Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Genre

Adventure, Coming-of-Age

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn can be a tricky book to nail down. On one very shallow level, you could read it as a book of adventures. Kid on a raft, bad guys, several snake-related incidences – you’re one Samuel L. Jackson character away from a simply entertaining movie.

But there’s clearly something else going on here, which Twain lets you know right off the bat with those two little notes before the novel even begins. The declaration that the book has no motive, moral, or plot is a bit satirical, as the novel seems to have all three. This lets us know to read the novel with the thought in mind that everything is not as it seems. It may look like a kid’s book, but in fact it’s a complicated examination into racism, slavery, and the moral issues that go with them.

And speaking of morality, we can go ahead and address that third genre, "Coming-of-Age." Huck doesn’t exactly grow up over the course of his travels, but he does develop his moral compass to a significant degree, which is a big part of becoming an "adult."