The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By: Mark Twain Religion/Mockery of Religion Presented by: shelby renae hohler

Introduction Huckleberry Finn, a boy of a lower social class who is troubled by society, tries to understand religion. In the novel, not only are characters telling him that praying will answer his wishes but, he sometimes believes that hell is more appealing than heaven. Religion is mocked in this novel to show the point of view Mark Twain has on religion to show how hypocritical society really is. The author, Mark Twain uses satire and anecdote to get across his hatred for religious practices. Religion is one of the top major themes of this novel.

My first example of religious mockery is when Huck tells how he couldn’t start eating a meal until the widow bows her head. He states that she would “grumble a little over the victuals, though there warn’t really anything the matter with them” Most people now a day, say an evening prayer of some sort depending on religion. Huck didn’t understand the meaning of “praying”. Then, she got out her bible and told him the story of Moses. The widow had his attention on the subject until she released that Moses was dead and he replied with “I don’t take no stock in dead people.” The Bible I have displayed on the slide is a photograph of the Holy Bible in which the Widow reads to Huck in the novel. How is society hypocritical on the subject of religion in the book “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”? By my example, you read that the slaves in the book come indoors to participate in prayer. Having slaves is against Christianity morals yet the widow and Miss Watson bring them inside for prayer. Religion is a major part in Huck’s development of moral education because the bible and other sources of religion influence his decisions.

In Chapter Three of the novel Miss Watson, his primary educator in the story, tells Huck to pray everyday and every chance he can get. She states that if he prays daily that whatever he prays about will come true. Huck prays daily and becomes frustrated when he doesn’t get granted what he wished for. I think Mark Twain was using a little humor/satire here to address Christian ways. When I think of praying daily as Huck does in the novel, I instantly think of the Lord’s Prayer which is a commonly prayed prayer by most Christians and can be said really at any time and I know that some families say it at meal time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvjveqUPE6g By saying anything you pray to the Lord for, you will get is a little bit of an understatement and Mark Twain definitely makes fun of Christians in that moment. He definitely uses this to create how hypocritical society is.

In Chapter 18 is another example of satire In Chapter 18 is another example of satire. Both the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons go to the same church on Sunday but besides going to church together they have this feud in which had been going on for almost thirty years. Nobody really knows why the fued was going on, but they continued to hate each other. The men of the families would keep their guns tight between their knees and when Huck mentions a particular sermon about brotherly love, many members of both families were killed. Not only does God say to love one another, but neither of the families followed in the light of Christ. They simply just went to Church and continued the fight in which nobody really knew what it really was about. This particular photo from the show “The Fairly Odd Parents” on Nickelodeon reminds me of this moment of satire. In the show, the two men of the families hate each other and try to one up each other daily. In the bible and as Christians, both of the families in the story should know that you should love one another as Jesus has loved you. Both families just go to church and remain hating each other and never letting a single grudge go.

In Chapter 31, Huck says, “There was the Sunday- school, you could a gone to it; and if you'd a done it they'd a learnt you there that people that acts as I'd been acting about that nigger goes to everlasting fire.“ In this he is saying that he knows what he did was wrong, but in a way he felt what he did was right. Huck helped a slave escape. He knows what he did was wrong so he decides to pray…but he doesn’t realize that the “praying” part doesn’t just come when you kneel down; especially when your praying about a lie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnt_7mFrYYk Mark Twain makes Christian prayer and prayer in general seem like all your doing is kneeling and when you go into a prayer it will automatically come to you. He is using some mockery here when Huck basically tries to pray about a lie or a situation that he knows he did wrong in. I love this video called “What is prayer?” off of YouTube. It is definitely a good video to watch when trying to understand about praying.

In Chapter 20, the king fools the crowds at the camp meeting by saying he is some sort of pirate and that is a born-again Christian just after listening to one preacher. The crowd before him raises a collection so that he can go back to the Indian Ocean to try “to turn the pirates into the true path.” Twain makes fun of Christians here because Christians are too naïve and trusting. He says that basically they are too quick to help others in need without even knowing the whole story. I chose to put a photo of a child taking baptism because, in this short part of mockery in the novel all through it I was thinking about baptism. The “king” says that he is basically one with the church just by probably hearing the preacher talk. This is not the case and in most churches, to become “one with the church” you prepare for a ceremony called Baptism.

Conclusion Religion is mocked in this novel to show the point of view Mark Twain has on religion to show how hypocritical society really is. Mark twain uses huck’s personality and ways of thinking to show his personal point of view. Through religion we are able to see another side of huck. We also see how twain finds humor in his own religion. The novel helps other readers to lighten up and take in laughter. Through denying religious teachings, we see huck doing the most “christ” like things.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ApwpjhiCAAElKV-.jpg:large Works Cited 11/12/14 Photographs used in presentation https://malaka383.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/sc.jpg http://worshiphousemedia.s3.amazonaws.com/images/main/s/mm/bbm/mm/thelordsprayer.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ApwpjhiCAAElKV-.jpg:large http://www.srbcsmyrna.org/hp_wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/praying.jpg http://stirenaeus.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/baptism-for-web.jpg Twain, Mark, and Donald McKay. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Charles L. Webster &, 1984. Print. Username,maallsi. “The Lord's Prayer (Our Father) - Traditional Version.” Youtube. Youtube, 25 dec. 2009. web. 12 nov. 2014. Username, Fortyoneten. “What is prayer?” youtube. Youtube, 22 may 2014. web. 12 nov. 2014