Huck Finn: Review Analysis
The New York World [unsigned] 1885: March 2 Contemporary Review
The New York World review of the book about Huck Finn goes into great depths to describe the events in the book and to give opinions on several aspects of the book including the general plot, use of language and the presence/absence of humor in the story. This article will analyze this review and give a favorable response.
The review begins by saying that the kind of humor presented by the story is not good enough to be considered humorous. However, it is only due to the fact that Mark Twain, because of his other works, was considered a well-established humorist that this story is considered to have bits of humor in it. It then goes on to talk about Huck Finn, the main character in the book about how he ran away from his father, a drunkard, in the company of another black person. They escape on a raft in the Mississippi River and on the way encounter several adventures involving local communities. There were also some murders involved.
Towards the end, the review quotes a funeral preparation scene in one of the many communities that Huck came across on his journey. Huck and the black man are impostors pretending to be the rightful heirs of a recently deceased person. The king of the village stands in front of everyone that had gathered to witness the property case. He addresses the people saying that the deceased would have wished that everybody be present at his funeral. The king uses the term orgies repeatedly in his speech and the duke is forced to hand him a note secretly that was written Obsequies. The duke intended to stop the King from using the word orgies as it was vulgar and change to the suggested euphemism. However, the king continues to use the same word and at the end says that Obsequies is an outdated word in the English language and as such should not be in circulation.
The writer(s) of the review objects to the fact that any part of the book should be considered humorous. According to the writer, the book should not even be classified as literature since the plot of the story flows without any pattern. The style used in the story is ‘freestyle’ in that the story just sloshes away and events occur randomly without any meaningful contribution to the story. On the other hand, the writer admires the clever plan devised by Huck as the reason for his disappearance when he runs away from his parents and says that other boys of his age who wished to escape would benefit greatly from Huck’s plan.
From a literature point of view, the review uses a form of grammar and sentence structure that is considered erroneous according to modern literature and English. However, given the fact that the story was written a few centuries ago, it is important to note that the words and grammar used in the story and its review may have become out-dated just like the word Obsequies became out-dated in the book. English, just like any other language, has evolved. The opinions of the writer may have been influenced by social and historical aspects such as the transformation in the way language and style were used in normal social communication to bring out themes such as humor. This may be the reason why the writer finds the story boring.
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