The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain ridicules society and

educators through the characters of the book. “Because it ain’t in the books so- that’s

why”(9). Twain is using Tom Sawyer to speak for society in that quote, referring to how

we always believe what we read, instead of forming our own opinions. He mocks

how ignorant and gullible we are in the sense that people generally believe what ever

is told to them through text. Twain speaks through the character Roger, who talks

back to Tom Sawyer, about believing everything in the books. Twain uses Roger

to show society that they need to stop following, and start forming their own

opinions; That we need to question things instead of falling for every ounce of

information given to us. Mark Twain tackles society and their moral issues with

civilization through the characters of Huckleberry Finn

Society as a whole, we are lazy, and will believe what other people tell us,

because it is easier than coming to our own conclusions about what is going on. If

it sounds reasonable to us, then it must be true. That is all wrong! We need to think

for ourselves, because anyone who writes a book, isn’t necessarily telling the truth,

they could just be feeding us their opinions. Mark Twain recognizes this, and tries

to tell us subtly through his text. He uses his characters to represent what is going on

in real life, and he writes the book in such a way that forces you to read between the

lines.

Twains uses the characters Huck and Roger to show what society should be more.

He has them questioning a higher authority about what is morally right. There is a time

and place to question authority, and Twain reassures us that in this book. By reading

between the lines, and acknowledging the symbolic meaning of the text, one is able

to