Controversial, beautiful and very distinct time periods are often captured through the novels written by clever and talented authors who lived in these times. These types of novels usually bring the readers back to that time as if they were actually there. Mark Twain criticizes many aspects of the 1880's in the southern United States in his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In the late 19th century, the life of African Americans was not great and will always be remembered through history. Mark Twain did a great job in recording the African American life. The setting in the 1880's around the Mississippi River was like no other, and is also very well captured through the work of Twain. Education was not a necessity and was often disregarded. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a perfect example of how this is true. The way that families function today differs a great deal from how they functioned in the 19th century, especially among the less fortunate and uneducated.
Traditional raft, from 1884 edition of Adventures ...
English: Illustration from Adventures of Huckleber...
Drawing of Huckleberry finn with a rabbit and a gu...The magical style of Mark Twain's writing could not have better recorded the life and times African Americans lived in the 1880's. The Blacks, or "niggers's" as Twain makes reference to them them, many times, were bought and sold so frequently as if they were garden tools which became old and useless. Jim, a slave who worked for Miss Watson, escaped from her for fear of being sold down the river, and later found refuge on Jackson Island where he met Huck Finn. He told Huck: But I noticed dey wuz a nigger trader roun' de place considable, lately, en I begin to git oneasy. Well one night I creeps to de do', warn't quite shet, en I hear ole missus tell de widder she gwyne to sell me down to...