Huckleberry Finn as a crossroads of myths

The aim of the paper is to discuss once more the controversial ending of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective afforded by comparative literature and myth criticism. Huck Finn has been related to the myth of the American Adam, but also to the picaresque hero and to the quixotic figure. The paper cla...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Pardo García, Pedro Javier
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2001
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:2293
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/2293
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Mark Twain
Picaresque
Quixotic
Descripción
Sumario:The aim of the paper is to discuss once more the controversial ending of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective afforded by comparative literature and myth criticism. Huck Finn has been related to the myth of the American Adam, but also to the picaresque hero and to the quixotic figure. The paper claims that the myth of the American Adam as formulated in Huckleberry Finn results from a creative and ironic crossing of the picaresque and quixotic myths. Huck's Adamic nature is defined by a blending of both picaresque and quixotic qualities and in relation to pícaros and Quixotes presented by Twain in the novel. The ending plays a very important part in establishing Huck's compound mythic identity.