The Nature of Hypocrisy in The Adventures of Huckleberry...

Hypocrisy is simultaneously one of the most shameful and identifiable character flaws. Although it is fairly common to experience feelings of resentment toward a person who believes (or claims they believe) one thing and then acts incongruently with that belief, to accuse that person of being a hypocrite requires examination of one’s own inconsistencies before pointing a finger. Mark Twain, a brilliant and iconoclastic classic author, manipulates the paradoxical nature of hypocrisy in telling the story of Huckleberry Finn, an innocent-minded protagonist who encounters hypocritical characters frequently along his journey. When Twain’s reader notices through Huck’s eyes that an otherwise God-fearing, honorable person does something immoral†¦show more content†¦Twain expresses with the appearance of the Sheperdson family the importance of not only considering the consequences of one’s actions, but also making sure those actions measure up to what one preaches. Once back on the river after the Shepherdson catastrophe, Huck meets two characters who make careers out of not being who they claim to be. Huck senses early on that the king and duke were just â€Å"low-down humbugs and frauds,† but he resolves not to confront them about it because they remind him of his own father. He reasons that â€Å"the best way to get along with [Pap’s] kind of people is to let them have their own way† (125, 126). Huck’s likening of the king and duke to Pap after they first meet shows that he will not be looking up to these characters; his familiarity with their type helps to clue the reader in on these rapscallions. While these men never claim to be morally upstanding, they never acknowledge their unscrupulous way of life as wrong and hurtful to others. They get by on deceiving people, which is an unacceptable way to live. Twain wants the reader to dislike these characters regardless of the entertainment they provide, and they do not end up getting away with all of their cons. Twain illustrates with the fates of the Shepherdsons, Pap, and the king and duke alike that neither those falsely claiming to be pious nor those who are unapologetically corrupt will be fulfilled in the end. Considering HuckShow MoreRelatedExamples Of Hypocrisy In The Adventures Of Huck Finn1542 Words   |  7 Pageshumans throughout history. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huck Finn is an example of him using satire to reach his readers denouncing slavery and religious hypocrisy giving examples of man’s inhumanity towards man. His main objective in using satire in Huck Finn was to protest the evil practices that were so frequent in the Frontier. By using satire this made it more appealing and enjoyable for readers and hopefully more effective in his attempt to change society. 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