허클베리 핀의 모험에 나타난 구속과 자유

Abstract

Mark Twain worked as a realist and a social critic. He was called "American shakespeare" and “Lincoln of American literature”. He was a real American style writer and we can understand all American literatures by understanding his works. He stands alone from European literature and He wrote his works by using American subject matters and language. His works are also different from eastern literatures of America. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is by general agreement Mark Twain's greatest work. This book has had huge influence on American literature history. The greatness of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is primarily in its power of telling the truth of human nature. The book tells the truth of restriction and freedom. It deals directly with the depravity of society and morals. Mark Twain's method in the book is constantly to reveal this truth through the medium of satire and humor. Satire is mainly directed against human and society's ills. This study discusses the restrictions and freedoms in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. One of them concerns the absurdity and wrongs of society, such as, slavery and aristocracy. Another concerns the hypocrisy and weaknesses of religious people. The last but most important is the appalling cruelty that human beings inflict on one another in one way or another, although to different degrees. It is true that on one level Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a bitter indictment of the antebellum world which the author observed more than a century ago. More importantly, every time we read the book anew, we find more and more that the book does not diminish in the power of telling the same truth that we have mentioned above. This surely is one of the greatest elements that Mark Twain has achieved in the book.