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Mark Twain, Huck Finn, the River, and Pop Culture

Mark Twain, Huck Finn, the River, and Pop Culture. by Jodi Smith PNHS 2006-2007. Once upon a time….

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Mark Twain, Huck Finn, the River, and Pop Culture

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  1. Mark Twain, Huck Finn, the River, and Pop Culture by Jodi Smith PNHS 2006-2007

  2. Once upon a time… …there was a young man who yearned for freedom from the “sivilized” life…who questioned—and rejected—the values of his society, finding them to be unjust…and who chose to live on the River rather than as a part of conventional society and its corruption…

  3. Wait. What?!? I thought this was an introduction to Mark Twain and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn!!!

  4. Actually… …there are a lot of parallels between POTC and Huck Finn. Let’s take a closer look.

  5. Pop Culture Pop Quiz! In the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, what does the Black Pearl represent?

  6. Ding! Thanks for playing! • If you said “Freedom,” you are correct: • Jack Sparrow: Wherever we want to go, we go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and a hull and sails; that's what a ship needs. Not what a ship is. What the Black Pearl really is, is freedom. Now watch this…

  7. From the pages of Huck Finn… “We said there warn’t no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.”

  8. Questions worth considering… Freedom from what? Freedom for what? What is freedom, anyway? Does the ship represent anything else?

  9. Roguish Heroes • Both Jack and Huck are characters who are outside of society. • Their being marginalized is one source of their freedom. People who are clearly not a part of society’s “In Crowd” are under less pressure to conform. • Point (of View) to Ponder: Why might Twain write a novel whose narrator is outside of society?

  10. Literary Term Alert!!! • Picaresque novel: A novel in which the protagonist is of a roguish character (read: a nonconformist). This character sees much of the world through the plot and comments satirically on what he sees; the purpose of the novel is thus social criticism.

  11. Mark Twain: The Man and the Myth • Born Samuel Clemens • Nom de plume refers to both a nautical term and to a Las Vegas call for two drinks on credit (A carmel macchiato for each hand, please…) • Lifetime of BIG social changes! He lived 1835-1910: He was born before there was a state of Texas or a railroad that went across the country. (Think much slower, much more private lifestyles!) He died a couple of years before the Titanic sank (1912) or the start of WWI (1914). • What effects might the sociopolitical changes during his life have on Twain as an author?

  12. Mark Twain: The Man and the Myth • Between worlds: His father was not successful, but his parents were from “pedigreed” Southern families. • His upbringing was Southern (born in Hannibal, MO)…endorsing slavery and all of the pomp of Southern life. (Cultural reference: Gone with the Wind) • His father’s wishes for wealth influenced Twain’s career.

  13. Mark Twain:The Man and the Myth • Careers: • Printer apprentice (left school at age 11 when father died) • Steamboat pilot (fun job!) • Silver miner (get-rich-quick dreams) • Confederate volunteer (very temporarily!) • Newspaper reporter (started writing career in earnest) • Lecturer (began at time of financial difficulties)

  14. Mark Twain: The Man and the Myth • Best known works: Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • Very different tones; very different characters!!! • TS: childhood nostalgia; Romantic hero • HF: social criticism; Realistic hero

  15. Mark Twain: The Man and the Myth • Views on slavery changed • Views of the South changed; TS pictured an idealized South, while HF exposes the hypocrisies of Southern culture (hint, hint—Hypocrisy will be a major motif in the novel!!!)

  16. Mark Twain:The Man and the Myth • Grumpy old man: As Twain aged, became disillusioned with the failure of Reconstruction, the American Dream, and social justice. His wit became bitter, and he came to question the humanity of the human race. • Other factors: He had lost his wife and two daughters; his publishing business failed; his investments failed and bankruptcy ensued, prompting his lecturing career.

  17. Huck Finn as American Lit • REALISM (part of movement): • Stands in opposition to Romanticism • Difference is seen clearly in the respective characters of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn (TBD) • Characters are real people, not idealized heroes • Characters are not invincible • Exploration of moral issues: questions, rather than affirms, social values • Dialogue-driven

  18. Huck Finn as American Lit • REGIONALISM/LOCAL COLOR (aspect of Realism) • Quickly changing society (i.e., railroad, business bringing cultural uniformity not possible in a less mobile society) brings a desire to preserve the character of various regions. • Dialect: characters’ words are spelled phonetically as they are pronounced, and regional slang is used.

  19. Huck Finn as American Lit • Controversial literature: What else is new? (Think The Declaration of Independence!) • Implicit and explicit questioning of social mores of the time got the novel banned for… • Endemic lying • Petty thefts • Nose-thumbing at respectability and religion • Bad language • Bad grammar

  20. Huck Finn as American Lit • Previous literature copied European literature (examples: Hawthorne, Poe); Twain set the American voice as distinct from Europe’s. • Common, informal (vernacular) language reflecting a truly democratic audience rather than language of the elite. (Trivia: What author established English literature by writing in the vernacular rather than Latin? Hint: The story was also centered around a journey.) • Freedom (a perennial American theme!) as focal point.

  21. The Elephant in the Living Room: What about the N-word? • Some things to keep in mind… • We are dealing with subversive literature; things are usually not as they appear. • The time in which it was written and the history of the word in question. • The way the word is used in the novel and by whom—consider the characterization Twain gives to various speakers and the attitudes with which they speak. (Hint, hint: Hypocrisy, again!)

  22. Themes and Motifs in HF • Appearance vs. Reality • Coming of age: What is a man? What is true morality? • Groups as mobs • Birth/death/rebirth • Heredity vs. Environment • Freedom vs. Civilization (also shown as…) • Isolation vs. Socialization • Rebellion vs. Conformity

  23. Hints for Success • Keep up with assigned reading, study guides, journals, etc. • Keep a log of quotations and page numbers that pertain to your topic for your end-of-unit presentation. • Take notes during class discussions—especially those that center around quotations. • Note characterizations: What kind of person is the character in question, and how do you know? Given the characterization, what is the role/purpose of this character?

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