Dissatisfied
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Dissatisfied
Lynching. Greed. Slaves, seen and sold as animals. Tarring and feathering. Family wars. These are some of the many reasons behind Mark Twains great distaste for southern society in the early 1800s, something that can be seen in his book Huckleberry Finn, an adventure inspired by his childhood on the Mississippi. Twains attitude towards southern society is undeniably pessimistic, apparent in his satirical attacks on its stereotypes, superstitions, and ways of living.
Perhaps the most obvious all these is Twains criticism of southern stereotypes, specifically towards slaves, showing how unfounded they are. This is obvious when comparing Hucks Pap to Jim. Jim, a good-natured and smart slave, is viewed as and treated like animal by society . Pap, on the other hand, an ignorant and mean tempered drunk, is viewed as better than Jim, only because he is white, apparent when he says, “I was just about to go and vote, myself, if I warnt to drunk to get there; but when they told me there was a State in the country where they let that nigger vote, I drawed out.” (Twain, 33) .His ramblings reflect the views instilled in him by society. A disgusted Twain is showing society how ignorant it is in assuming that your skin color determines your worth.
Twains pessimistic attitude towards southern society can also be observed in the in his satirical pushes on societies ridiculous superstition. One such instance occurs when one of aunt Sallies slaves is fooled into believing a conversation never happened, and that it was “…de dad-blame witches…”(Twain, 275 ) that were making him hear things. Twain, clearly shaking his head at peoples gullibility, and the conclusions they jump to, showed society how ridiculous they look by believing in these things, in hopes that theyd change.
Finally, Twain expresses his disappointment in southern society