Twain and Huck... Two of a kind?

Mark Twain’s “The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” portrays the essence of the south during slavery and mirrors some of the same experiences Twain was familiar with. Twain, who grew up in the south was able to bring the south to life throughout this novel. He chose to write this novel using what we refer to as, “local color”. Local color used in writing such as fiction and poetry which focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features particular to a specific region. The main character in this novel played by a young and uneducated boy allowed this writing technique to be successful. Huckleberry Finn takes place mostly on the Mississippi river. Twain was raised in a little town on the Mississippi river named Hannibal. Twain shared a few similarities with his character Huck.  Huck whose mother passed away when he was very young and his father left him to fend for himself was required to adapt into society however he deemed necessary in order to survive. Twain’s father passed away when he was twelve and left his family to handle several hardships.  Like Huck, Twain was forced out into the world and quit school to work as a printer’s apprentice. Huck became accustom to living in several different places which included when he was taken in by the Widow Douglas and Miss. Watson. They owned a few slaves including Jim. Jim is an intelligent yet superstitious slave that is at the mercy of multiple characters during this novel. Twain and his family owned household slaves while he was growing up. This may have been where he was able to create Jim’s character. Huck after helping Jim escape begins a long journey down the Mississippi river where they are faced with many degrading and emotional situations. Twain liked to travel up and down the Mississippi river as well. Although he was not on a man made raft, he worked on the riverboats where he eventually became a riverboat pilot. Twain wanted to focus on the institution of slavery and the South. This novel was originally a sequel to Twain’s novel, “The Adventure of Tom Sawyer”, but Huck Finn took on a more serious roll that captured reader’s attention. This novel has become a top seller several times and a required reading assignment in most English classes due to its realistic demonstration of the reality of slavery in our country.

Work Cited:
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.Campbell, Donna M. "Regionalism and Local Color Fiction, 1865-1895." Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University.  2011Web. Fri. 25Nov. 2011