CHAPTERI INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study TheAdventures
of Huckleberry Finnis thegreatestwork of Mark Twain in 1884-1885.
Itappearedaround th -century,in
theUnitedStates,especiallyinthe place alongMississippiRiver (theplace,whereMark
Twain was born). This novelis written based on theauthor’s experience,and
theportrayof lifeon theMississippi frontier (Grant,1998: 131). Manynovels were
publishedat thesametimeas The Adventures of HuckleberryFinn suchas
DavidCopperfieldand Oliver TwistbyCharlesDickens; Sense and Sensibilityand
EmmabyJane Austen; Treasure Islandand Kidnappedby RobertLouis Stevenson, also
UncleTom’s CabinbyHarrietBeecherStowe.But the researcherchooses TheAdventures
of Huckleberry FinnbyMark Twainbecause, firstly,thethemeof this novelrises
manyhumanityproblemsand values.Theyare racism,slavery,hypocrites,good
people,confidence,brave man,and humanrights.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Huckleberry_Finn).
Thisnovel shows thekindness and
wisdomof a youngboy(Huck Finn), infacing andovercomingadultproblemssuch as
slaveryand differencesof socialclass (Peter B.
High, 1986:81-83).
Secondly,thisnovel also tellsaboutlove inthe familythatwill never besubstitutedbyanythingelse.It
is abouta familythatadopts Huck, andtheylovehim morethan
anything.TheyreallygiveHuckan happiness morethan theirown family.
Familyis oneof the
importantthemesin this novelbesides thethemethathave been mentionedabove. Itis sources of life.Althoughwe
often facemanyproblemsin our family,the finishingdepends on thefamilyits self.
Itis the sources of our spirit,our power insolvingeveryproblem.Huck
facesmanydifficultieswhen he triesto freeJim.
At thebeginning,his
familydisagrees withhis attitude,but later,his familysupports him tofree
Jimaftertheyknow that everyonehas therights to decidehis own life.Thirdly, fromthis
novel,the researchercanfind the meaningof friendship thathappens between theNegro
and theWhiteboy(Huckand Jim,as a slave).Becauseof theirfriendship, thereareno
moredifferencesaboutthe socialclasses andstatus. Fourthly,inthis novel, Mark
Twaindescribes how the realcharactersof people inthe placealongthe MississippiRiverclearlyare
throughthe characters(HuckFinn, Miss Watson, Widow Douglas, Huck Finn’s
father,Silas and SallyPhelps, theDuke andthe Dauphin),the plot, andthe
themes.And the last,this novelpresents manysocialproblemsand their phenomenathatreallyhappenin
theUnited States,especiallyin the th -century.
Furthermore, TheAdventures of
Huckleberry Finngivesmanymoralvalues such as thewiseattitudeof Huck
thatreallyappreciatesJim(aslave) as human,not as a “thing” thatcanbe sold, and
alsohis wisedecision tofree Jimfromslavery(PeterB.
High, 1986:81-83). Moralvalues
inthis novelgive manylessons for thereaders, theyare first,with moralvalues
peoplecanunderstand thehumanityproblemsthathappen in the society,so
thatpeoplehave a highsensitivityto learnand solveit. Second, withmoral values,peoplesolvethe
humanityproblemsinthe societywiselywiththe best ways.The last,moralvalues
makeeveryonebe calmandwise intakingan attitudeto overcomethe difficultieswithouthaving
tohurt others.
Moralvalues in TheAdventures of
Huckleberry Finnactuallycontainsof social religious,psychological,political,and
economicalvalues,but the researcherwillexplore oneof them,thatis
socialvalues,thatinvolves thehumanityproblemsin this novel specifically.Theresearcheris
interestedinhumanityproblemsbecausefirst, italways happens repeatedlyeverytimealso
everyyearwithoutcertainending.But in thisnovel, humanityproblemsthatarefaced
byJim,as a slave, canbe solved byHuck. Second, it involvesthe humanrights
thatarerare tobe paid attention,evenappreciatedbypeople.
Theyare busywith theirown
business, and even, theyoften do theshort cutwaysto reachtheirwishes. In this
novel, Jimis soldfor the sakeof importancetheWhitepeople inthe UnitedStates
atthetime.Third, itis oftenforgottenbypeople. Theydo not realize thattheirbehavioroftenhurt
someoneelse.Theyconsiderthatthe humanityproblemsare notimportanttobe
discussedlikein The Adventures of HuckleberryFinn. Inside,the Whitepeoplemakethediscriminationbetweenthemand
the Negro. TheWhitepeople holdthe power of everythinginthe UnitedStates,
wherethe Negro just becomesthe slave.Theydo notrealizethattheirbehaviorhavehurt
the Negro.
In thisnovel, throughthe
characters,Mark Twainshows the societythateveryone has thesamerightsas others.
Twain uses Jimas a slavethatlost his rights.Through the characterof Huck, Twain
shows thehumanityattitudesthatmustbe done toappreciate thehumanrights.In this
novel,Huckfrees Jimfromhis predicateas a slave,and asks himto go
awaytoanothercountry.
1.2 Statements of the Problems Therearetwo
problemsthatwillbe exploredin thisstudybasedon the social valuesin
TheAdventures of Huckleberry Finn. Thoseare: 1) Whatarethe
socialvaluespresentedin The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? 2) How are
thesocialvalues presentedin TheAdventures of Huckleberry Finn? 1.3
Objectivesofthe Study Thisstudyanswers two problemsthathave beenmentionedin
thestatementsof theproblems.Theobjectives of thestudyare: 1) tofind out
thesocialvalues presentedin TheAdventures of Huckleberry Finn? 2) tofind out
thewayhow thosesocialvalues arepresentedin The Adventures of HuckleberryFinn? 1.4
Significance ofthe Study Theresults of thestudyare supposed to be as
usefulinputs for everyone,likethe readersof the novel,and
theUniversitystudentswho areinterestedin literature.It is expectedto enrichthe
understandingaboutthe socialvaluesreflectedinthe literary works. The findingof
the studywillgiveboth theoreticalandpracticalto thearea of literature.
Theoretically,this researchgives
good understandingto theUniversitystudents of literaturetoknow theelementsof
thenovelbyreading wholecontents of novel,then tryingto identifythe elementsof
the novelone byone (plot,characters,theme,pointof view,and setting).Next,
itgives good understandingto know the valuesthatare informedinthe novel.Finally,it
givesgood understanding toknow themaincause or reason fromthe
conflictthathappens in thenovel, becauseeveryconflictsthathappen in thenovel,
of coursehas the maincause thathas tobe looked for, inorder thatthereaders of
novelcan understandand know. For example,thereis a debatein thenovelwhich makesthe
novelattractive,andin order thatthereaders of novelcan understandand know, how
to overcometheproblems.
Practically,thisresearch
givesgood inputs in theformof theaccuracysteps in analyzingand collectingthedata
thatarerelatedtothe novelwhichis analyzed.Next,it givesgood inputs to
thestudents of literaturein analyzingthe valuesin thenovel. And thelast,
itgives good inputsin analyzingtheevens or phenomenathathappens sociologicallyandpsychologically.
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