This is a satire on society in that if society accepts something to be true or right, people will usually consider it true or right as well, regardless of whether or not it is. These are just two examples of many Mark Twain included in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It can easily be stated that these instances of satire coupled with all the others significantly contributed to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn "s reputation of greatness.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn reveals an array of ills of society which enhance the message of the book and consequently lends to the greatness of the book. One of the main ills Twain illustrates is just how low some people will go. He displays this ill when the King and Duke put on a phony Shakespearean show. All the townspeople that attend the show are angered by the fact that they have been swindled, yet they still encourage others to attend the performance. They do this so that they will not feel as though they have been the only ones swindled. This reflects the shallowness and self-centeredness of society. Another ill of society Twain chooses to reveal is hypocrisy. He shows this through the actions of the townspeople against the Duke and King. They tar and feather each of them and then carry them around on a rail. The townspeople believe the cruelty and selfishness of the Duke and King is wrong; however, they are willing to use cruelty themselves as a form of punishment for the two. Another ill addressed by Twain is the falseness of people. He does this through Huck's description of the women comforting the Wilks sisters. He says that "every woman, nearly, went up to the girls, without saying a word, and kissed them, solemn , on the forehead, and then put their hand on their head, and looked up towards the sky, with the tears running down, and then busted out and went off sobbing and swabbing, and give the next woman a show.