Hucky Finny

The major plot points of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are race relations in the South society, especially those of Huck and Jim. In the novel Twain shows us that blacks and whites can get along but outside influences keep them apart from each other. His intent is to show the world that black people were people too and that they could be just like white people. Major themes in the story were these race relations and that whites and blacks can get along with each other, and their equality.
Scenes in the story that proved what the theme was like advanced the theme. An allusion was used in the cases of the Grangerford’s and the Shepdardson’s which was an allusion to Romeo and Juliet, which shows a petty feud between two moral high-up families, showing the hypocrisy of the families. The setting of the story centered around the Mississippi River which dictated how the structure of the story went and provided the opportunity to show case many different situations of how white and black people acts. Many of these stops showed how the whites acted and showed their uncivil ways. The whites were characterized by being sheep-like, and many of them were foolish. The characters that Twain wanted to give the most sympathy were those that were either black or sympathized with the blacks.
When Jim is held trapped by the Phelps, Huck following Tom on his inane crusades instead of doing what he would believe would be best for his friend shows that even though Jim is close to Huck he still goes along with Tom, a white boy. Even though Huck is a radical compared to those around them he still isn’t perfect and doesn’t always do the right thing. By having Huck have these doubts we get more of a key into how hard race relations were at the time, but with the successes between the two that got them close to each other, like when they got separated and both called out for each other because they wanted the other to be safe, shows that it is indeed possible.
The River, while being the main structure behind the piece is also a symbol. It’s a symbol of freedom. While Huck and Jim are on the raft in the river they are totally free. It is during this time in which they are closest to each other which also shows that positive race relations are much easier to hold when society is removed from the equation. The freedom that the river provides makes a haven for Jim and Huck, while off the river they go into society and they are trapped by in. When they are on land they run into myriad trouble, especially when the Duke and Dauphin are involved. This can be used to show that freedom and escape from society can make one happy while, the lack of freedom and the presence of society can do the opposite.
Some motifs in the story are lies and conning, superstition, and civilization. The lies and conning is brought up heavily due to the Duke and Dauphin who tie to con whatever money they can get. During their stay with the conmen, Huck and Jim’s happiness takes a dive and they no longer have the free fun that they did before. This could mean to saw that lies and conning can do this to one person. Superstition is also a frequently seen motif having backing in some of Jim and Huck’s actions. Civilization is also a motif in the fact that it’s shown so often, usually not being so civil.
The tone of the story is cynical though it is also childish and upbeat at times. Huck doesn’t trust the civilized and believes that there is no reason for it. He distrusts the ideals that society puts on him, and while at some points he would believe them even against what he would find to be right, in the end he picks what he knows instead of what society wants to force. During the happy moments, the tone is quite upbeat, especially when Huck is able to make friends and such.
Diction plays an important part in the story, as it’s quite accurate to how the blacks talked at the time, and shows one of the big differences between the two races. Due to the wide difference in how people talked back then, diction was a key way to show how educated and civilized one is, as highly educated and civilized characters will have full and intricate diction while slaves would have their jumbled up diction.