Letteratura angloamericana 2 (2024-2025)

IRONY

only to what is being narrated (what) but also to the manner of narration (how). Twain’s comment

that « » speaks to this concept: in a perfect world, irony would

THERE IS NO HUMOR IN HEAVEN

have no place, as there would be no disparity between reality and ideals. But in Huck’s imperfect

world, irony becomes essential.

Distinguishing between Twain’s irony and Huck’s irony can be challenging:

▪ Huck’s irony stems from his awareness of the absurdity of his situation

▪ Twain’s irony occurs when Huck’s statements carry a deeper, unrecognized meaning, when he’s

not aware of it.

This nuanced distinction poses difficulties for critics. For instance, in Chapter 32, when the Phelps

are expecting Tom Sawyer and Huck pretends to be him, he recounts his journey, mentioning an

accident on the boat. « Good gracious! anybody hurt? »

« No’m. Killed a nig*er. »

« Well, it’s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt. »

When Huck responds to Mrs. Phelps’s like this, he showcases Twain’s complex use of irony to

critique the pervasive racism of Southern society. This comment seems to dismiss the significance

of a Black man’s death as inconsequential, revealing the ingrained prejudice in Huck’s world. Here,

Twain layers the irony: Huck’s words reflect a cultural norm he’s absorbed without fully

understanding its moral weight, and Mrs. Phelps’s reaction underscores how normalized such

dehumanization is within that society.

Criticism point that «irony does not negate or defend, it negotiates» becomes evident here.

Twain’s irony doesn’t deny the cruelty in Huck’s words, nor does it excuse it. Instead, it highlights

the tragic dissonance between what Huck says and the deeper reality. Huck, having grown up in a

racist environment, speaks without awareness of the brutal implications of his words. But Twain

crafts this moment to expose the moral blindness embedded in Huck’s society. This irony, therefore,

negotiates between Huck’s perspective (what he says) and the reader’s perspective (what we

understand), drawing attention to the ethical chasm in the way people of that time viewed human

lives. The question arises: is this irony Huck’s or Twain’s?

Distinguishing Huck’s irony from Twain’s irony is challenging because Huck serves both as a

character and as the narrator of the story. Huck’s irony, which he intends, often appears when he

pokes fun at the absurdities he observes, like the hypocrisies in religion or “civilized” manners.

Twain’s irony, on the other hand, is embedded in Huck’s innocent or ignorant statements, which

reveal more to the reader than Huck himself understands. Twain allows Huck’s unawareness to

expose societal injustices indirectly, and this “double irony” invites readers to question the moral

structure Huck takes for granted. Since there’s no omniscient narrator to guide readers, we

experience Huck’s world through his naive lens, which Twain manipulates to prompt critical

reflection.

Irony serves as a reaction to sorrow and the inescapable realities of life, it serves as way to

address injustices or difficult truths that are not easily changed, not only for Huck and Jim but for

humanity as a whole, particularly the themes of death, slavery and violence. The novel employs a

brand of humor often referred to as , which critics suggest reflects Twain’s growing

BLACK HUMOR

pessimism.

Where is this black humor in the text? For example, in Chapter 2, when Huck is excluded from a

group because he has no family for them to “exterminate”—a clear form of irony from Twain.

Some thought it would be good to kill the families of boys that told the secrets. Tom said it was a good idea,

so he took a pencil and wrote it in. Then Ben Rogers says: « Here’s Huck Finn, he hain’t got no family—what

you going to do ’bout him? » (…) They talked it over, and they was going to rule me out, because they said

every boy must have a family or somebody to kill, or else it wouldn’t be fair and square for the others.

Black humor also arises during events like Peter Wilks’ funeral, in Chapter 25, filled with puns and

malapropisms: terms are misused, the deceased becomes «diseased», and funeral “obsequies” are

mistakenly referred to as «orgies».

«—they bein’ partickler friends o’ the diseased. That’s why they’re invited here this evenin’; but to-morrow

we want all to come—everybody; for he respected everybody, he liked everybody, and so it’s fitten that his

funeral orgies sh’d be public.»

As the characters’ agency diminishes, the use of irony and black humor increases, indicating a sense

of detachment. This progression in the novel reflects a journey through time—slavery, the Civil

War, Reconstruction—and into a darker, more pessimistic view of life. The characters’ agency

diminishes as they become helpless against external forces: history, slavery, and even Tom

Sawyer’s plans. As the characters grow less capable of affecting change, this inability becomes

visualized through the river itself. Thus, the river is more than just a setting; it’s the novel’s

structural framework and a metaphor for Huck and Jim’s destiny.

