American Dreams in Huckberry Finn.doc

american dreams in huckberry finn. introduction1.1 backgroud and achievements of the related research the american dream is a popular and essential subject in amerian history, culture and literature. its also a crucial research objective in the study of america. nearly every book about american cultrue or literature has mentioned the american dream. there are lots of articles which have discussed the american dream, for instance, “the basic value systems of the american dream”(wang enming, 2000); “how is adventures of huckleberry finn great”(li cao & gao qiang, 2008); “the pursuit of realm of freedom”(zhang zaizhao & huang huiqiang, 2005), and so on.however, most of these articles are about the american dream and some discuss about huckleberry finn, but few mention the comparison of american dream in huckleberry finn. as we all know, every one has his or her own american dream and ways to realize their dreams.huck and the king and the duke are representatives of the nearly opposite american dreams. thus, the author of this thesis will make a general and profound comparison between the different american dreams in this novel, trying to disclose the substance of the american dream.1.2 research methodsto begin with, the author reads the adventures of huckleberry finn and does notes taking. then, she searches online for some comments about them to mix up with hers. next, she reads some books about american society, history, spirit, and culture to find out the information about the american dream. finally, she connects these aspects about american dream with the main characters, stories and social background of the novel, so as to make an in-depth and all-around analysis of the content and spirit of the american dream.1.3 organization of the thesisthere are altogether five parts in this thesis. part one presents the background and achievements of the research made by others; introduces the research methods and the organization of the thesis.part two analyzes the definition, content, resources, history of the american dream, as well as its embodiment, status and influence in american society, culture, and american life.part three focuses on the writing backgound and the details about the author. these will help us understand the novel well.part four focuses on the different american dreams in huckleberry finn, whats more, the ways to realize their dreams are important, too.part five draws a conclusion of the whole thesis, summing up the substance of american dream and offering the suggestion: one can realize his or her american dream in some positive and correct ways.ii. introduction to the american dream 2.1 definitions of the american dreamthe so-called american dream, is a belief that one will be able to achieve the ideal of a better life through a hard struggle, that is, people have to work through their own hard work, courage, creativity and determination to move towards prosperity, rather than rely on specific social classes and other assistance (han jie, 1999). this is usually on behalf of the people in the economic success or entrepreneurial spirit. many european immigrants hold the american dream as the ideal of the united states. despite some criticism of the american dream of excessive emphasis on material wealth and happiness in the measure of victory on the role, many americans really believe that the success of such an opportunity in the world can not be found in other countries. united states has considerable economic freedom, the role of government is limited, making the u.s. a great mobilized sociaty, a person may work towards the peak through their own efforts. after the independence of the united states, large areas of land are uninhabited and was not occupied by people, so anyone can occupy, invest and reclamate the land until the end of the 19th century. by the time the industrial revolution, the united states huge natural resources and advanced industrial technology are making rapid social mobility many changes, and this trend is still increasing day by day.2.2 development of the american dreamin the europe of 18-19th century, the aristocracy has not quit the stage of history, social hierarchy, unfair distribution of wealth, religious discrimination were still prevailig . . montesquieu, descartes, the pioneer of the enlightenment, began to prise this wonderful of the united states, this also sparked the vulnerable groups american dream (li tong, 2007) . immigrants of 18th century to the united states were vulnerable groups in europe. the most typical of the vulnerable groups were puritans in england and germany and the bankruptcy of small farmers. when they came to a colony of the united states, the requirements of political equality is particularly strong which promoted democracy. then, the equal rights has become the a meaning of american dream. mailer explained, everyone can succeed(han jie, 1999), in the beginning, immigrants can obtain fertile land in the early american sparsely populated vast land. at that time the united states was primarily an self-evident agricultural economy and it was known that the land meant wealth, and success. with the discovery of gold in 18th and early 19th century in various parts of the western united states, some lucky guys flourished for nuggets and this wave of gold rush promoted the westward tide of migration, which also cast a deep golden color for the american dream. however, behind such a beautiful dream, there is a bloody history: the european immigrants large tracts of land named no mans land, was obtained by killing millions of indians; the high-yield farmland cultivators, were mostly slaves from africa; westward labors were chinese. it can be said that the early american dream was more of a dream of european immigrants (han jie, 1999). mellor pointed out that many contemporary scholars of american history are facing and reflecting