Gothic in Huck Finn - Ch 6

Throughout life, there are many scary and horror-filled things that can happen. Every day, you see new and frightening things that have happened in the news. You think that none of that could ever happen to you, that these moments are meant for other people, not yourself. The truth, though, is that almost everyone will have something terrifying happen to them throughout their life, and those who don’t, have not truly lived. These moments are the gothic parts of our life.

An example of a gothic moment in someone’s life through story would be chapter 6 in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” (Mark Twain).

From what appears in the brief excerpt in chapter 6, it is easy to see that this chapter’s main ideas had a gothic theme to them. The first indicator that readers would see is the frantic and jarred mood that the character shows in a setting that is clearly not the happiest of places, such as the passage stating, “They’re coming after me; but I won’t go.

Oh, they’re here! Don’t touch me – don’t! hands off-they’re cold; let go. Oh, let a poor devil alone!”(Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain)

As the reader can see, the character is frightened by most everything in the location that he is in. This is one of the main themes of the gothic literary era; dark and distant settings. While a dark setting is one part of gothic’s characteristics, another very large characteristic seen in gothic style writings is a dark environment or mood in that setting.

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This is seen when the passage states, “By and by he rolled out and jumped up on his feet looking wild, and he see me and went for me. He chased me round and round the place with a clasp-knife, calling me the Angel of Death, and saying he would kill me, and then I couldn’t come for him no more. I begged, and told him I was only Huck; but he laughed such a screechy laugh, and roared and cussed, and kept on chasing me” (Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain).

From this selection, you can clearly see that Huck was in a state of fear from his surrounding, and there were even biblical allusions to death, further signifying the fearsome mood that was apparent in this passage.

So while the whole book might not be gothic, is it apparent from the passage shown that there are some major characteristics that appear in it. From dark settings to fearsome moods, it can be easily seen how these features appear throughout the story. These fearsome moments can put into perspective how important those wonderful moments in our life are. Be sure to remember these words of advice next time you find yourself in a gothic moment of your life.