As the father of modern American novel, Twain was an affirmative writer and one of the crusaders for fair and equal treatment of blacks。 He was an anti-imperialist as well。 Twain is famous for his satire and using of vernacular language。 W。D。 Howells called Mark Twain “the Lincoln of our literature” and Baym said that “His love of words and command over their arrangement, his mastery at distilling the rhythms and metaphors of oral speech into written prose, his vivid personality, his identification with the deepest centers of his fellowmen’s emotional and moral condition-- all of these made Twain unique。”
As Twain’s masterpiece, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn costs Twain eight years and proves to be the milestone in America literature。 It is a sequence to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the story takes place along the Mississippi River before the Civil War in the United States, around 1850。 A thirteen years old boy, Huckleberry Finn leaves his home and floats on a raft down the Mississippi River with an escaping black slave, Jim。 In the course of their perilous journey, Huck and Jim encounter lots of adventures and dangers。 They overcome them together and become good friends。 Huck changes his discrimination of the black and helps Jim obtain freedom。 This novel plays on the idea of lost boyhood, because Huck is at the moment growing into adulthood and understanding the real world。 Hemingway once wrote: “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn。。。It’s the best book we’ve had。。。 There was nothing before。 There has been nothing so good since。”
Baym said that this book’s “unpretentious, colloquial, yet poetic style, its wideranging humor, its embodiment of the enduring and universally shared dream of perfect innocence and freedom, its recording of a vanished way of life in the pre-Civil War Mississippi Valley have moved millions of people of all ages and conditions, and all over the world。”
1。2 Research Situation
Many works of study about The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn have interpreted it from different perspectives。 In order to show how the novel has been variously studied, I classify these researches into three groups which, I think, can help readers better understand its research situation。 I will begin with the studies which analyze Huck’s spirit and quality, then those on the view of human nature and morality。 Finally, I will talk about researches which discuss its educational meaning。
Wu Guang, for instance, analyzes Huck’s rebellious spirit and intends to reveal the conflict between the traditional concept and Huck’s kind consciousness, and to lead a deep thinking of social problems such as social discrimination, social morals and so on。 He thinks that Huck’s rebellion of spirit becomes mature from a little boy’s natural disobedience to his revolt for social guidelines。 The hero’s rebellion has its social significance: equality is human being’s common concern, regardless of skin color or race。 In the meantime, it raises a question of what is a civilized society。 Nowadays, moral and racial problems in a society are continuously disturbing topic for people。 (Wu, 2010: 108-109)文献综述
Another researcher, Tan Xianfeng, analyzes Huck’s pursuit of both physical and psychological freedom。 The novel is a freedom-fighting process of Huck。 He is not willing to be shackled by the civilized society and fights for himself and Jim。 This novel tries to appeal us that we can be brave enough to break with what others assume is correct and stand on ourselves。 (Tan, 2013: 199-239)
It is also a critical perspective from the point of the human nature and morality。 Zhang Wenjing, chooses to analyze on morality of the protagonist of the novel。 Through the deepened analysis of the plot and author, she finds reasons for the change of Huck’s morality。 Huck has double-personalities and inner rebellion。 Mark Twain has his own influence on Huck’s change and this novel is a democratic ideal of Twain。 (Zhang, 2013: 14-16) 《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》中哈克的成长之路(3):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_196429.html