The river

The river symbolizes a loss of control, representing the forces sweeping Huck and Jim along. It first

appears as a safe, suspended space, it provides a safe haven where they can create an alternative

reality. But as the narrative advances, society begins to intrude upon the river. Slave hunters and

characters like the Duke and King encroach on this space. By the end, the river no longer serves as

a refuge, blending instead with the very society they are trying to escape.

The river functions as the novel’s structure, representing an alternative society, but it also reflects

the impossibility of this alternative. It becomes a mirror of the society itself, where issues like

slavery still arise. The river is the force that drives major events, such as the fog that prevents Huck

and Jim from seeing their junction. In the last episode of the first part, Huck and Jim are carried

downstream by the river, illustrating their inability to exert influence over their destinies. As Huck

and Jim travel south, events unfold at a rapid pace, mirroring the increasing speed of the current.

The river is not just a physical setting but a force that shapes and drives the plot. Consequently, the

river can be viewed as a third protagonist, shaping the narrative’s structure while symbolizing the

characters’ fates.

Critics have pointed out that the river serves as a sort of in the narrative; not

DEUS EX MACHINA

only it shapes the story, but also drives the events forward, it’s the agent that propels he narrative

forward. Symbolically, the river embodies the characters’ lack of agency, representing their

diminishing ability to act against overwhelming forces, much like one cannot resist the flow of

history. This dynamic illustrates a transition from Realism, where individuals possess some

degree of agency, to Determinism, a philosophical concept suggesting that powerful forces—such

as science and economics—render individuals powerless. In literature, Determinism is often

represented by Naturalism, and Twain can be seen as anticipating this movement. This deterministic

view moves the novel from a realistic depiction to a more fatalistic one, where the characters are

less and less able to oppose the forces around them.

As Huck and Jim become increasingly unable to resist these external forces, the notion of freedom

becomes central to their journeys. Jim is already free but remains unaware of it, while Huck yearns

for Westward escape and, despite his journey, does not achieve it. By the story’s conclusion, both

characters find themselves confined on the Phelps farm, highlighting the persistent problem of

freedom. For Huck, freedom is an individual pursuit, while for Jim, it is a matter of political

rights. Jim seeks not only personal freedom but also social recognition of that freedom, aiming to

free his wife and family. This creates a contrast between individual freedom, as represented by

Huck, and collective freedom within society, embodied by Jim.

In American literature, the freedom archetype is often portrayed as the ability to separate from

society. This theme is central not only in the context of slavery but also in 20th-century literature.

For Huck, freedom lies in isolation, like on Jackson Island or the western frontier. For Jim,

however, freedom is not just an individual pursuit but a collective one, aiming for political and

social equality. The characters’ experiences highlight the tension between personal freedom and the

need for social recognition, with the only freedom they experience being temporary and illusory, not

fully realized. The only semblance of freedom they experience occurs on the raft, which offers a

temporary respite rather than true individual autonomy, even though it’s lived by the smallest

community there could be, one made up of only two people. Although Jim achieves a form of

freedom at the end, it is insufficient because it does not fulfill his broader desire for family unity

and social acknowledgment.

The novel, written in the post-Civil War era but set before the closure of the frontier, reflects the

historical context of Twain’s time. By 1890, the American frontier was largely closed, signaling the

end of a symbolic path to freedom. Twain, familiar with the realities of the West, knew that the

westward expansion—the very ideal of freedom that Huck embodies—was rapidly becoming an

illusion. The closing of the frontier and the overcrowding of western territories made the dream of

escaping society and finding freedom there increasingly unrealistic.

The novel ends with two suspended freedoms—both Huck’s and Jim’s aspirations remain

unfulfilled, leaving the question of how they might achieve true freedom unresolved. Literary

critics, such as those who consider the river itself a protagonist, suggest that the novel’s structure,

like the river, has no proper ending. This is because, just like the river flowing into the sea, the story

cannot conclude with a satisfying resolution. The sea, in this metaphor, represents society as it

existed in Twain’s time—a society that has yet to solve its deep issues.

Instead, it results in a sort of — Huck is forced to return to society and

NARRATIVE REGRESSION

school, even as he contemplates new escape routes. The only possible ending is no ending at all,

but a regression that goes all the way back to the beginning: this cyclical structure reflects the

larger societal failures to address these issues.

The characters’ journeys are suspended, unresolved, reflecting the larg