Twain's Use of Regional Culture in Huckleberry Finn
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Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is widely considered a classic of American Literature. However, for as much critical acclaim as the novel has won, it has also inspired great controversy due to Twain's unflinching portrait of the Southern hypocrisies and the institution of slavery. Still, other opponents of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn deem it racist, as Twain uses frank and realistic language which can also seem vulgar and offensive. Yet, it is the very fact that Twain imbues his novel with this sense of realism and local color that it is so effective. Indeed, the novel is a deliberate portrait of Southern life in the nineteenth century, while at the same time, an entertaining and enjoyable story of one boy's adventures. This paper will analyze the way in which Twain's use of local color, regional culture, and realism not only creates an appealing story, but also provides a thorough and realistic look at the South and the institution of slavery. The setting in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is certainly a crucial element of the novel, and the best place to begin when analyzing Twain's use of local color and realism. The story takes place along the Mississippi Valley, starting in Missouri and journeying all the way to Louisiana. Indeed, the Mississippi Valley is "aa singular, irreplaceable setting for the story, to the extent that any conception of its events elsewhere would seem a absurd" (Jackson 49). Twain himself grew up in Hannibal, Missou
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e is told in the first person, from Huck's point-of-view, which further gives the novel a sense of reality. Twain's knowledge of the region and familiarity with local color give Huck-as-narrator a reliability, while at the same time, infuses the story with emotion and power. It is obvious that the author feels something for the area that he is describing, and the reader begins to feel something as well.
However, Twain's nostalgic view of the Mississippi Valley does not impede his ability to provide a realistic portrayal of life in the region during the nineteenth century. His understanding of region is not limited to its native flora and fauna, but extends to its culture as well. This is best exemplified by Twain's use of regional dialects in the novel. In the explanatory note that precedes the narrative, Twain explains that "aa number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri Negro dialect; the extremest form of the backwoods South-Western dialect; the ordinary "Pike-County" dialect; and four modified varieties of this last" (Twain 29). Indeed, by providing his characters with voices that are not only distinctive but that ring true for the region at the time that the novel was written, Twain creates a world that seem
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Approximate Word count = 1609
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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