Hist. 221 TR 3:30-4:45 p.m.
3/18/2014Everybody has a dream, or an unwilling desire that they want to possess in their life. Whether it is physically having wealth or money, or having a family and a successful business, it can ultimately bring happiness into our lives. I believe that being happy with yourself and with those around you can succumb to living a life full of passion and prosperity. Ultimately, My American dream is to be happy, because I know that happiness is the basic component to motivate myself to live a better life. In relation to the movie “Adventures of Huck Finn,” it is plain to point out what the main characters consider to be their version of the American dream. To living in a society free of discrimination, the pursuit of wealth by means of hard work and determination, and wanting to move to the West for a better life, this movie correctly depicts what most people wanted after the Civil War.
Throughout the movie it appears that Negroes were treated as objects, like they were not human, and they were of little importance to the white man’s cause. But it is apparent to see how Huck Finn looks pass the social stigma of what society discriminates, and sees Jim as a person with feelings and a humble personality. This was a rare encounter for people and Congress to think that way after the Civil War because, as the “West expanded, so did the discussion of slavery” (Skilton). In addition to, “since the formation of the Constitution, Congress had tried to avoid the issue of slavery altogether” (Skilton). I believe this directly links to discriminating of color, because if people back then were to have seen African Americans as Huck had seen Jim, slavery would have ended a lot sooner. Towards the end of the movie it seemed that Jim and Huck had grown to be more like brothers, ones who sacrifice their own needs to provide for one another. Huck’s realization that Jim is more than just a “black man” gives the viewer hope that one day discrimination will cease to exist.
One of the aspects of the American Dream is the pursuit of wealth by means of hard work. In the movie, the King and the Duke tried to achieve this portion of the dream by alternative means. “They would put their lives on the line just to come up with a cleaver scheme in which they could con people out of their money” (Sommers, 1993). “They created an entire fake act about them being the Dauphin, Louis XVI's lost son in order to go along with Tom and Jim. The two later even went to the extent to put on Shakespearean shows and print out fake "handbills" (Sommers, 1993). Rather than actually doing anything useful for society, the two scam-artists tried to take the easy way out of life, but were eventually caught and punished severely. In retrospect, the Duke and King were just trying to