CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter
provides a discussion
of the background
of the study, problems of the study, objective of the study,
scope and limitation, significance of the
study, and research method.
1.1 Background of the Study Slavery, discrimination, racism,
and prejudice are
admittedly parts of American history.
Those have lasted
for centuries and
helped creating an unbalanced society.
American Black people
are considered as the most suffered group due
to their long history. Rebekah
and Gertudo (1966:
124) inform most Negroes were
forced by social, economic, and political injustice to live in poverty and segregation. In
addition, their worst experience under slavery
has put them away from having justice and prosperity that have been dreamed
before. This condition
has finally placed
the black people
as the most oppressed class among other minorities.
Inspired by
American forefather’s thoughts
documented in the Declaration
of Independence, it is
clearly stated that
all men are
created equal. Black
people desperately fight
against their equality.
There are both physical and
moral actions that
are run by
the Blacks at gaining the
equal opportunity which
is said as the fundamental
value of all
American life.
While some illiterate give a direct physical
response to protest, those who are literate
often use their skill in writing.
One among several famous writes
is Mark Twain. He makes literature as his written
protest. Rees (1973: 2)
states that literature is
writing which expresses
writer’s thought, feeling, and
attitudes toward life.
Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures
of Huckleberry Finnportrays the slavery. The theme of slavery
is perhaps the
most well known
aspect of this
novel. Since it
first publication, Twain’s
perspective on slavery
and ideas surrounding
racism have been
hotly debated. In
his personal and
public life, Twain
was vehemently anti-slavery.
Considering this information, it easy to see that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn provides an
allegory to explain how and why slavery
is wrong.
Slavery is introduced in this
novel through Tom and Huck's interactions with Miss Watson's slave, Jim. In The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
portrays how Southern society accepts, unquestioningly the principle of slavery. Through the character of Huck and
his internal debates, we see the conflict
between what is morally right and what is legally enforced, and it is through the eyes of Huck that Mark Twain
presents the issue of slavery. At the
beginning of the novel we see Huck oppressed by the Widow Douglas's expectations
into conforming, and
in some ways
one might consider
that Huck himself is a slave; to
the ideals of society. We learn in the first chapter that Huck is lonely and seeks a less
restrictive life through means of escape.
He said: “she took me for her son and allowed she
would civilize me; but it was rough living
in the house
all the time,
considering how dismal
regular and decent the widow was
in all her ways; and so when I couldn't stand it no longer, I lit out. I got into my old rags,
and my sugar-hogshead again, and was
free and satisfied” (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,49) It is
also within this
first chapter, that
we are introduced
to slaves as characters in
the novel. Huck's
description of Miss Watson's
big nigger, named Jim “may
imply a racist
attitude towards Jim,
however soon after
he counteracts this
by his obvious
awe and one
might argue; respect
for Jim; ..he was more looked up
to than any nigger in that country” (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,53) This
obvious contradiction also sets a pattern for the rest of the novel, as we see the inner struggle Huck faces in order
to either conform to society's expectations and
treat black people
in the socially
accepted manner, or to follow
his heart and
treat all people
the same; according
to how well
they earn his respect.
Huck and
Jim, as unlikely
a pair as
they might seem,
form a bond through
the course of the novel that supersedes friendship, one might go so far
as to say
their relationship is
almost that of
father and son,
which may have been the intention
of the forward thinking Twain. For a black slave to be the
father of a
white son is
of course at
this time impossible
by society's standards,
however by presenting
the reader with
such impossibility, Mark Twain
at the same time shows how impossibilities can be overcome. And so it
gradually becomes clear
that the two
characters leave the
constraints of society behind them and create their own world
on the water- it is within this world
that the influence of societal values are suppressed in favor of a more logical, practical system of values.
Twain uses
Jim, a main
character and a
slave, to demonstrate
the humanity of
slaves. Jim expresses
the complicated human
emotions and struggles with
the path of his life.
To prevent being sold
and forced to separate
from his family, Jim runs away from his owner, Miss Watson, and works
towards obtaining freedom so
he can buy
his family's freedom.
All along their journey
downriver, Jim cares for and protects of Huck, not as a servant, but as a friend. Thus, Twain's
encourages the reader to feel sympathy and empathy
for Jim and
outrage at the
society that has
enslaved him and threatened
his life.
“Each person had their own nigger to wait on them-Buck too. My nigger had
a monstrous easy
time, because I
warn't used to
having anybody do anything for
me, but Buck's
was on the
jump most of
the time.” (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn109) Most people
in Huck's place would have loved having a personal servant, but Huck is uncomfortable, and refuses to take
advantage of the man assigned to him.
Although he does adhere to aspects of racism ingrained in him due to his upbringing, he has more respect for blacks
than most Southerners of the time.
Based on
explanation above, the
researcher will use
the sociological approach
to analyze the
slavery in Mark
Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The purpose of sociological
approach in literary work is to know how
community exists, how they survive, and what the society life is.
Damono (1979: 7) states that by
learning its social intuition and all economic, religion, and social problem, we get description
about the way human beings adjust
themselves toward their surrounding, and the process of cultivation of the society.
Actually relationship
between literature and
society is classified
into three kinds of problems as
it is described by Rene Wellek and Austin Warren (1977: 95) namely: The social background of
the writer, and the profession and institution
of literature. The
problem of the
social content, the implications
and social purpose of the work literature themselves.
Lourenson and
Swingewood in (Endraswara,
2004: 79) stated
that principally there are three
perspectives related to literary sociology: The first is the research in which a literary work is
viewed as a social document which forms
a reflection of situation at the time when it was created. The second is the research explore that a literary work as
social mirror of the author. And the third,
the research that
explore a literary
work as historical
event manifestation of social
culture condition.
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