Mark Twain and the Brazen Serpent: How Biblical Burlesque and Religious Satire Unify Huckleberry Finn

by Doug Aldridge

Overview

Focusing on the overarching theme of religious satire in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, this study reveals the novel's hidden motive, moral and plot. The author considers generations of criticism spanning the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, along with new textual evidence showing how Twain's richly evocative style dissects Huck's conscience to propose humane amorality as a corrective to moral absolutes. Jim and Huck emerge as archetypal twins--biracial brothers who prefigure America's color-blind ideals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476668451
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	03/13/2017
Pages:	308
Sales rank:	932,643
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Doug Aldridge is a freelance writer and independent Mark Twain scholar who lives in Tennessee’s Blue Ridge Mountains. He welcomes comments and questions at MarkTwainandtheBrazenSerpent.com.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
One. Perspectives on Point of View: A Tale with Three Tellers
Two. Precedents for Viewing Huck Finn as Biblical Burlesque and Religious Satire
Three. Catching the Brazen Serpent in Clemens’ Net of Allusion: Huckleberry Finn, Paradise Lost, and the Bible
Four. To Vilify “the Ways of God to Men”: Huck Finn, Pilgrim’s Progress, The Inferno and Paradise Lost
Five. “Dark, ­Deep-Laid Plans”: The Evasion as Religious Satire
Six. Author-Real Intention: Huckleberry Finn as Religious Satire
Seven. Dancing with the Devil
Afterword: “Sam Clemens Arrives at the Pearly Gates: A Dialog between the Author and the Doorman”
Appendix A: The First Person Huckleberry Finn Chapter Titles
Appendix B: Pap Confronts Huck in Chapter V and Genesis 3: 9–24
Appendix C: Samuel Clemens’ Burlesque of Milton’s Hell
Appendix D: Awakening in Paradise
Appendix E: The Duke and the King Introduce Themselves
Appendix F: Huck’s “Great Debate” and Satan’s
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index