Realism Versus Romanticism in Huck Finn
Charlie Hoffmann
Mr. Kearney
Amer. Lit. & Comp./3
17 December 2009
Huck Rejects Romanticism
In every man’s life he faces a time that defines his maturation from boyhood to manhood. This usually comes from a struggle that the boy faces in his life. In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck’s defining moment of maturity is Huck’s struggle with Tom in helping Jim escape. Tom sends Huck and Jim through a wild adventure to free Jim because of his Romantic thinking. Tom represents society and its Romantic ideals while Huck struggles to break away from these and become his own realist individual. These Romantic ideas lead Huck into many dangerous situations that pit Huck and Jim as Realist individuals versus a society infused with Romantic ideals. Huck first begins to realize that he and Tom have different viewpoints before he leaves St. Petersburg. Huck joins Tom’s gang of robbers, which Tom creates because of the Romantic types of books he reads. Huck originally is excited about joining the gang and contributing in its activities. He changes his mind though once Tom tricks them into thinking they are robbing “Spaniards and A-Rabs” (Twain 13) which turned out to be just a school picnic. This is Huck’s first moment where he begins to realize that maybe Tom’s Romantic ideas are flawed. Huck tries to confront Tom on his adventures, but Tom defends his stance by saying it was in a book he read (Twain 13). This shows that Tom believes that because something is in a book it must be true (“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”). Huck does not necessarily see how this could be true. At the end of the chapter he says, “So then I judged that all that stuff was only just one of Tom Sawyer’s lies” (Twain 14). This shows how Huck is beginning to realize that Tom’s Romantic ways are not as good as Tom thinks they are. Huck tries to reason why Tom would believe in this stuff but cannot convince Tom he is wrong because what Tom believes is in books. Tom is able to
Mr. Kearney
Amer. Lit. & Comp./3
17 December 2009
Huck Rejects Romanticism
In every man’s life he faces a time that defines his maturation from boyhood to manhood. This usually comes from a struggle that the boy faces in his life. In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck’s defining moment of maturity is Huck’s struggle with Tom in helping Jim escape. Tom sends Huck and Jim through a wild adventure to free Jim because of his Romantic thinking. Tom represents society and its Romantic ideals while Huck struggles to break away from these and become his own realist individual. These Romantic ideas lead Huck into many dangerous situations that pit Huck and Jim as Realist individuals versus a society infused with Romantic ideals. Huck first begins to realize that he and Tom have different viewpoints before he leaves St. Petersburg. Huck joins Tom’s gang of robbers, which Tom creates because of the Romantic types of books he reads. Huck originally is excited about joining the gang and contributing in its activities. He changes his mind though once Tom tricks them into thinking they are robbing “Spaniards and A-Rabs” (Twain 13) which turned out to be just a school picnic. This is Huck’s first moment where he begins to realize that maybe Tom’s Romantic ideas are flawed. Huck tries to confront Tom on his adventures, but Tom defends his stance by saying it was in a book he read (Twain 13). This shows that Tom believes that because something is in a book it must be true (“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”). Huck does not necessarily see how this could be true. At the end of the chapter he says, “So then I judged that all that stuff was only just one of Tom Sawyer’s lies” (Twain 14). This shows how Huck is beginning to realize that Tom’s Romantic ways are not as good as Tom thinks they are. Huck tries to reason why Tom would believe in this stuff but cannot convince Tom he is wrong because what Tom believes is in books. Tom is able to
Cited: Byrne, William F. "Realism, Romanticism, and Politics in Mark Twain." undefined. 8 April 2003. National Humanities Institute. 14 December 2009. <http://www.nhinet.org/byrne.htm>. Davis, John H. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." In Rasmussen, R. Kent. Critical Companion to Mark Twain: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom 's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCMT1631&SingleRecord=True (accessed December 15, 2009). Kearney, Jim. Class Lecture. American Literature and Composition. Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, WI. 10 December 2009. Sawicki, Joseph. "Authority/Author-ity: Representation and Fictionality in Huckleberry Finn," Modern Fiction Studies 31, no. 4 (Winter 1985): pp. 691–693. Quoted as "The Ending of Huckleberry Finn" in Harold Bloom, ed. Mark Twain, Bloom 's Major Novelists. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 1999. (Updated 2007.) Bloom 's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BMNMT36&SingleRecord=True (accessed December 15, 2009). "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them. Joyce Moss and George Wilson. Vol. 2: Civil Wars to Frontier Societies (1800-1880s). Detroit: Gale, 1997. 15-21. Literature and Its Times. Gale. MARQUETTE UNIV HIGH SCHOOL. 15 Dec. 2009 <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL.littimes&u=milw99542>. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Bantam Dell, 1965.