Reasoning between right and wrong is one that comes with experience and exposure in life and this is a theme which we see repeatedly in Twain’s The Huckleberry Finn.
rating from his country folk. Notwithstanding that Huck is thoughtful and intelligent as we know, while he journeys through the novel.
This reminds me of the incident in Bangalore, India on New Year’s Eve where young women gathering to usher in the New Year were physically and verbally abused by men. The sad part of this is not the incident itself but the post-incident statement from a minister who unabashedly blamed the women for the turn of events.
He said donning of western clothing and adopting western culture were the cause and reason behind the attack. This lifted off a series of criticisms from women’s groups as well as from wise men, not necessarily educated.
Hence in a cult system created by powerhungry men, education is a shameful incongruity, rather, power alone speaks.
Coming back to the topic at hand, The published in America in January 1885, had always been in trouble.
According to Ernest Hemingway, it was the “one book” from which “all modern American literature” came, and contemporary critics and scholars have treated it as one of the greatest American works of art. Of all Twain’s novels, it was also the one that sold best at its initial appearance.
On the other hand, it was condemned by many reviewers in Twain’s time as grainy and by many commentators in our time as racist. In 1885, it was banished from the shelves of the Concord Public Library, an act that attracted a lot of publicity and discussion in newspapers.
One of the finest lessons Huck learns is that adults are not always right in their thinking and decisions and education does not necessarily buy men the power to act wisely. Instead, reasoning between right and wrong is one that comes with experience and exposure in life and this is a theme which we see repeatedly in Twain’s The Huckleberry Finn.
Happy New Year and try humanity if you haven’t yet got a resolution.