Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the greatest "American- novels ever written. Few novels have been able to capture all aspects of American society in the honest way Twain accomplished. Huckleberry's journey deals with racism, accepting those of a separate race, coming of age, and the search for freedom.
Throughout the novel, racism against blacks is prominent. White society saw blacks as property, rather than people, and the cruel acts the blacks endured weren't considered immoral. A person was considered to be "good- if they met all of societies expectations, not if they were moral or not. The societies expectations allowed whites to be ignorant to the mistreatment of blacks and treat them as if they were a piece of property. People disregarding the black's emotions and needs were more than common. Aunt Sally, a "good- person, demonstrates this attitude in a conversation she has with Huck, who she thinks is her nephew Tom. (Pg. 167) .
" We blowed out a cylinder-head'.
Good gracious! Anybody hurt?'.
No'm. Killed a nigger.
Well, it's lucky because sometimes people get hurt.-.
Twain used the word "people- to take a jab at white society, illustrating the disregard for black people. Blacks and whites all are human beings living in the same place; they have the same needs, but aren't considered people. All races are people, even though they aren't recognized as such in society of this time.
Today we no longer have slavery, and our government recognizes all races as equal people, but unfortunately, the attitudes of many people have not changed. America is a diverse country, and diversity is a scary thing if one is not open to new ideas. People become racist when they feel threatened by another group of people of a different race. It is easy to categorize different people by what they look like, but that is not the moral thing to do.
In the novel, Huck is also coming of age, in the same way our country too came of age.