Local Color and Realism Term Paper

Total Length: 580 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 0

Page 1 of 2

Local Color and Realism

The realism of Mark Twain fully reveals in the novel "The adventures of Huckleberry Finn," in novel, which is familiar to many of us since high school classes of literature, but which has a deeper psychological and moral meaning, as its message expands over the limits of an adventure story for teenagers. The events described in the book show the whole encyclopedia of Southern life in the middle of the nineteenth century in a very realistic and ironic way.

On the example of Huck's and Jim's journey on the raft down Mississippi River, Mark Twain succeeded to show on the particular examples of different events that happened in their life during journey the conflict of an individual and society, slavery and racism issues, "civilized society" with its bigotry, religious and philistine prejudices, as well as problem of education, common sense and conservatism in people's minds.
The novel in general, gives a true picture of "local color" in Southern province, narrow-minded common people, and their views on society, liberties and equalities. Description of particular characters who were typical for that epoch gives us a full view about the moods that were common for particular social groups. The words of Huck's Pup about slavery and equality not only reflect Southern dialect but are the embodiment of rednecks ideology in general: "Oh, yes, this is a wonderful govment, wonderful-There was a free nigger there, from Ohio-they said he was a p-fessor in a college, and could talk all kinds of languages, and knowed everything. And that ain-t the wust. They said he could vote, when he was at home-they told me there was a State in this country where they-d let that nigger vote, I drawed out. I says….....

Need Help Writing Your Essay?