Realism and Mark Twain

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Realism and Mark Twain

• The Civil War and Post-War Period

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• A reaction against romanticism, an interest in
  scientific method, the systematizing of the study
  of documentary history, and the influence of
  rational philosophy all affected the rise of
  realism.

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• According to William Harmon and Hugh Holman,
  "Where romanticists transcend the immediate to
  find the ideal, and naturalists plumb the actual
  or superficial to find the scientific laws that
  control its actions, realists center their
  attention to a remarkable degree on the
  immediate, the here and now, the specific action,
  and the verifiable consequence" (A Handbook to
  Literature 428).

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• In American literature, the term "realism"
  encompasses the period of time from the Civil War
  to the turn of the century during which William
  Dean Howells, Rebecca Harding Davis, Henry James,
  Mark Twain, and others wrote fiction devoted to
  accurate representation and an exploration of
  American lives in various contexts.

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• As the United States grew rapidly after the Civil
  War, the increasing rates of democracy and
  literacy, the rapid growth in industrialism and
  urbanization, an expanding population base due to
  immigration, and a relative rise in middle-class
  affluence provided a fertile literary environment
  for readers interested in understanding these
  rapid shifts in culture. In drawing attention to
  this connection, Amy Kaplan has called realism a
  "strategy for imagining and managing the threats
  of social change" (Social Construction of
  American Realism ix).

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Plot and Character

• Character is more important than action and plot
  complex ethical choices are often the subject.
• Characters appear in the real complexity of
  temperament and motive they are in explicable
  relation to nature, to each other, to their
  social class, to their own past.
• Humans control their destinies characters act on
  their environment rather than simply reacting to
  it.

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• Renders reality closely and in comprehensive
  detail.  Selective presentation of reality with
  an emphasis on verisimilitude, even at the
  expense of a well-made plot.
• Events will usually be plausible.  Realistic
  novels avoid the sensational, dramatic elements
  of naturalistic novels and romances.
• Class is important the novel has traditionally
  served the interests and aspirations of an
  insurgent middle class.

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Interpretation and analysis

• Realism is viewed as a realization of democracy.
• The morality of Realism is intrinsic, integral,
  relativistic relations between people and
  society are explored.
• Realists were pragmatic, relativistic, democratic
  and experimental.  The purpose of writing is to
  instruct and to entertain.

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Structure of Prose
Diction is the natural vernacular, not
heightened or poetic tone may be comic,
satiric, or matter-of-fact. The use of
symbolism is controlled and limited the
realists depend more on the use of images.
Objectivity in presentation becomes
increasingly important overt authorial comments
or intrusions diminish as the century progresses.

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Mark Twain

• Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida,
  Missouri in 1835
• At the age of four, he moved to Hannibal on the
  Mississippi River
• He eventually became a riverboat pilot he
  derived the name Mark Twain from the riverboat
  leadsmans signal By the mark, Twain- meaning
  the water was deep enough for safe passage

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• Huck Finn was published in 1884
• It received great public and critical acclaim.

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Facts about the novel

• time and place written  18761883 Hartford,
  Connecticut, and Elmira, New York
• date of first publication  1884
• narrator  Huckleberry Finn
• point of view   Hucks point of view, although
  Twain occasionally indulges in digressions in
  which he shows off his own ironic wit
• tone   Frequently ironic or mocking,
  particularly concerning adventure -novels and
  romances also contemplative, as Huck seeks to
  decipher the world around him sometimes boyish
  and exuberant
• tense  Immediate past
• setting (time)  Before the Civil War roughly
  18351845 Twain said the novel was set forty to
  fifty years before the time of its publication
• setting (place)   The Mississippi River town of
  St. Petersburg, Missouri various locations along
  the river through Arkansas

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The Adventure of Huck Finn- Themes

• Themes
• Racism and slavery
• Intellectual and moral education
• The hypocrisy of civilized society
• Societys values and laws can be in conflict with
  higher moral values.
• People must live outside of society to be truly
  free.
• Freedom means different things to different
  people.

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The novel also depicts Hucks maturation and
development. He distrusts the morals and
precepts of a society that fails to protect
him. He begins to question many of his
teachings- especially those regarding race and
slavery Ill go to hell
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• Even though written after slavery was abolished,
  things had not gotten much better for blacks in
  the South.
• We may read this story as an allegorical
  representation of the conditions of blacks in the
  US even after the abolition of slavery.
• Twain exposes the hypocrisy of slavery.

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Motifs

• Childhood
• Lies and Cons
• Superstitions and Folk Beliefs
• Parodies of Popular Romance Novels

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Symbols

• The Mississippi River- The ultimate symbol of
  freedom
• Land
• Shipwrecks
• Floods

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• On a raft, away from society, he becomes free
  from societys rules and makes his own
  conclusions.
• The river symbolizes freedom the shore
  symbolizes civilization and the people who live
  in it.

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Satire

• https//www.examplesofsatire.com/
• https//skeptically.org/cartoonsatire/
• https//politicalhumor.about.com/