Satire in Huckleberry Finn

Have you ever seen Jay Leno or Mad TV over exaggerate or mock the society? If you’re up late enough and have, then, you probably encountered the works of satire. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn uses a great deal of satire. The author, Mark Twain, uses satire against religion, government, and society in general. I believe that without satire in the media, there wouldn’t be enough humor.

Throughout the novel, we meet people whose live were ruined by alcoholism. Huck’s father is a drunken, abusive father and Twain satirizes the consumption of alcohol and the effects it has on people. Huck quotes, “Pap he hadn’t been seen for more than a year, and that was comfortable for me; I didn’t want to see him no more. He used to always whale me when he was sober and could get his hands on me…” (pg. 13) Twain is satirizing drunken adults and what it does to their kids and the people surrounding them.

Huck’s father also had opinions of his own. “Oh yes this is a wonderful govment, wonderful. Why looky here, there was a free nigger there from Ohio...” (pg. 35) Mark Twain quotes Pap to satirize both the government and racism. Pap represents the close-minded, southern whites and how they felt about free blacks. He mocks how the government has outlawed slavery in the northern states and how the southern states couldn’t do anything about it.

Slavery was another issue that Twain touched on. He enters the bitter realm of social satire and their beliefs on the issue of free slaves, almost to the point where it was unethical. A moment captured in chapter 16 describes when Huck realized how serious the consequence of the situation was. “Well what’s the use of learning to do right when it’s troublesome to do right and it ain’t no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?” He feels guilty for helping Jim to freedom, but realizes