on this period of history, as it is the unjust side of american dream. before and after the civil war, the united states started the industrialization. european immigrants have access to new york, chicago, detroit and other emerging industrial city. since then, the american dream acquired new meaning. during this period, there were many struggling business giant, such as the edison general electric company relying on individual invention, mining oil rockefeller, morgan engaged in banking, ford inventing the automobile production line. they are common in that they all started from humble position, but finally created its own huge business and became a legend through hard work. perhaps, these legendary more or less have landscaping elements with future generations, and even so-called edison, there are many side results (han jie, 1999). mailer thought that, when the u.s. was already in the period of rapid economic expansion. until the first world war, the u.s. has become the most powerful nation of the worlds economy, and its domestic economic operation has also been in the process from disorder to order changes. to the 21st century information age, microsofts bill gates, yahoos jerry yang and the three founders of google become the new idol of american dream. they relied on their own wisdom, and have accumulated billions of dollars on huge assets. this story seems to indicate that one as long as the wisdom and ability, can succeed in the united states.iii. brief introduction to mark twain and huckberry finn3.1 introduction to mark twainmark twain (samuel langhorne clemens, 1835-1910) was an american writer, journalist and humorist, who won worldwide audience for his stories of the youthful adventures of tom sawyer and huckleberry finn. clemens was born on november 30, 1835 in florida, missouri, of a virginian family. he was brought up in hannibal, missouri. after his fathers death in 1847, he was apprenticed to a printer and wrote for his brothers newspaper. he later worked as a licensed mississippi river-boat pilot. the civil war put an end to the steamboat traffic and clemens moved to virginia city, where he edited the territorial enterprise. on february 3, 1863, “mark twain” was born when clemens signed a humorous travel account with that pseudonym (smith henry nash, 1987) .in 1864 twain left for california, and worked in san francisco as a reporter. he visited hawaii as a correspondent for the sacramento union, publishing letters on his trip and giving lectures. he set out on a world tour, traveling in france and italy. his experiences were recorded in 1869 in the innocents abroad, which gained him wide popularity, and poked fun at both american and european prejudices and manners. the success as a writer gave twain enough financial security to marry olivia langdon in 1870. they moved next year to hartford. twain continued to lecture in the united states and england. between 1876 and 1884 he published several masterpieces, tom sawyer (1881) and the prince and the pauper (1881). life on the mississippi appeared in 1883 and huckleberry finn in 1884 (smith henry nash, 1987).in the 1890s twain lost most of his earnings in financial speculations and in the failure of his own publishing firm. to recover from the bankruptcy, he started a world lecture tour, during which one of his daughters died. twain toured new zealand, australia, india, and south africa. he wrote such books as the tragedy of puddhead wilson (1884), personal recollections of joan of arc(1885), a connecticut yankee in king arthurs court (1889) and the travel book following the equator (1897). during his long writing career, twain also produced a considerable number of essays. the death of his wife and his second daughter darkened the authors later years, which is seen in his published posthumously autobiography (1924). twain died on april 21, 1910 (smith henry nash, 1987).3.2 writing backgroundafter the civil war, the united states is in a period full of of contradictions and conflicts transition. southern serfdom society was about to collapse, and the rapid development of the northern industrial society made the united states enter a claim what mark twain described as gilded age(chang yaoxin, 2003). the evolutionary capitalism enthused the american people to have a strong desire of justice and democratic for the new era. however, the various social ills of capitalism are also accompanied by: cold-blooded hypocrisy, profiteering, fraud, intrigue, mutual deception, killing each other and so on. meanwhile, the industrial civilization broke the traditional self-sufficient economy, the the idyllic quiet life on mississippi river has been replaced by the din of the machine industry (smith n, henry, 1950). enjoy the prosperity brought by industrial civilization, people miss the past pastoral life, full of anxiety and fear for the future. it is in this environment, huckleberry finn was born.3.3 introduction to hackberry finnthe adventures of huckleberry finn was written in 1884, and became the masterpiece of mark twain. this is the one book from which, as ernest hemingway noted, “all modern american literature comes”.huckleberry finn tells a story which took place in the u.s.a. before the civil war, along the mississippi river, on both sides of which there was unpopulated wilderness and a dense forest. the main clue of this novel is how huck helped jim gain freedom. in order to escape from the abuse of an alcoholic father, huck fled to an island, and encounter escaped slave jim. the two went hand in hand, attempting to flee by the mississippi river to the northern free state. huck initially was affected by the reaction of education which teaches him should not to help runaway slaves. later in the days and nights drifting life, gradually huck was touched by the character of jims kindness and selfless, and he would rather bravely risk the danger of going to hell, but also to