In the book Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses his creativeness to successfuly create somewhat of a character through his vivid imagery used to describe the setting of the story. The setting placed by the river is Hucks get away spot. It is where he goes to do whatever he wants with out care. This is shown when Mark Twain wrote, "We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim mow and then to keep off sleepiness. It was kind of solemn, drifting down the big, still river, laying on our backs looking up at the stars, and we didn't ever feel like talking loud, and it warn't often that we laughed-only a little kind of low chuckle. We had mighty good weather as a general thing, and nothing ever happened to us all-that night, nor the next, nor the next" (64). This shows the clear discriptions of what it was like for huck being at the river, as an escape from the real world. This is why Mark Twains clear and vivid discriptions of the setting create some what of a character within the story.

The Setting

In the book "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twan, I do not think he develops the setting as though it is a character. This is shown in the way it describes the environment such as when Mark says, "the walls of all the rooms was plastered and most had carpets on the floor, and the whole house was whitewashed on the outside"(104). This shows that he doesn't use much imagery to physically develop his setting. For the Emotional attachments to the setting Mark Twan puts few such as when tom sawyer shows them the secret cave. This may show that everyone keeps secrets just as the world does but, still doesn't develop the setting as much as his characters.

To begin this post, I think we should start by defining Character - noun - "The aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing." (Dictionary.com)

Mark Twain has a unique way of characterizing anything he includes in his novel, "Huckleberry Finn". I think some of the setting can, in fact, be thought of as a character on its own. Because of the life style and time period this story is placed in, there is a distinct personality of the time period.
That time, in which slavery was accepted, gives the arbitrary feeling that was once accustomed to the people back then. I think this observation proves setting can, and is, a character, because of the feelings and emotions that are brought to attention and acknowledged, unconsciously, while we read through the chapters. That can be referred to as "The aggregate of features. . . that form the individual nature of some person or thing", since that helps create the characters themselves.
Also, the setting allows for Huck's father to beat him. What he does, described in the book, would be considered child abuse nowadays. For example, when Huck is explaining to his father the "sivilized" reform lessons he'd been taught, from ol' Miss Watson. ". . . I'll give something better- I'll give you a cowhide"(29) and the time Huck is telling us about his first few days back with his father, ". . . But by and by pap got too handy with his hick'ry, and I couldn't stand it. I was all over welts."(32) By this happening, Huck gettin' hurt, its almost like the setting is doing it to him, because if this were set in, for example, the 1990's, somebody would find out, and Huck's father would immediately find himself in trouble with the law.

Huck-Finn

Mark Twain does an excelent job of giving the setting character and the feeling of it actually being alive. He does this in many ways like when he said "We went winding out amoungst the trees, and sometimes the vines hung so thick we had to back away and go some otherway. Well, on every old broken-down tree you could see rabits and snakes and such things" (49). This shows that the setting has character to it because of the fact that Twain went into such detail that you get a vivid image in your head that you can imagine what the wilderness is like and how it behaves to people. Another section where he shows that the setting has characterism is when Twain stated "i had worn the ground a good deal crawing out of the hole and dragging out so many things. So I fixed that as good as I could from the outside by scattering dust on the place, which covered up the smoothness and the sawdust. Then i fixed the piece of log back into its place and put two rocks under it and one against it to hold it there" (33). This shows the characterisation of the setting by giving the objects in it the sensation of being part of a living organism that can be effected and changed and be made to fool a person when it would normaly not do that.

I do think that the setting in Huck Finn could count as another character in the book. Mark Twain does a good job describing the setting to the point where it feels like your there. For explain when Huck and Jim find the dead man and all of his belongings, he explained what was all there in great detail. And when the two of them find the cave on the island, he explains what it looks like, to where it feels like your there. So I would consider the setting of the book as another character.

martens-huckfinn

I think that Mark Twain does a good job with the setting in this story. He explains where Huck is and about the scenery. When Huck was on the island Twain helped describe the places Huck hid when the whole town was looking for him. The setting can almost act as a character because of the was it's described and how it helps Huck along the way. " I laid there in the grass and the cool shade thinking about things, and feeling rested and ruther comfortable and satisfied. I could see the sun out at one or two holes, but mostly it was a big tree all about, and gloomy in there amongst them" (36). I think that how Huck explained where he was on the island made it seem as nothing could go wrong, and the tree acted as a blanket of comfort as he layed there in the shade.

