HuckFinn Society

Nathaniel Burns-Sarno
Advanced Placement English/Mr.George
September 15, 2009
Social Critique in Huckleberry Finn

“Well,” says Buck, “a feud is this way. A man has a quarrel with another man, and kills him; then that other man’s brother kills him; then the other brothers, on both sides, goes for one another; then the cousins chip in---and by-and-by everybody’s killed off, and there ain’t no more feud. But it’s kind of slow, and takes a long time.”(Twain 126)

“Oh, yes, pa knows, I reckon, and some of the other old folks; but they don’t know, now, what the row was about in the first place.”(126)

Twain illustrates in the novel that the society in which Huck lives is not only separated by color, but also by feuding families. The critique here is that the feud is described so nonchalantly, as if Buck sees no problem with killing another human being. It is also shown that the feud between the Grangerfords and Shepardsons has been going on for so long that none of them even remember what started it in the first place. Even without this knowledge, the two families still feel hatred towards each other. This appears to be a critique of how tradition holds society back, and society allows itself to be held back by tradition.

“Hold on! Just a word, gentlemen.” They stopped to listen. “We are sold—mighty badly sold. But we don’t want to be the laughing stock of this whole town, I reckon, and never hear the last of this thing as long as we live. No. What we want is to go out of here quiet, and talk this show up, and sell the rest of the town! Then we’ll all be in the same boat. Ain’t that sensible?...All right, then—not a word about any sell. Go along home, and advise everybody to come and see the tragedy.”(177)

Twain’s critique in this quote is over a person’s willingness to go against their fellow man in order to feel better about themselves. In this case, it involves making sure others are cheated out of their money to cover up their own shame of being conned. This appears to be a critique of how no on in a “society” looks out for one another, which causes the society as a whole to be petty and spiteful.

“It warn’t the grounding—that didn’t keep us back but a little. We blowed out a cylinder-head.”
“Good gracious! Anybody hurt?”
“No’m. Killed a nigger.”
“Well, it’s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt.”

Racism comes up many times in the novel, and never quietly. However, this quote clearly shows how much the life of a black person is worth to a white person within the text. This appears to be a critique of how those at the top of a society have no regard for those at the bottom.