Religious Hypocrisy In Huckleberry Finn
Racial and Religious Hypocrisy in Huck Finn Despite being a literary genius of his time, Mark Twain was also an avid social critic. He observed a society filled with arrogant racial hypocrisy, and in the period between 1876 and 1883, during which Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, American society had two separate and contradictory belief systems. The official system preached freedom and equality between all men, and the unofficial stated the direct opposite. This tangible system was a dichotomy which divided the population into two social subgroups: the civilized which are the white people, and the savages the African Americans. Twain, who vigorously opposed this closed- minded and hypocritical mindset, incorporated his own opinion
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This was a society which for Twain was shrouded in a veil of self-deception and where its practitioners preached hypocritical and absurd religious values. These traits, which are exemplified in characters such as the Widow Douglas, Miss Watson and Silas Phelps are munificent and satirically exposed throughout the novel. These people are all well-intentioned Christians, but their religion has deceived them into thinking that slavery is perfectly acceptable, and that slaves are something less than people. The Watson sisters are one of the most prominent examples of this type of hypocrisy. Early in the novel, Huck observes that the sisters represent two different versions of heaven “I could see that there was two Providences.” (p. 21). The fact that Huck observes and notes this indicates that his awareness of the hypocrisy around him is increasing. Inevitably, he realizes that both places seem dull and undesirable. The Widow Douglas’s version of heaven, Huck observes, can make a “body’s mouth water” (p.21). Of the two versions of Providence, hers has the greater appeal for Huck; and in chapter 3, he admits that he would prefer to belong to the Widow’s providence “if he [God] wanted” (p.21) him. There is, however, a certain hypocrisy and moral emptiness in the widow's religion. In chapter 1, when she chastises Huck for his “mean
This was a society which for Twain was shrouded in a veil of self-deception and where its practitioners preached hypocritical and absurd religious values. These traits, which are exemplified in characters such as the Widow Douglas, Miss Watson and Silas Phelps are munificent and satirically exposed throughout the novel. These people are all well-intentioned Christians, but their religion has deceived them into thinking that slavery is perfectly acceptable, and that slaves are something less than people. The Watson sisters are one of the most prominent examples of this type of hypocrisy. Early in the novel, Huck observes that the sisters represent two different versions of heaven “I could see that there was two Providences.” (p. 21). The fact that Huck observes and notes this indicates that his awareness of the hypocrisy around him is increasing. Inevitably, he realizes that both places seem dull and undesirable. The Widow Douglas’s version of heaven, Huck observes, can make a “body’s mouth water” (p.21). Of the two versions of Providence, hers has the greater appeal for Huck; and in chapter 3, he admits that he would prefer to belong to the Widow’s providence “if he [God] wanted” (p.21) him. There is, however, a certain hypocrisy and moral emptiness in the widow's religion. In chapter 1, when she chastises Huck for his “mean