Mark Twain's View of Society Through the Novel Huck Finn

Society is defined in a different way by every person. The image a person holds of society is show through his or her actions and thoughts. Usually these actions portray a good vision of society. Although, sometimes, people image society as being full of evil and hypocrisy. Mark Twain's novel, Huck Finn, is written with a negative view of society which is shown through the actions of the characters in the book and uses symbolism to put his point across.

Mark Twain shows the inherent greed present in society by the actions of the characters in his novel. For example, Huck's father Pap says, "I've been in town two days, and O hain't heard nothing but about you bein' rich. I heard about it away down the river, too. That's why I come. You git me that money-tomorrow-I want it,"(Twain 21) Pap is only interested in Huck's money and once Pap gets the money he locks up Huck and uses the money to buy alcohol and get drunk. Pap then beats Huck once and does not stop until he passes out. Greed drives people to do whatever it takes to obtain money and then do whatever they want with it often without thinking of others. This is a prime example of one of the issues that Mark Twain does not approve of in his society. Huck Finn was written in 1884, at this time the industry was booming in the United States and powerful corporations were taking over.