Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: The Duke and The King

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: the Duke and the King

Many people think that Huckleberry Finn is a racist novel and they have even gone as far as banning the novel from certain schools. They base this view on the fact that the word “nigger” is used very often and they see the black people being portrayed in a degrading way to show that they are inferior to the white society. Contrary to this idea, Huckleberry Finn is not a racist novel. Mark Twain actually attacks racism by satirizing the lifestyle of the white people and shows that they have no reason at all to think that they are better than the blacks. This satirizing of the white people is effectively seen in the portrayal of the king and the duke.

Mark Twain starts to mock the king and the duke as soon as they are first introduced in the novel. Their appearance gives a negative impression right from the start. The king is described as having, “an old battered-up slouch hat on, and a greasy blue woolen shirt and ragged old blue jeans britches stuffed into his boot tops and home-knit galluses”(Pg. 137). The duke is described as much the same. This first impression makes us feel as if these men are scum and we don’t have a very good perception of them. The second thing that these men do also is used to mock society in two ways. The duke makes up a story that he was actually the Duke of Bridgewater. He said that he was the son of the infant duke that was ignored to take over a position. Not to be outdone, the king makes up a story that he was actually the rightful King of France. Mark Twain uses Huck Finn to show what he thinks of these two men. “It didn’t take me to long to make up my mind that these liars warn’t no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds”(Pg.142). These men are putting up a false front just like society does and Mark Twain shows through Huck that he can see right through this false front. The second thing that is mocked is the fact that these people pretend that they are royalty. Jim wonders why these men carry on so much and Huck tells him, “ . . .because it’s in the breed. I reckon they’re all alike,” and he also says,