Journal#6 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

In the story The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck Finn uses dialect that would, in other books of the sort, at the time, have been unacceptable. This dialect lets the reader feel more at ease towards the main character, allows the reader to accept the message of the book with more ease, and allows the reader to delve into the book with a deeper understanding of the plot and the main character (and the characters world).

When the reader feels more at ease with the main character, the reader is able to sympathize with the main character and enjoy the book even more. Utilizing town dialect during the course of the story helps this sympathy to take place. The reader also gets to know the character in a way that, with a third person, formally written novel, the reader wouldnít be close to knowing. For example, Huck uses the town dialect, and paints a picture of how laid-back and serene life was back in Huckís time. Huck, also by using the dialect and tone of first person shows how Huck, while not that ìschool-brightî, is very ìstreet-smartî and clever for a boy his age. The dialect illustrates how he is not that ìschool-brightî, yet prefers to use the dialect and slang that the town-folk use. Unlike Tom, his friend who is more well-spoken. The tone of the novel, first person narrative illustrates (through the way Huck presents things and handles situations) that Huck is extremely "street smart" and can handle himself in almost any sticky situation. This information would not be presented to a reader in the same novel, written sans dialect and through a third person narrative. This same information would need to be implied, or said in a sentence such as "Even though Huck was not very school bright, using his street smarts he could have handled himself in just about any sticky situation." This type of sentence would not be of much interest and most likely be too straight-forward (and insulting) for the reader.

Dialect and tone are also important in terms of the message of the book. Using Huck as an impartial, un-biased mind, Mark Twain could have characters say anything that he thought was fit, while still maintaining a non-opinionated "voice" throughout the book. Dialect is used to it's greatest power when Jim speaks. When Jim speaks, the reader has no choice but to read the words carefully or the reader would lose himself in the book. Jims words are upsetting and troubling. This, which leaves the reader no other choice but to sympathize with Jim and his plight. Jim had lost his children and wife, and he didnít know what to do. So, he put his life in a little white boys hands. The dialect that he uses shows that he isnít educated and, thus must put his life in Huckís hands.

The characters world is not only more "understandable" when Huck uses his own dialect and Jim's dialect, but by utilizing the dialect of the people around him as well. This sets the scene for things to come and the "way the town or place is". This also allows the reader to understand the main character in a greater depth, and the turmoil that she/he is going through.