Huckleberry Finn as Tragifarce
In his Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Tw
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In his Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain used humor as a means for developing both characters and themes. However, the novel as a whole was not intended to be taken as a work of comedy. Rather, there was a serious purpose behind this use of humor in which Twain was seeking to make a statement regarding the quality of life during his own time. Carrington has called the novel a "tragifarce" because it deals with various tragic episodes in a farcial manner (219). In this way, Huckleberry Finn can be seen as "a bitter satire of the various social levels in the American south" (Hearn 578). Through the use of satire, Twain sought to reveal certain essential moral truths. The book was published in 1885, but its setting is the south during the early part of the nineteenth century, prior to the emancipation of the slaves. As such, much of the satirical humor in the novel is directed toward providing an indictment of slavery "in all its ugliness" (Hearn 578). In the course of the novel, Huck encounters the hypocrisies and deceit which are found throughout American society. Despite powerful social conventions, he eventually makes moral choices which show that he has learned to respect the value of human life. Thus, in the words of Lindborg, the overall theme of Huckleberry Finn is "the moral education of a young boy whose better impulses overcome both self-interest and the negative forces of his culture" (584). Although Huck still seems to be somewhat naive at th
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, But get thee to a nunnery - go!" (Twain 138). The efforts of the King and Duke at bilking the public are filled with humorous instances. For example, when they put on a terrible show in one town, the audience becomes indignant over having been "sold." Ironically, the members of the audience decide to not tell the other townsfolk about the play in order to avoid embarrassment and also so that the rest of the town will be "sold" as well. This, of course, enables the swindlers to put on a second show and thus collect more money from the people of the town. In a farcial turn of events, the audience on the third night arrive with objects such as eggs, rotten cabbage and dead cats to throw at the performers. This forces the troupe to flee the town, after which Huck discovers that the antagonism of the audience was all part of the swindlers' plan to dupe the local "greenhorns" and "flatheads" (Twain 153). Despite all the humor contained in Huck's confrontation with the King and Duke, a moral message surfaces later in the novel when the boy sees the two men being chased out of a different town. Despite all the things they had done to him (including selling Jim back into slavery), Huck feels pity for them. Seeing the men covered
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Approximate Word count = 2040
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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