Satire In Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain
We have all seen some skit of SNL or spoof on a serious topic. This method of humor is called satire. Primarily, satire is used as a way to point out a societal norm or regularity that is absurd. Many authors use it in their own works to tell their readers of the stupidity of some practice or serious issue. The difference in various authors is whom they use to show their satire. Mark Twain, or Samuel Clemens, was a renowned writer due to how smoothly he incorporated satire and humor into his works to make readers think in a deeper fashion.
In “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, Twain uses Huck’s adventures as a way to criticize the faults in some religious followers and the impracticality of some southern traditions. Huck describes …show more content…
"Then, to the admiration of the Savages, La Salle set up a cross with the arms of France on it, and took possession of the whole country for the king--the cool fashion of the time--while the priest piously consecrated the robbery with a hymn" (19). Twain points out that how flawed the popular misconception of the origination of America was. While most people thought it was founded by whites and the natives simply moved, that was not the truth. The indigenous people were forced out, and their land taken, which Twain tries to say as he exposes how no one seemed to care at the time. He also points out how the church is flawed in this act, in which they allowed the killing and oppresive action towards an indigenous people. He alludes to how the church is corrupt by endorsing these acts because the land is profitable and has potential. Furthermore, Twain describes how he got his pen name, “Mark Twain”, through stealing it from a fellow shipmate who hated him strongly. He later says that “in his honor”, Twain adopted his pen name after he died and used it for the rest of his life. This is humorous because by taking an important name from someone who despised him greatly, he ultimately gets the “last word” against

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