A Misanthrope?
Famous American author Mark Twain is widely considered to have been a misanthrope.
Misanthrope: a hater of human kind.
“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not
bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a
man.”- Mark Twain
Twain Vs. Everything Else
Mark Twain was against many institutionalized ideals. Religion Slavery Government Human Nature Education System Pretty much everything!
Satirical Twain
Mark Twain’s style of writing includes numerous uses of satire.
Satire: the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
Satire Today
Satire is all around us!
Ex: Saturday Night Live, The Colbert Report, Tosh.O
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8zuaykEY2A
Satire in Huck Finn
Twain uses numerous examples of satire in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
“St. Petersburg” is the fictional river town Twain uses in the novel. It’s used to satirize the dreams of splendor in the South.
More Satire in Huck Finn
NOTICE“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be
prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be
banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.”BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR
PER G.G., CHIEF OF ORDINANCE.
Bashing Slavery
Many situations in Huck Finn are designed to scoff at the American people.
Twain focuses a lot on the issue of slavery.
Twain has always disagreed with the American view of slavery, even though his father owned slaves when he was growing up.
Bashing Slavery (Cont.)
Twain mocks slavery and makes a strong statement about the way slaves were treated.
Family Feud
So much Satire in one novel!
The Family Feuds – based on a real feud of the time between two families, the Hatfields and the McCoys.
Satirizing Religion
“There warn’t anybody at the church, except maybe a hog or two,…If you notice, most folks don’t go to church only when they’ve got to; but a hog is different.”
“A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”
Pokes fun at contemporary society.
Satire of romanticized chivalry and idealization of the Middle Ages.
“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” Tone: Satirical and nostalgic.
Pokes fun at society’s hypocrisy.
Mocks individuals, but tends to focus on flaws in the character that is understood to be universal.
Satirizing Society (Tom Sawyer)
Shows social authority does not always operate on wise principles.
Institutions fall prey to the same kinds of mistakes that individuals do.
Satirizing Society (Cont.)
Tendency toward indulgence.
Ridicules the ability of the collective tendency toward generosity and forgiveness to go overboard.
Satirical Quotes from Mark Twain
“Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a
member of congress; but I repeat myself.” -Mark
Twain
“It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to
open one’s mouth and remove all doubt” -
Mark Twain
In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice.
Then he made school boards.” -Mark Twain
Twain the Lecturer
1866-1895:Mark Twain traveled the country giving lectures.
Humorous, informative, and a sense of eloquence.
Might consider him today to be a “stand-up comedian.”
In his time, Mark Twain would be considered a “stand-up philosopher.”
Had a “love-hate” relationship with his tours.
The Importance of Twain’s Humor
It is important to understand Twain’s sense of humor to understand many concepts in Huck Finn.
Also important to understand Twain’s humor in order to understand Twain himself.
“Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.”
-Mark Twain
Bibliography "Mark Twain." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2013. 7 December 2013.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mark_twain.html Hat. TwainQuotes.com. http://www.twainquotes.com/Hat.html.
December 7, 2013 SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”
SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. Tom Sawyer Novel. http://jobspapa.com/tom-sawyer-novel.html.
December 7, 2013 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Wikipedia. 5 December,
2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Connecticut_Yankee_in_King_Arthur's_Court December 6, 2013
The Spell of the West. Mountain Feuds.
http://www.jcs-group.com/oldwest/wars/mountain.html December 6, 2013
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. http://overdrive.bpl.org/95F8118C-B7EE-429A-826F-33312DE67171/10/380/en/ContentDetails.htm?id=DE015914-262B-40A7-AB34-205FFB5C8776. December 6, 2013
Property of Google Images
Bibliography (Cont.) Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York, New York. Dover Publications, Inc. 1994 Red Carpet Crash. June 5, 2013.
http://www.redcarpetcrash.com/tv-the-colbert-report-welcomes-sir-paul-mccartney-for-a-one-hour-special-episode-wednesday-june-12/ December 5, 2013
Dave Granlund. Mark Twain Censored. http://www.davegranlund.com/cartoons/2011/01/07/mark-twain-censored/ December 5, 2013
Teaching Huck Finn: Novices Need Not Apply. Stanford University. http://bookhaven.stanford.edu/2011/01/teaching-huck-finn-novices-need-not-apply/ December 5, 2013
Mark Twain with A Few Words of Wisdom. July 23, 2013. http://zionstrumpet.com/2013/07/23/mark-twain-with-a-few-words-of-wisdom/ Zion’s Trumpet. December 5, 2013
"satire." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 05 Dec. 2013. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/satire>.
Misanthrope Drink Coasters. Mark Twain Tile Coaster. http://www.cafepress.com/+misanthrope+coasters. December 5, 2013
Electric Blue. Satire in Huck Finn? http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081216125126AAFS85y Yahoo Answers. 2008. December 5, 2013
Christine. Examples of Satire in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” http://classic-literature.yoexpert.com/read-and-study-books/what-are-some-examples-of-satire-in-%22the-adventure-644.html Yo Expert.December 5, 2013
From ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SOUTHERN CULTURE edited by Charles Reagan Wilson and William Ferris Copyright (c) 1989 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. www.uncpress.unc.eduhttp://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/twainlife/bio.html December 5, 2013
Wilson, Charles Reagan, and William Ferris, eds., Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1989.http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/humor.html December 5, 2013
Thomas S. Vernon. XXII Samuel Clemens. http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/twainver.htm December 5, 2013 http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/onstage/maps/tourmapsf.html December 5, 2013 “The Trouble Begins at 8:00” http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/onstage/lectures.html December 5, 2013 “Mark Twain On Stage” http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/onstage/onstgehp.html December 5, 2013 “Humor Glossary and More” http://www.pbs.org/weta/onstage/twain2002/teachers/glossary.html. On Stage at the
Kennedy Center. The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. December 5, 2013
"misanthrope." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 04 Dec. 2013. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/misanthrope>.
http://nche2.wikispaces.com/Themes%2C+Symbols%2C+Motifs+HF+h2 SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. http://www.saisd.net/schools/twain058/ San Antonio Independent School District
Mark Twain Middle School. December 4, 2013.
Top Related