help jim to be free. along the way they were going through difficulties and dangers, experienced the chase of the team, abuse of the swindlers and natural disasters. after the adventurous travel, the eternal friendship was built up between the white and black. the cunning liar, the king and duke overwhelmed and controled the raft. they tought huck and jim to preach and cheat for money, or fool the villagers in order to get their money. even pretended as the deaths brother to cheat the estate from the kindhearted relatives. they did anything for money and even sold jim. in concerted efforts of huck and jim, all the hardships and dangers were resolved. in the end, huck and his close friend tom rescued jim, and they were infromed that the hostess set jim free.iv.american dreams in huckberry finn4.1 hucks amerian dream4.1.1 dream of freedom huck is a kid who naturally loves freedom. he grew up homeless and had no chance to receive family, school and church education. he liked independent life, hated life around the stagnant and hypocritical courtesy. he did not go to church to pray, not wear decent clothes, and not learn from these bumbling civilized and the gentle manners. in the beginning, kindhearted widow douglas, adopted the poor little huck, and attempted to teach him and transformed him into a civilized boy. however, huck soon tired of this decent, and felt that the days of too sulk is simply all day long, a pain. so i put on my body worn clothes and drill down to my empty sugar barrel by myself. then i feel free, and satisfied (马克吐温，2002). huck disdained the civilized societys enlightenment, and even questioned the sacred religious tenets: if a person can pray to get what he wants, then why still the loss of waynes by selling pork do not come back? why the widows galactic disk which was stollen do not come back . . so he constantly played hooky, and ran into the forest to have some fresh air. even together with the noble person, he felt itch. huck finally could not stand the stagnant life and the enlightenment of civilization, and he escapeed to seek for his ideal free life.in the end of the novel, mrs. phelps would like to adopt huck, but huck learned from the past and can not stand the shackles of civilization. he decided to flee. of course, running away can not be the final way to solve the problem, but huck made the decision to continue to fight against the civilized society, expressing his determination to pursue freedom and his dreams. hucks challenges for civil society is the reflection of the reality at that time. in the 19th century american social reality destroyed mark twains illusion of civilization. in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, american workers strike, labor movement was ruthlessly suppressed. the government sent masked gunmen to storm the miners house and kill all men in front of women. the corruption of intellectuals continued to deepen, and many famous professors got monthly remuneration from some industrial groups. these social phenomenon effected on a person so sensitive sympathetic like mark twain. he came to realize cruelty and inhumanity behind civilization. with the help of huck, mark twain dearly expressed his hate towards civilization and the will to get away from knowledge, civilization, and the longing for a return to nature.4.1.2 dream of liberty escape from the shackles of the civilized society, huck came to the mississippi river. he drifted down the mississippi river by a raft, naturally charming scenery made huck get physically freedom. however, jim, a runaway made hucks spirit world thorough change. when huck was drifting along the mississippi river, he met the escaped slaves jim. as a white children, grew in the popularity of social slavery system, huck accepted the notion that black men were born inferior than white people and the fate of the black people should be determined considerably by their white master. he was taught that the slave system was good, correct and when a white found escaped black slaves, he should inform the master. a guy helping a arrested black slaves escape would go to hell. these constituted the core of social ethics, and became his “conscience”. however, on the journey together with jim, especially in the face of difficulties, hucks honest, kind nature has touched him repeatedly and his “conscience” went into conflicts. the conflict in the novel went forward one by one and ran to the climax. these fierce struggle made huck gradually discern the bounds of good and evil, and ultimately the “healthy soul” defeated “malformed conscience. so mark twain appraise the novel: “in my book a healthy mind bumped malformed and the conscience failed ” (smith henry nash, 1987).in chapter eight, when huck and jim met each other on a desert island, huck sweared not to betray, even if “people would say that i am a lousy abolitionists, and they will down upon me because i dont prosecute”. but at the same time, his inner self blamed himself: “the poor miss watson on earth has done something on you, and you should see her slave under your nose escaping”. along, he became crag-fast on the one hand, his friendship with jim grew, on the other hand the concept of slave system society in his mind made troubles again. in the previous chapters, although huck help jim, he did not take jim as a human with dignity, and he mocked him, made fun of him. in chapter fifteen, at one time, huck unfortunately got lost on the river, jim reset his own live, loudly shouted and asked for help, finally tired of despair, and fell asleep. but huck made fun of jim. this bewildered jim and made him think himself lose head. then he immediately realized and blamed huck seriously. he said: “when i wake up, and found you back, then my tears shed, my heart was grateful. i cant wait to kneel down to kiss your feet. but you are trying to fool me .” at this point, huck recognized that black peop