Marxism and Capitalism in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Marxism and Capitalism in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

All the characters in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” that have power are morally horrible, abuse their power, and use capitalism to exploit that power. Mark Twain uses this book to exploit problems such as racial issues, religious hypocrisy, and the enlargement of the gap between the rich and the poor which caused cultural differences. In his book, he combines the Marxist ideas and the issue of Capitalism to focus on key problems. According to Karl Marx, capitalists are able to make profits only by exploiting their workers.

The King and Duke are major examples of capitalism because as con men, they exploit people for their own gain. An example of this is when they cheated the town with a bogus performance. The first group of people wanted another group to come so that they would be tricked too so they tell their friends to go, and both groups come back a third night with things to throw and the king at the duke. The king and duke don’t show up for the third performance because they knew what was going to happen. The duke summarizes it afterwards: “Greenhorns, flatheads! I knew the first house would keep mum and let the rest of the town get roped in; and I knew they’d lay for us the third night, and consider it was their turn now”(Page.180). The Duke and King were easily able to take advantage of the people and steal their money because of capitalism. They provide their own means of production, live by the profit motive, and exist only to make money any way they can. They didn’t feel bad about it because they don’t have morals.

In another major exploitation, the both of them pretend to be the English cousins of a very rich deceased man, claiming all of his belongings, not caring about the current situation of the daughters of the deceased man or even feeling guilty about what they’re doing. Twain directly expresses his dissatisfaction with that situation by having Huck say “It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race”(Page.191). Huck is obviously disgusted with the King and Duke’s attitude towards money. He has a relaxed