Huckleberry Finn novel form and style , plot and structure notes

ADVENTURE OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN BY MARK TWAIN

Q). Form and style in Huckleberry Finn?

Q). Write a brief note on the plot and structure of the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?

Analyse the plot and structure of the adventures of Huckleberry Finn?

HUCKLEBERRY FINN FORM AND STYLE / WRITING STYLE

Huckleberry Finn novel form and style

The structure of the adventures of Huckleberry Finn has caused a strange confusion both among Mark Twain's admirers and his critics like Lionel Trilling says - "The form of the book is based on the simplest of all novel forms , the so called picaresque novel or novel of road which strings it's incidents on the lie of the heroes travels . Some other critics also praised the form of the novel in the work full of meanings but critics like Frank Bablanza found faults with the structure of the novel . In Spite, of its structure the buffing quality of the plot of the novel doesn't discourage us to make an attempt to understand the rich experience organised into a cohesive pattern and unity .

HUCKLEBERRY FINN PLOT AND STRUCTURE NOTES

(1)The peculiarities of the plot

The structure of the novel has many peculiarities this can be studied as follows -

(A) The role of the river

The river plays an important role in the novel , the river has a lion's part . Trilling and Eliot are of the opinion that is the river which provides form to the novel . The river also gives unity to the novel. Huck grows from adolescence to maturity on the raft. Indeed , the river is the backbone of the novel . It also adds to realism in the novel.

(B) Typical Division

The second noteworthy peculiarity of the plot of the novel is that it is cleverly organised . The plot can be divided into three parts . The first part covers the first 16 chapters . It depicts Jim's fight from slavery and also Hucks fights from the corrupting influence of Miss Watson and his father. The Second part continues upto 33rd chapter , which depicts Huck ; entry into the green genfords , the swindling of the king and the Duke and their moral degradation. The third part of the plot starts with Tom Sawyer return to Phelp's farm and the happy ending.

(C) Episodic plot

Being a picaresque Novel, Huckleberry Finn has an episodic plot . There are many episodes in the novel . It is vast like an epic . The adventures and misadventures of the child hero , Huck are depicted. Thus , the plot is episodes or incidents are tagged to escape of Huck and Jim on the Jackson, a result,we do not get a plot structure here as we get in the novels of Thomas hardes in fact , Huck is the first person narrator and his journey is the liking factor in it .

(D) Realism

Though loose the plot of the novel is realistic we feel that such , incidence can take place around us in the society Huck and Jim are common persons , their experiences are common experience for those people who live in the sea or in the forest like areas , thus most of incidents too seem to be true , similarly the novel has autobiographical touches and so the adds to the realism in the novel like a picaresque Novel, Huckleberry Finn is realistic in its presentation. The use of dialect and satire also show the realistic nature of the plot , the novel is the story of children , slaves and the elders . Such men and women and children are such seas around us . In the same way as compared to Tom-Huck he is more real .

(E) Symbolism

The novel is full of symbols . A famous critic Laurita lane has treated the novel as an allegory . So the novel has Symbolism. The journey of Huck is symbolic. It stands for the journey of the soul of the body . According to some critics ,the half hackedness of Jim and Huck stands for their quest for the word spirit . According to T.S Eliot and Lionel Tripping, the river stands for a distinct American literature. Huck also stands for a free boy , who lives freely from the modern civilized world thus , the symbolism in the novel gives it an additional weight and appeal .

(F) Unity of characters, themes , and unity

There is a perfect unity between the theme and the characters in the novel . The characters are put at right place in the novel . The story of a child and a negro undergo adventures on the sea like big river, the Mississippi . The theme of the novel is compassion coming in the wake of cruelties practised by people in the novel . This is the major theme , the other minor themes are such as that of parenthood, the search for identity and desire for education etc . All these themes are knit together like threads in order to weaken the texture of the story

(G) Romance and fantasy

As the novel is a picaresque Novel,it contains romance and fantasy, Tom stands for the romantic plans in the story , the incidents like erecting the robbers gang and rescuing Jim from slavery and romantic. The satire in the novel also is mostly romantic .

(H) Loose and Cyclical structure

The novel has loose and Cyclical structure. It begins in the domestic matriarchal environment of St. Petersburg and ends in an exactly similar Milieu on Phelps farm in Arkansas, the random sequence turns out to be the structural principle of the whole novel being a picaresque novel , the plot is loose and Cyclical.

(I) Rhythmic structure

Rhythm forms an important principles of structure in the adventures of Huckleberry Finn , almost the entire novel is structured on the aesthetic principle repetition and variations . For instance, the reference of the blanket is repeated in the scene of Huck in his father's hut and than in the scene when Jim's escape is managed through as a whole E.M forster , in this regard remarks that it is the variation that gives a sense of surprise. The novel is full of such factors .

(J) Humour and Satire

The novel is full of humour and Satire , most of the characters in the novel are almost a caricature. The tricks of Tom as a ringmaster of the Mischievous boys are quite romantic and humour. He forms his own gang of robbers. His efforts of providing or show his murders are very humorous . He is looked as one of the rooms of the wooden house , he adjust to come out and kills a dog , sprinkle blood on the ground, puts the dog in a sack and drags in up to the river. His father and others think that he was killed by some animals or persons and his dead body is thrown into the river . Jim is too much humorous. His belief in superstitious make him a comic nigger. The style and dialect of Twain add to the humour in the novel .

Huckleberry Finn is a seating satire on all kinds of institutionalism . No part of the contemporary society is spared by the author the chief figures through when he operates his satire are Huck , Jim and Tom. It seems that the authors main target for his satire is the institution of slavery he has also attacked the white community of his times . He also satirizes the religious value , which has become just formal in those days . He has expressed sarcastic views on the government and the law system .

Conclusion
Thus ,the adventure of Huckleberry Finn has typical structure which is suitable for picaresque novel . The form of the novel is most native to Mark Twain and so best adopted to his use .