Yet, that is arguably why the characters act as they do (McWilliams 197). McWilliams further notes that human incompetence is comedy (197). Since the characters are not real people but Twain's creations, students should feel free to laugh at the ignorance and misfortunes of Huck and Jim in the same way that they are free to laugh when someone deliberately falls down in an attempt at comedy.

Comedy may not be immediately obvious in Twain's portrayal of Pap Finn. Yet he is one of Twain's strongest examples of satire and irony. Carter argues that Pap Finn establishes himself as an example of all that is wrong with the Southern social system; in becoming that example, readers can look to him to see what needs to change in order for people to become better and society to improve (137). In younger classrooms, this may at first be difficult to grasp. However,...
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