Transcript Realism and Mark Twain - Summit School District / Overview

Realism and
Mark Twain
The Civil War and Post-War
Period
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=eTCjHZWmgG0
A
reaction against romanticism, an
interest in scientific method, the
systematizing of the study of documentary
history, and the influence of rational
philosophy all affected the rise of realism.
 According
to William Harmon and
Hugh Holman, "Where romanticists
transcend the immediate to find the
ideal, and naturalists plumb the actual
or superficial to find the scientific laws
that control its actions, realists center
their attention to a remarkable degree
on the immediate, the here and now,
the specific action, and the verifiable
consequence" (A Handbook to
Literature 428).
 In
American literature, the term "realism"
encompasses the period of time from the Civil
War to the turn of the century during which
William Dean Howells, Rebecca Harding Davis,
Henry James, Mark Twain, and others wrote
fiction devoted to accurate representation
and an exploration of American lives in various
contexts.
 As
the United States grew rapidly after the
Civil War, the increasing rates of
democracy and literacy, the rapid growth
in industrialism and urbanization, an
expanding population base due to
immigration, and a relative rise in middleclass affluence provided a fertile literary
environment for readers interested in
understanding these rapid shifts in culture
(Social Construction of American Realism
ix).
Plot and Character
 Character
is more important than
action and plot; complex ethical
choices are often the subject.
 Characters appear in the real
complexity of temperament and
motive; they are in explicable relation
to nature, to each other, to their social
class, to their own past.
 Humans control their destinies;
characters act on their environment
rather than simply reacting to it.



Renders reality closely and in comprehensive
detail. Selective presentation of reality with
an emphasis on verisimilitude, even at the
expense of a well-made plot.
Events will usually be plausible. Realistic
novels avoid the sensational, dramatic
elements of naturalistic novels and romances.
Class is important; the novel has traditionally
served the interests and aspirations of an
insurgent middle class.
Interpretation and analysis
 Realism
is viewed as a realization of
democracy.
 The morality of Realism is intrinsic,
integral, relativistic – relations between
people and society are explored.
 Realists were pragmatic, relativistic,
democratic and experimental. The
purpose of writing is to instruct and to
entertain.
Structure of Prose
Diction is the natural vernacular, not heightened or poetic;
tone may be comic, satiric, or matter-of-fact.
The use of symbolism is controlled and limited;
the realists depend more on the use of images.
Objectivity in presentation becomes increasingly important:
overt authorial comments or intrusions diminish as the century progresses.
Mark Twain
 Born
Samuel Langhorne Clemens in
Florida, Missouri in 1835
 At the age of four, he moved to
Hannibal on the Mississippi River
 He eventually became a riverboat
pilot; he derived the name Mark Twain
from the riverboat leadsman’s signal
“By the mark, Twain”- meaning the
water was deep enough for safe
passage
“All modern American literature
comes from one book by Mark
Twain called Huck Finn . . .There
was nothing before. There has
been nothing so good since.”
-Ernest Hemingway
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=fKvhjvBap0o
 Huck
Finn was published in 1884
 It received great public and critical
acclaim.
Facts about the novel

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time and place written · 1876–1883; Hartford, Connecticut,
and Elmira, New York
date of first publication · 1884
narrator · Huckleberry Finn
point of view · Huck’s point of view, although Twain
occasionally indulges in digressions in which he shows off his
own ironic wit
tone · Frequently ironic or mocking, particularly concerning
adventure -novels and romances; also contemplative, as
Huck seeks to decipher the world around him; sometimes
boyish and exuberant
tense · Immediate past
setting (time) · Before the Civil War; roughly 1835–1845;
Twain said the novel was set forty to fifty years before the
time of its publication
setting (place) · The Mississippi River town of St.
Petersburg, Missouri; various locations along the river
through Arkansas
Possible Themes
 Individual Vs. Society
 Emotional Vs. Rational
 Appearance Vs. Reality
(Hypocrisy and
Phoniness)
 The role of superstitions
 Tolerance Vs. Prejudice
 Dehumanization
 Death and Rebirth
 Coming of Age
 The Hero’s Journey
 Nature
 Humanity (Gullibility, Ignorance, etc.)
 Quest for Freedom
 Real Vs. Romantic
Huck
Stands
for
worth, goodness
and wisdom
of
 The
common, lowly people
 Insistence
good life
of freedom as a condition of
 Individualism
 Brotherly
association
 Spontaneity
The novel also depicts Huck’s maturation
and development.
He distrusts the morals and precepts of a
society that fails to protect him.
He begins to question many of his
teachings- especially those regarding race
and slavery
I’ll “go to hell”
 Even
though written after slavery was
abolished, things had not gotten much
better for blacks in the South.
 We may read this story as an
allegorical representation of the
conditions of blacks in the US even
after the abolition of slavery.
 Twain exposes the hypocrisy of slavery.
Motifs
 Childhood
 Lies
and Cons
 Superstitions and Folk Beliefs
 Parodies of Popular Romance Novels
Symbols
 The
Mississippi River- The ultimate symbol
of freedom
 Land
 Shipwrecks
 Floods
 On
a raft, away from society, he
becomes free from society’s rules and
makes his own conclusions.
 The river symbolizes freedom; the shore
symbolizes civilization and the people
who live in it.
Satire
Religion
(Heaven and tent revival)
Southern
aristocrats (Grangerfords)
Materialism
Slavery
(Duke & King)
(Jim)
Sentimental
novels
Satire
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M-
KlV5cPUo
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOE
amZJmvgc