Diction In Huckleberry Finn

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Consider the diction in Huck’s description of the first two pictures. How do we know that Huck is not fully aware of the connotations of the language of his description? What are the comparisons that he makes in his descriptions? How are they inappropriate for the tone of the pictures? What are the clichés? This paragraph offers deeper insight into how naive Huck is and it reminds the readers about his young age, because it can easily be forgotten that he is just a young boy when he is so independent. As Huck looks at all of the pictures in the Grangerford’s house, he does not understand why the family keeps them hung. They were all painted by Emmeline, the deceased daughter of Col. Grangerford, and the pictures, all of which were composed shortly before her death, are about death, funerals, and suicide. In the first few sentences of the paragraph, it appears Huck is too naive to understand how the dark and deep feelings expressed in the paintings, making the situation ironic when he uses …show more content…
The “bulges like a cabbage,”(106) comparison also shows how naive Huck is because using vegetables, which are very simple items, is the best metaphor he could create in order to communicate his message. It is also ironic because most children learn as they grow not to play with or joke about their food, yet he is doing so, showing his young age. He also uses warm words to describe the dark pictures, demonstrated when he says, “these were all nice pictures, I reckon,”(106) demonstrating that he does not understand the depth and sadness of each painting. By calling them, “nice,”(106) he is missing the point Emmeline was trying to make about the heartache of death, and he is being subconsciously disrespectful by calling them, “nice.”(106) Both the paintings, as well as Huck’s reaction to the paintings, help communicate Twain’s point of Huck’s inability to

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