All American Yarn

Having finished Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I can say it is undoubtedly Mark Twain's best novel. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was one of my very favorite books growing up, for good reason, and it is a better book for children. However, it lacks the vivacity and breadth of its sequel and is a less mature book on the whole. In fact, Huckleberry Finn's most disappointing moments involve the re-emergence of Tom Sawyer as a major character near the end.

I couldn't help but notice that despite its famous cautionary introductory epitaph, ("Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.") the novel does weigh up to heavy moral considerations, and it is Huckleberry Finn's journey through these considerations that make the most fascinating reading. Tom Sawyer's appearance forces the submission of those considerations because Tom's personality so outweighs Huck's, changing the whole tone of the work. Further, Tom carries with him a secret that undermine Huck's entire resolution. When Huck decides to free Jim despite his cultural upbringing, it is a human victory. But when Tom reveals that Jim was already free, the objective tension evaporates. Apparently, many consider the ending of the novel the most disappointing part; reminding me of similar criticisms of The Odyssey.

In truth, I think that Huckleberry Finn could be seen as Mark Twain's The Odyssey recast as an American novel. Both are episodic travel narratives with heavy morals. Both feature a clever protagonist who relies on his ability to spin a quick lie to escape trouble. But Odysseus is trying to get somewhere, and Huck is trying to get nowhere. The whole tension of The Odyssey involves Odysseus's struggles to reach his wife. The episodes he struggles through carry both interior tension and the always pressing urgency of finishing the voyage. Meanwhile, the whole tension of Huckleberry Finn lies in the adventures he has on the way - for their own sake. The only over-riding tension in Huck Finn is Jim's quest for freedom, and he blows it up at the end! Homer's problem at the end of his epic was the Greek culture didn't have a redemptive solution to a cycle of violence. Twain's was that you can't get anywhere if you aren't going anywhere, and just maybe, that you can't be too serious in a satire.

So, I think, the question a curious reader will be left with is - why? Why does Twain avoid a plot arc? Why does he avoid the moral? Why does he require the epitaph? Is it by principle? Or is it a failure in his art, one of which perhaps he was very conscious?

If it's a principled rejection one wonders if it's a commentary on America. Maybe a country with an open frontier is a place with many futures but no destination. Or, maybe, he's purposely playing a giant joke on critical readers everywhere. Let's spin a beautiful yarn, fill it with interesting characters and wit, vivid images and a rich American backdrop, but then let's make it empty . No stuffing, just a balloon with which to bang on befuddled people's heads.

Mark Twain was a genius, no doubt, but I think he shirked his opportunity to write a great American novel. Instead, we just have a good book. I guess he only wanted us to enjoy it as such.