The narratives “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” both utilize themes of childhood in order to commentate on imperative social issues. Both main characters, Hushpuppy and Huckleberry, viewed the idea of people who considered themselves "civilized" as illogical or blind. In both stories, the main characters become more mature by being pushed into difficult situations. Hushpuppy struggles with the abandonment and future loss of her father, while Huck tries to escape the abuse of his father and the cruelty that he faces at the hands of society as a whole.
In the novel, Huck Finds society’s definition of civilized to be illogical. In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain satirizes the harsh reality of a flawed law system. Of course, it is civilized to have a law system, but Huck questions the logic of a law system that does not work properly. An example of this can be found closer to the beginning of the book when the new judge decides to let Pap keep custody of Huck. The Judge defends his decision to give Huck's abusive father custody by saying “Courts mustn’t interfere and separate families if they could help it”(Chapter 5, pg 23). This scenario creates a commentary on views of slavery. Slaves were viewed as property and in cases regarding slaves, there was more importance placed on the caucasian owners’ right to property than the slave’s welfare. While Mark Twain chose to focus on the personal effects of a backward society on Huck, Benh Zeitlin focused more on the environmental effects.
In the film, the people of the Bathtub teach Hushpuppy about the environmental harm that is caused by civilized society. Her firsthand experiences with the deterioration of her own environment create her view of a wasteful society that does not care about the effects of its waste. During the film, Hushpuppy says “Everybody loses the thing that made them,” in response to how she interprets the civilized societies’ constant waste of resources compared to the people in the bathtub who are incredibly resourceful. Her view of civilized society comes first from the appearance of a factory on the other side of the levy. This building disgusts the people who live in the bathtub because of the pollution it causes.
Both characters view the idea of civilized society as something that creates more issues than it solves. In the film, Beasts of The Southern Wild, the community that Hushpuppy lives in views civilized society as blind because they do not seem to care about the waste that they add to the environment. Huckleberry Finn struggles to understand the rules of civilized society, especially with topics such as religion. Adults in society would see both Huck and Hushpuppy as too young to question the definition of civilized, however, both of these characters have experiences that force them to be more mature and have more adult thoughts. One way in which the stories are similar is in regard to the main characters’ parents or lack thereof.
As a bildungsroman, or a story showing the main character mature over time, the reader has a chance to see changes in Huck's behavior. At the beginning of the novel, Huck spends more time pranking Jim than developing a relationship with him. After Huck finds Jim he is almost required to build a relationship with Jim to survive. As he becomes closer to Jim he starts to question the ethics of slavery. It becomes harder for him to see the good in turning Jim in as a runaway. Multiple times in the book, Huck decides against the moral teachings of society, choosing to instead follow his heart. Jim had in a way become Huck's caretaker and friend making the decision to betray his trust harder. An example of this can be found in chapter 31 when Huck starts to write a letter reporting Jim’s location to Miss Watson but can’t bring himself to send it because he has started to see Jim as more human than property. As he traveled with Jim, Huck learned about his wife and children. He also learns that the stereotype of African Americans not being capable of having the same feelings as Caucasian Americans to be a complete myth.
Beasts of the Southern Wild also focuses on moral education. Adults in the bathtub take every opportunity to teach children the importance of a family-like community going so far as to describe civilized society as not understanding the importance of a family unit. Throughout the film, Hushpuppy learns ethical lessons from the people in her community. Hushpuppy’s teacher, Ms. Bathsheba teaches the children that it is important to look after each other describing the community of the bathtub as a family unit. After Hushpuppy’s father’s feints she runs to her teacher for help, she also leads the other children out of the bathtub later in the film and considers it her responsibility to make sure that everyone is safe during this expedition. When the children return Hushpuppy takes on an even bigger responsibility, telling the Orachs that she must take care of her own people as a whole.
Hushpuppy is taught to do more “masculine” things because her father is afraid of leaving her defenseless in their world. Being in a lower economic class creates a need for Hushpuppy to be independent which also creates a need for her father to be harder on her. People who watch the film may see his tough-love approach as abusive, but the thought of his child being unable to take care of herself is more important to him than how people view him as a parent overall. Her father is also dealing with his own illness while taking care of his daughter and this puts pressure on him to teach her everything he can before he dies.
Huck matures after several bouts with his father that would probably be described today as examples of assault that could get a child taken away and the offending parent put in jail. he is forced to grow up faster because he is battling with mental and physical abuse from Pap. Pap comes in and out of Hucks’s life always angry and drunk. Huck becomes desensitized to harsher realities of life and this gives him a more mature perspective on social issues in society at the time. The law system fails to save him from the abuse of his father creating his distrust of society. When he is away from civilized society he has time to reflect on how backward everything was. Huck learns to read between the lines in the dialogue he encounters with other people and he starts to pay more attention to hidden evils that he may not have noticed before.
Both characters also become more mature as their stories progress. Huck starts to question the ethics of slavery. It was harder for him to view slaves as property, especially after he heard Jim talk about his family and how much he missed them. Hushpuppy becomes less dependent on the adults in the film. She also starts her transition from being a follower of her father to a leader with the other children in the film.
Resorces:
Twain, Mark, and Robert G. O'Meally. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Barnes & Noble, 2011.
Richardson, Ben, director. Beasts of the Southern Wild.
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