Huckleberry Finn

In order to get the intended message or theme across in their

writing, authors tend to use many literary devices to keep the readers intrigued. Satire is frequently used by Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and he used it to demonstrate the prejudice actions that he saw on an everyday basis. Jim's oppression was mocked, as was the Grangerfords' pointless feuding, and Huck's "clean fun" was depicted as a betrayal of an unlikely friend.

Tom and Huck were at it again when they came to a consensus that Jim should be released from his captivity at the Phelps'. The two rascals deliberated many plans and Tom got the gold medal for the most asinine idea: "We'll dig him out. It'll take about a week!" Huck's plans were far more feasible, despite the lack of creativity that Tom possessed. Tom treated Jim as if he were a game to be strategically won, and in terms of morality, his thinking was unjustified. His opinion of Jim's escape from his original slave-holder was contemptuous; being that Jim should have severe consequences for his bitter actions, such as a death as extreme as a lynching. Even though Jim was probably wiser than the two boys combined, he sat back and allowed Tom's condescending remarks. In Tom's mind, his own prejudice was considered normality and he did not seem to recognize when he was in the wrong.

The use of prejudice is not only used as an effect of racism; it is also used on certain types of people. The Grangerfords and Shepherdsons had a record for getting themselves into fatuous duels, and Buck Grangerford was even clueless as to who took the first shot. He claimed, "Pa knows, I reckon, and some of the other old people; but they don't know how or what the row was about in the first place." Twain's use of this scenario could be interpreted as symbolic to the future of racism. Although today we still know the roots of prejudice towards blacks, slavery has ceased, and there is no reason to show such discrimination and hostility toward the black race. The Grangerfords and Shepherdsons also went to a sermon that they should have taken into consideration. It was "all about brotherly love...everyone said it was a good sermon." It is a bit sardonic that the families honored the sermon; sermons are given to apply to lifestyles, not to leave in the dust after church is out of session. If it was such a good sermon, they failed to put in to use to aid their feud. The prejudice of the two families was ridiculous, and had unreasonable deaths as the