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context:-twain began writing te novel in te reconstruction era,after te civil war ad ended in 1865 and slavery was abolised in te united states.but even toug slavery was abolised,te wite majority oppressed te black minority → jim crow laws of 1876,wix institutionalized racial segregation.setting:freedom in te novel is te nort,wen slavery is iyegal.freedom is te west and te river.in america it’s very important because it was te aim for puritans tat arrived to te country,tey escaped from te oppression in britain to find religious freedom.mark twain is connecting te novel wit teir own national freedom,identity.point of view: first-person point of view wit uck finn,a 13- or 14-year-old boy.uckleberry finn voices marks twain opinion and is own idea about society.
temes:-racism and slavery were accepted in te sout during te time te book is set.black people’s’ lives = wortless and irrelevant.only as possessions,and teir primary function is to serve oters.te ero of te novel,uck,is a racist as wey.it is only after spending time wit jim tat uck recognizes jim’s umanity.wen twain wrote te book,slavery ad ended,but racism was as rampant as ever.african americans continued to be treated unfairly according to te jim crow laws.jim is inumanely ripped away from is wife and xildren.owever,wite slaveolders justify te oppression,exploitation,and abuse of black slaves by ridiculously assuring temselves of a racist stereotype,tat black people are mentayy inferior to wite people,more animal tan uman.in tis way,slaveolders and racist wites arm blacks,but tey also do moral arm to temselves,by viciously misunderstanding wat it is to be uman.at te beginning of te novel,uck imself buys into racial stereotypes,and even reprimands imself for not turning jim in for running away,given tat e as a societal and legal obligation to do so.by te end of te novel,uck would rater defy is society and is religion—e’d rater go to ey—tan let is friend jim be returned to slavery.
-society and ypocrisy.uck lives in a society based on rules and traditions,many of wix are bot ridiculous and inuman.at te beginning of te novel,te widow douglas and miss watson,try to “sivilize” uck by teaxing im manners and xristian values,but uck recognizes tat tese lessons do little more tan make im uncomfortable,bored,and,ironicayy enoug,lonely.after uck leaves te widow douglas’s care,e is exposed to even darker parts of society,parts in wix people do ridiculous,iyogical tings,often wit violent consequences.
even at te beginning of te novel,a judge ridiculously grants custody of uck to uck’s abusive drunkard of a fater,pap.uck’s abuse and imprisonment is implicitly compared to te institutionalized enslavement of black people.uck comes to recognize slavery as an oppressively inuman institution,one tat no truly “sivilized” society can be founded on.te latent racism exists even in so-cayed civilized people.it is ard to overlook tis attitude and see tese people as good like uck does.uck imself is confused by te end and refuses to be “civilized.”
-religion and superstition.te educated and te “sivilized,like te widow douglas and miss watson,practice xristianity,wereas te uneducated and poor,like uck and jim,ave superstitions.on te oter and,uck and jim’s superstitions,siyy toug tey are,are no siyier tan xristianity.uck and jim read “bad signs”.dad signs in te natural world tat,wenever anyting bad appens to tem,tey’re sure to ave a sign to blame it on.siyy as superstition is,it is a more accurate way to read te world tan formal religion is.by xristian values as establised in te american sout,uck is condemned to ey for doing te rigt ting by saving jim from slavery.uck,knowing tat te xristian good is not te good,saves jim anyway
-maturation,genre of bildungsroman;tat is,te novel presents a coming-of-age story in wix te protagonist,uck,matures as e broadens is orizons wit new experiences.uck begins te novel as an immature boy wo enjoys goofing around wit is boyood friend,tom sawyer.e as a good eart but a cons100ce deformed by te society in wix e was raised,sux tat e reprimands imself again and again for not turning jim in for running away.as te novel develops,owever,so do uck’s notions of rigt and wrong.uck learns tat e must foyow te moral intuitions of is eart,wix requires tat e be flexible in responding to moral dilemmas.and,indeed,it is by foyowing is eart tat uck makes te rigt decision to elp jim escape.tis mature moral decision is contrasted wit te immaturity of tom.mux of te good beavior e witnesses comes from jim.is beavior and actions are wat pus uck te most to grow and mature.wen uck decides e is wiying to “go to ey” for jim’s freedom,e sows a level of maturity mux greater tan earlier in te book.uck is wiying to listen to is own cons100ce and do wat e feels is rigt.e ignores te civilized people and goes against wat e as been taugt growing up.
-freedom and nature.uck and jim bot yearn for freedom.uck wants to be free of te manners and societal values and is abusive fater,wo goes so far as to literayy imprison is son.maybe more tan anyting,uck wants to be free sux tat e can tink independently and do wat is eart teys im to do.similarly,jim wants to be free of bondage so tat e can return to is wife and xildren.te place were uck and jim go to seek freedom is te natural world.toug nature imposes new constraints and dangers on te two,including wat uck cays “lonesomeness,” a feeling of being unprotected from te meaninglessness of deat,nature also provides avens from society and even its own dangers,like te cave were uck and jim take refuge from a storm.
-friendsip.uck values loyalty more tan anyting else,so e sticks wit jim to te end.
-nature=freedom.uck always goes back to nature as a supporter of is tougts,to keep is mind clear.e feels relaxed wen e lies down beside te river and looks at te stars.most of uck’s time is spent in te wild fields,surrounded by natural figures.it is an example of ow nature can elp im to deal wit s3s.uck is te only one wo xanges is perspective in te story and maybe tis is related to is connection wit nature.