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Works Cited..19

Growth via Growth: Analysis on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Introduction

Mark Twain (1835-1960) is the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, and William Faulkner called him the father of American literature. His writing style is characterized by humor and satire, and he likes to use slangs freely in his novels. Mark Twain enjoys an international fame during his life, and many people think that there is no any other American author can be equal to him. In most American hearts, Mark Twain is a great famous writer and he is always compared with Abraham Lincoln. During his life, he creates a lot of spiritual treasure for all people around the world and influences many famous writers in the later American literary history. Mark Twain and his works will be written into the annals of history forever.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which is a monument in American literature, is one of Mark Twain’s most wide-spread novels and is often called “The Great American Novel”. Hemingway’s assessment is often quoted to evaluate the book, “all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called ‘Huckleberry Finn’” (Hemingway 204). Over time the novel continues to enlarge its international claim as a masterpiece in the world. And he also compliments this novel, “one of the world’s great books and one of the central documents of American culture”. It has greatly influenced the American literature in 19th century and lays a foundation for the literary works that reflect the American native culture and forms a unique language style. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain changes the rules of American fiction and he lets a kid tell his story in his own dialect. It is the first time that an American writer uses the language of American without affection.

However, this novel has caused controversy since its publication and it has even been banned mainly because of the tendency of racial discrimination of this novel, such as the “nigger” used in this novel. People even offered the assessment that “Huck not only itched but he scratched, and Twain uses ‘sweat’ when he should have said ‘perspiration’” (Bloom 17). With the development of the times, modern commentators regard the book as a typical heroic initiation story. Since then, domestic and foreign scholars publish innumerous articles about that. Leo Max discusses whether the ending of the novel is a pleasant life when Huck decides to flee away from the society in his essay, Mr. Eliot, Mr. Trilling, and Huckleberry. Domestic research mainly focuses on Huck’s growth from the perspective of psychology, such as the article The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Rites of Passage published by Zhang Deming who is a professor of Zhejiang University. Contemporary scholars also study this novel from different perspectives, such as initiation process of the protagonist and examine the novel from feminist views.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic initiation story in the world. Initiation story is a kind of literary genre and it is a story whose protagonist who usually is a young person who becomes mature after undergoing a series of experiences. Mark Twain describes such a story for us. Before the Civil War, Huckleberry, the protagonist of the story, was abandoned by his ruthless father. Then, he becomes a waif and roams the streets. One day Huck and his friend Tom coincidently find a large amount of money, and they pide it together. What is lucky then is that Huck is soon adopted by a kind widow, Douglas, who regards Huck as her natural son. However, Douglas and Miss Watson are bent on teaching Huck to be a gentleman and enter the upper class. Huckleberry is fed up with the restrain of Douglas and the so-called civilized society soon. Later his drunk father is back to him for the money. His father takes him to a house in an isolated forest. Huck enjoys the free life without the various rules. So he decides to leave this home alone. Huck floats down the stream along the Mississippi River, and thus starts a marvelous adventure with his slave friend, Jim. The adventurous experience provides the spark that ignites the fires of transformation to be a man. Huck gradually grows up and actually knows who he is.