leaders need to have faith in their people and not belittle them. Clemens is very good at using his humor to draw attention to important issues. It’s not only used for this but to also keep the reader interested and for the comic relief. He keeps his reader interested while also bringing up important issues.