Mark Twains Pessimistic Views Exposed in The Adventures of Huckleberry

Mark Twain's Pessimistic Views Exposed in Mark Twain's Pessimistic Views Exposed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, through examples of hypocrisy, racism, and greed, shows Twain's pessimistic view of society and corruption of the human race as a whole. This novel documents the travels of a young boy by the name of Huckleberry Finn, and a runaway slave named Jim as they attempt to explore and escape their homes because of their own respective reasons. The plot of this novel is very simplistic, however the view of Mark Twain's pessimism regarding society as a whole is revealed through various characters and situations. The idea of hypocrisy by society is Mark Twain's first instance of pessimism. The general view of each of the townspeople is that they live in a civilized society. The continual use of the word civilized causes a sense of arrogance or cockiness as to the fact that society thinks that it is so supreme over other life. Mark Twain does not believe that being civilized makes one a better person and that it is the inner soul that creates a good person. For example, the townspeople believe they are superior, but beneath the surface, they are all selfish, arrogant, hateful people. Any of the people in town can be an example of this as they believe that they are better than any of the slaves that they own. Jim, on the other hand, is Twain's portrayal of a kind and gentle hearted soul and this shows his pessimism towards the hypocrisy of society in the fact that it again illustrates the wrong belief that civilization makes you superior. Jim is a better human being than the majority of the people that are living in the town. Racism is another ideal that Mark Tw... ... continually. Right then we can see the effects of his greed. In the aftermath though, Twain decides to show the severity of an outcome of greed by causing the death of Pap. Death is always caused by greed, whether it is death of the physical body or moralistic part of the personality. Mark Twain's pessimisms of society are portrayed through his beliefs on hypocrisy, racism, and greed. After more in depth characterization of Twain's beliefs on society, it is safe to assume that he believes not in outward appearances or social standing, but that the true person is inside the body, the soul makes up whether we are of high class or low class. Twain was a man beyond his time in the fact that he realized the true meaning of life and that one should not judge a book by its cover. To truly understand a person, one must look to the abstract ideas of their life.