Mark Twain does an exceptional job developing the setting as another character. In most books the setting is briefly described, and essentially forgot about because the author spends so much time developing the physical characters. Throughout the book, we learn things about the river as we would learn about the personality of a character.
“Well, all right. Don’t stand there palavering all day, but out with you and see if there’s a fish on the lines for breakfast. I’ll be along in a minute” (30). The setting is a provider. A provider of food, shelter, and entertainment; it is the way of life for these characters. The way of life, itself, is a character. Also, the way that Mark Twain develops this setting helps you really connect with it as you would with a character. In this particular book, the setting is developed to have behaviors as well as characteristics. “The June rise used to be always luck for me; because as soon as that rise begins here comes cordwood floating down, and pieces of log rafts—sometimes a dozen logs together; so all you have to do is to catch them and sell them to the wood yards and sawmill” (30). The June rise is a behavior of the river that Huck would enjoy and look forward to, thus showing a formed relationship between the river and Huck. This setting, also, affects the emotions of the characters. “If you think it ain’t dismal and lonesome out in a fog that way by yourself in the night, you try it once—you’ll see” (82). The river made Huck feel vulnerable, scared. So far, not many things have been able to affect Huck in such a way. For some reason he saw the river differently than before, and it definitely got to him. The development of this setting is very important because it acts as the character that all of the other characters can relate to. It gives a base for the storyline; it is, ultimately, like the character that is the “glue”.

yes, Mark Twain, created the setting so well it seems to speak whats happening in it, like the animals that act are an extension of the setting. "Some young birds come along, flying a yard or two at a time and lightning. Jim said it was a sign it was going to rain"(45). This is an example of when the setting is acting, in this case by warning Huck and Jim that rain was coming. "Then we hunted up a place close by to hide the canoe in, amongst the thick willows. We took some fish off of the lines and set them again"(48). The setting is making their stay on the island an easy one by giving them good hiding places, an abundance of food and shelter.

In Huck Finn, I think that the setting could be considered another character because he gives so much detail about everything. When they were going down the river, he gives a lot of detail about everything around. For example, he says "then here comes the ferryboat; so I shoved for the middle of the river on a long down-stream slant; and when I judged I was out of eye-reach I laid on my oars, and looked back and see her go smell around the wreck for Miss Hooker's remainders, because the captain would know her uncle Hornback would want them; and then pretty soon the ferryboat give it up and went for the shore, and I laid into my work and went a-booming down the river" (75). Mark Twain really got into detail in that talking about everything around him and saying he shoved in the middle of the river instead of just saying the river. Another example would be when he says "the lightning showed her very distinct. She was leaning over, with part of her upper deck above water, and you could see every little chimbly-guy clean and clear, and a chair by the big bell, with an old slouch hat hanging on the back of it, when the flashes come" (66). He doesn't just say that she's standing in the water, he actually goes into detail about how she looks. He also explains how you could see the guy clean and clear and when he says you could see a chair by a big bell, you can actually imagine what it looks like.

Is Mark Twain's setting a character?

I believe that Mark Twain's setting in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has the detail and importance of any character. This importance gives true nature and life to the story. Not only is it a factor to the story's plot, but it effects all the characters that are involved. An example of the characteristic sense in the story is seen on page 83. The paragraph reads "It was a monsterous big river here, with the tallest and thickest kind of timber on both banks; just a solid wall, as well as I could see by the stars. I looked away downstream, and seen a black speck on the water. I took after it; but when I got to it it warn't nothing but a couple of saw-logs made fast together". Without the visual details and context, we would find this paragraph far less intriguing. Reading multiple passages over other examples of the setting can really set an image in your head. This image can help you not only connect to the setting and story, but also connect with other characters mentioned in this book. When you really think about it, Mark Twain wrote the specifics for his benefits and for your own.

Blog Post #2: Prompt (for Group B)

Some authors are able to develop the setting of their book so well that it can be considered another character. Has Mark Twain done this in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? ACECE

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