Discussion Topic
Humor and Comic Seriousness in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"
Summary:
Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn uses humor to address serious themes through Huck's naive perspective. In the opening chapters, Huck's disdain for "civilization" and his preference for a life of poverty provide comic relief. Humorous incidents include Huck's misunderstanding of religion, his and Tom Sawyer's absurd escape plans for Jim, and their naive plans for a gang. Twain also employs comic seriousness, such as Huck's literal interpretation of biblical stories and his views on heaven, to satirize societal norms and beliefs.
What are examples of Twain's humor in Chapter 1 of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?
The main humor in chapter one arises from Huck's upside-down view of being "civilized." He finds middle-class life inferior to the much more marginal life he led with his father on the fringes of society.
For example, Huck doesn't like the new clothes the widow gives him to wear, finding them hot and restrictive. He prefers his comfortable old rags. He also doesn't enjoy having civilized dinners around a dining room table. He thinks the praying before eating is a waste of time, and he objects to having the different foods on his plate cooked by themselves, saying it is better to cook scraps of food all together in a barrel.
He doesn't see the point when the widow reads to him about Moses, because Moses is dead, and he doesn't care about dead people. He also doesn't enjoy book learning.
In short, the humor emerges from Huck's reaction to...
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his situation being the opposite of what the reader would expect. Instead of feeling fortunate and grateful to have been "saved" from poverty and being able to live in a nice house with decent clothes, good food, and a chance for education, he feels he is in a worse position than he was when living in poverty.
Huck's colloquial narrative delivery puts a smile on my face each time I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Life is so miserable in the Widow Douglas's home that Huck wishes he were in hell--
... she told me all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there.
Since the Widow is planning to go to Heaven, Huck decides he will avoid meeting her there; he will happily join his pal, Tom Sawyer, in the bad place. Huck's understanding and interpretation of the sounds he finds superstitious causes him to go through a series of movements to ward off their power. The sounds inside the house seem deafening to Huck and give him a sense of dread; he far prefers the dark outdoors and the less dangerous aspects they present. When he answers the cat's call with his own "Me-yow! Me-yow!", one wonders if he has gone 'round the bend until the reader discovers it is merely a signal from Tom.
What are three humorous incidents in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"?
The funniest part of the book for me is the moment where Tom and Huck each come up with escape plans for Jim. Hucks' plan is simple, straightforward and sure to work. Tom says that it will work, sure, but it lacks certain elements necessary to an adventure.
Before Huck relates Tom's plan in the narrative he says that Tom's plan certainly won't have the same lacks that his plan had and Tom's plan is sure to have plenty of those necessary elements.
I love the hairball scene in the beginning. I always read it out loud when my classes start this book. It is hard to keep from laughing! I also enjoy the king and the duke's garbled and absurd versions of Shakespeare’s plays. Huck's father's "reformation" at the judge's house is pretty good too.
I love the scene where Jim and Huck are discussing the French language and King Solomon.
Also, the scene in the beginning where the boys are creating their gang and deciding how to "ransom" someone.
My favorite though is when the Duke is pretending to be the deaf/mute brother William and he is pretending to do sign language and he's "goo-gooing"...so pathetic you have to laugh!
One scene that really struck me was the conversation between Huck and Jim about King Solomon and King Louis of France. Huck tries explaining the details of both kings to Jim, and Jim just contradicts him with uniquely logical arguments the entire time. My favorite is when Huck tells Jim that King Louis speaks French. That makes no sense to Jim, and he asks Huck if a cat is a man, or if a cow is a man. Huck responds no, so Jim says of King Louis being a man, "Dad blame it, why doan he talk like a man? You answer me dat!" (Chapter 14).
Another funny scene occurs when Jim is going to use his ox's hairball to tell Huck's fortune. Unfortunately, the hairball "wouldn't talk without money." So Huck gives him a counterfeit coin, and all of a sudden, the hairball can talk. (Chapter 4) It is a funny scene because first of all, a hairball? Secondly, money was required for a fortune.
One last scene that comes to mind is the scene in which the boys are planning their kidnapping and robbery adventures (chapter 2); they have no concept of what they are even trying to do. They figure that taking someone for ransom means that "we keep them 'till they're dead." Then they figure that with kidnapping women, "by and by they fall in love with you and never want to go home no more." All in all, it's a hilarious scene of boys naively planning mischief.
These are just three scenes among many; Twain does a great job making the book humorous.
1. This first incident that occurs with the Widow Douglas and Moses and the Bulrushers is hilarious. The Widow is telling Huck the story of Moses and Huck is "in a sweat" to learn about him. But then he finds out that Moses has been dead "a considerable time" and he "don't take no stock in dead people" so Huck looses interest in the story.
2. When Miss Watson is telling Huck about heaven, she says that all people do is hand around and sing all day. Huck thinks this sounds boring so he asks if Tom Sawyer will be in heaven, Miss Watson says, "Not by a considerable amount". Huck thinks that's great because he can go to hell and be with his friend.
3. When Huck runs away from the Widow Douglas, Tom promises him he can be part of a gang if goes back to the Widow and acts "respectable". The irony is extremely funny, expecially when Tom announces his gang will hold people for ransom but none of the boys knows what ransom means.It is a perfect comment on some of the more ridiculous aspects of romanticism.
List examples of situations in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" where Huck's seriousness is meant to be comic.
1. In chapter one, Huck dismisses the Bible because once he finds out that Moses has been dead "a considerable long time" he states, "I don't take no stock in dead people." Huck is completely serious; however, anyone else can see the humor in this statement. It is quite funny, and I'm sure Twain meant it to be.
2. In chapter 17, Huck is describing Emmeline Grangerford's pictures and states, "I didn't somehow seem to take to them, because if I ever was down a little they always give me the fantods...I reckoned with her disposition she was having a better time in the graveyard." Here Huck is trying to be respectful to the morbid pictures of the deceased Emmeline, but really struggles; they give him the creeps and he figures she's happier in the ground. As a kid, he's serious when he says these things, but this is a great chance for Twain to make fun of those ultra-serious poetic types that are so absurd.
3. In chapter 3, Huck is pondering everything that the widow and Miss Watson have told him about heaven, and figures, "there was two Providences, and a poor chap would stand considerable show with the widow's Providence, but if Miss Watson's got him there warn't no help for him any more." Here, Huck is seriously thinking that there are 2 types of heaven, a nice one and a mean one-based on the two versions from his care-takers. We can see how this is funny; Twain here is satirizing people and their varying opinions on heaven, and how God, according to people, has such polar opposite personalities.
Those are just a few examples, and I hope it helps!