Huckelberry Finn

The dominant tone of this work is satire. Twain pokes fun at many of

the aspects of Southern life in the 19th century (including slavery and feuds),

and several characters as well. His fiery attitude about the ills of society

shows itself from the first page of this book.

I think that one of the main themes in this novel is the conflict between

the society's "good" and "bad". Huck believed that a person was "good" if

they were educated, well read, religiously trained, and had the ability to follow

rules. This, of course, is not the true nature of "goodness", and a key element

in Twain's satire. In fact, Huck, who is one of the only good characters in the

novel, believes good is based on the elements of dangers which face him

every day, and due to this dicotomy, does not believe he is "good". This

becomes painfully evident when Huck meets the Gregfords. The Gregfords

are an obvious simile for pure evil. Though they have a temporal glow to them,

after all, they are rich and aristocratic. However their misdeeds flow

contrary to society's label of "good" . He labels them as "good", though after

he hears their story behind their feud, he realizes that they are not quite as

good as he had believed. This shows the tumultuous journey between the "good"

and "evil" occurring

in Huck's mind.

The most clear occasion of this is when Huck dresses as a girl to

steal things from the neighborhood store. On a metaphorical level, this

shows Twain's alternate sexual preference (Freud pointed this out in

"The Human Mind, Second Edition") -- he is living vicariously through his

creations. Twain uses the visage of Huck as a girl to ameliorate it against

the society's "evil" perspective, in an attempt to popularize these acts.

The bifurcation between his personal "good" and society's "good" is a key

point in the book, and a universal theme which is best observed in this scene.

Another important scene which goes along with this same theme was

the scene with Huck Finn and his gang in the cave in the end of the second

chapter. Huck pretends to be an expert at the operations of gangs of

that nature, because he had read a lot of books on it, but it turns out that

he is actually a phony. Though Isaac Hayes speaks out against him, Tom Sawyer

quickly silences him and greets the other gang

...