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Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel written by acclaimed author Mark Twain. It was first published in the UK in 1884 and in the USA in 1885. The work is considered as one of the Great American Novels and is the first work of American literature that has been written completely in vernacular English. The book is a first person narrative by the titular character, Huckleberry Finn as he accompanies a runaway slave, Jim on his journey to freedom. Huckleberry Finn is a friend of Tom Sawyer and the narrator of other Twain novels. The novel is a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. \r\n
\r\nBoth stories are set in the town of St. Petersburg, Missouri, which lies on the banks of the Mississippi. On its surface it appears to be a straightforward story about a boy and a runaway slave but underneath, the book is a confrontation of slavery and racism. The story happens in a Southern society that had ceased to exist for two decades at the time of the book’s publication. It is a satirical take on the racist attitudes that prevailed at the time. The semi-orphaned Huckleberry “Huck” Finn tells the story from his point of view as he runs away from his abusive and alcoholic father. The central emotion in the story is how Finn feels he is doing a wrong thing by helping Jim escape. In his head, Jim ‘belongs’ to Miss Watson, a widow who has always been kind to Finn. Huck swallows his feelings of guilt though because he grows to admire and sympathize with Jim and his condition. Although he feels a bit like he’s participating in something that he thinks isn’t right, he can’t bring himself to turn Jim in and ascribes it to his overall depravity and inability to “be civilized” as he is expected to be. The reader feels this tension throughout the novel and ends up rooting for Huck to follow his instincts. “All right, then, I’ll go to hell” is perhaps the most iconic line by Huck as he makes his decision. At the end of the journey down the Mississippi River, both Huck and Jim arrive at what they ran searching for in the first place – their freedom. \r\n
\r\nAdventures of Huckleberry Finn remains one of the most loved, and most banned books in American history. It was an instant success when published but divided its critics on its views on racism and slavery. The book has inspired several literary works and has been touted by American literary greats like Earnest Hemingway as the first ‘modern American novel’. Every character in the story speaks in his or her own dialect, which gives it an entertaining and real-life quality. The story has also been adapted into films and television along the years. \r\n