Twain seemed to take
little interest in the Huck Finn
book and
wrote it “more to be at work than anything else.” He set it aside for four
years. In 1880, he took it out and wrote a little more, only to abandon it once again. He firmly believed in the theory of unconscious composition and that a book should write itself and not be forced; the book, which he referred to as Huck Finn’s Autobiography, refused to comply. In the summer of 1882, he was possessed with a burst of literary energy that was more intense than anything he had experienced for a number of years. It is possible that this was due to the visit to the Mississippi that he had made earlier in the year. No matter the reason, Twain felt rejuvenated and again turned to the
writing of Huckleberry Finn. By the summer of 1883, he wrote to his publisher, “I’ve just finished writing a book and modesty compels me to say its a
rattling good one too.” Others have judged it as more than rattling good. Ernest Hemingway remarked that “all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.”
Twain seemed to take little interest in the Huck Finn book and wrote it “more to be at work than anything else.” He set it aside for four years. In 1880, he took it out and wrote a little more, only to abandon it once again. He firmly believed in the theory of unconscious composition and that a book should write itself and not be forced; the book, which he referred to as Huck Finn’s Autobiography, refused to comply. In the summer of 1882, he was possessed with a burst of literary energy that was more intense than anything he had experienced for a number of years. It is possible that this was due to the visit to the Mississippi that he had made earlier in the year. No matter the reason, Twain felt rejuvenated and again turned to the writing of Huckleberry Finn. By the summer of 1883, he wrote to his publisher, “I’ve just finished writing a book and modesty compels me to say its a rattling good one too.” Others have judged it as more than rattling good. Ernest Hemingway remarked that “all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.”
The plot is further unified by the narration. The entire story is told by Huck Finn in the first person singular voice. All the incidents are seen through the eyes of a young boy, who is uncorrupted with the experiences of life. His telling of the story is simple, factual, and straightforward. Therefore, even thought the novel is episodic, each episode becomes bead on a string, the string itself representing the Mississippi River.
Twain, through this novel, reveals a boy’s initiation into manhood. Huck’s existence on the raft teaches him about life as it really is. Whenever he goes on shore, he sees the cruelty of society and man’s inhumanity to his fellow man. When he returns to the raft, he feels the peace of nature and the nobility of the black slave that shares his journey.
Southern society has taught Huck that slaves are sub-human creatures with no feelings, only a piece of property to be bought and sold. At the beginning of the novel, Huck buys into this philosophy without question. He cannot believe that he is helping “a nigger” escape to freedom. It is against everything he has been taught (and he knows Tom Sawyer could never do it.)