LANGUAGE
- Through out the novel, Mark Twain tells the story in his own words.
- Sentences are direct and fluid which help to give the effect of a speaking voice which helps to create the characters and their identity. Through the use of language, the main protagonist Jim is given an identity.
- The characters relieve themselves and what they are about, the way in which they talk.
- The novel uses humour and malapropism.
- Language - Huckleberry Finn uses 7 dialects as Mark Twain wants to make the novel more realistic.
- The word 'nigger' is used out of honest and historical context.
- It was used by black people to identify someone of their African heritage.
- It was used by white people as a way of downgrading black people.
Essay
Mark Twain uses language to help illustrate the themes in his work. Using examples from Huckleberry Finn, show how the idiolects of the different characters help create meaning in the novel.
Language is used to help illustrate the themes in Huckleberry Finn such as slavery, education and racism. Mark Twain does this through the idiolects of different characters in the novel such as Huck and Jim. There is a clear distinction between the idiolect of Huck and Jim as Huck has a more comprehensible and civilised idiolect in contrast to that of Jim who has an alien and unfamiliar idiolect. This is due to the lack of rights which were granted to black people as they were downgraded and seen as inferior by white people, this being the main cause as to why black people were not educated in any way. We can infer this from the manner in which Jim speaks for example "Well one night I creeps to de do' pooty late, en de do' warn't quite shet, en I hear old missus tell de widder she gwyne to sell me down to Orleans". This clearly suggests that Jim was an uneducated slave as readers will struggle to comprehend his idiolect.
This contrasts to the idiolect of Huck who despite being from the lowest of classes amongst white people still had some form of education due to being white and this is clearly seen as readers are able to understand his idiolect as it is similar to the standard English language. For example 'so for three days and nights, no difference - just the same thing. But the next day I went exploring around down through the Island. I was boss of it; it all belonged to me so to say". Huck's idiolect represents his social status which is a major theme in the novel as an individual's idiolect at that time was an indication of their status in society. Through the idiolects of different characters, the idea of unjust is emphasised as Mark Twain attempts to expose the true nature of society at that time. This creates meaning in the novel as the idiolect helps readers to visualise the reality in regards to the treatment of black people and how they were prevented from being educated.
One commonly shared colloquial term which was used by both black and white people was the word 'nigger' which is frequently used throughout the novel. The term is significant as it was a way of addressing a black person, and was used by white people to assert their superiority over black people. This represents the theme of racism and oppression, as this is a major theme surrounding the novel. It is portrayed through the idiolect of many characters for example Huck - "the nigger was set back considerable, because he reckoned It was done with witchcraft". Here Huck uses the word 'nigger' as a way to address Jim and this was a common word which was accepted by both black and white people as seen in the novel when Jim also uses it. For example "But I noticed dey wuz a nigger trader roun' de place considable lately". The idiolect helps to create meaning in the novel as it presents the reality of the integrated society at the time and who was dominant in society, as black people were forced accept the way they were addressed by white people.