Down Memory Lane

I can honestly say that I don’t enjoy reading, especially if I am reading on a specific time frame for a class. However, I found Twain’s Huckleberry Finn to be quite amusing. Twain has a talent for writing in such a way that the reader is able to put himself in Huck’s shoes and really live out the story. I think what I loved most about the book was the feeling that I was a kid again running up and down the Mississippi, getting into all sorts of trouble. (Though my childhood adventures were for the most part confined to by backyard)

Mark Twain uses a couple of important elements in his writing to allow the reader to step into the story and really be able to live it. One of which, I noticed, was his ability to create characters that I’m sure each of us knew when we were growing up. Not that we knew the specific character, but that we all had friends with characteristics in common with Huck’s friends. I know for sure I had a friend who would try to swindle me into anything that was for his benefit like Tom does to Huck occasionally. Second was his ability to write from the perspective of a boy. One of the first sections in which I began to relate to Huck’s story was chapter II, where Twain introduces Tom Sawyer’s “gang”. Plainly, the gang’s purpose is for burglary and murder though clearly they are not capable or willing to carry out such acts. To a certain degree, every young boy wants to go on adventures and even engage in dangerous illegal activities like piracy and burglary just because we love being seen as daring and adventurous. Not only do the boys exaggerate the extent and daring of their deeds, but they are serious about them, at least in front of each other. As older men would begin to point out problems in their plans for the gang, the boys act as though the agenda for the gang is totally feasible. This kind of attitude that lacks the pessimism we get as we grow older is a perfect representation of how boys look at life. At least for me, Twain marvelously manipulates Tom’s “gang” to turn it into a point of connection with the story. His ability to create lifelike characters that resemble us in our youth and those that we have known truly allows the reader to step in and live Huck’s adventure. This above all is what makes Huckleberry Finn such a successful novel.