Death Theme in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and I Am Vertical Essay Sample

Death is a gripping, sensitive, and engrossing subject. Personal experiences with death shape how one deals with their own life expiring, meaning that death affects everyone in different ways. In the texts “I Am Vertical” by Sylvia Plath and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the authors showcase their contradictory views of death through their characters. By using syntax and diction in “I Am Vertical”, Plath establishes her calm and tranquil tone, while Twain uses these devices in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to establish the main character, Huck Finn’s, frantic and timid view. Both authors, Plath and Twain, allude to their idea of death throughout the diction and syntax used within the text. 

Through diction choices, the authors are able to effectively convey the character’s emotions. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck blames himself after Buck and his relative die on their mission. Twain uses diction to paint a picture of Huck’s remorse over Buck’s death. While Huck is hiding in the tree at night, he stresses, “I was to blame” (Twain 118). Twain uses broken English throughout the novel to highlight the character’s southern dialect and uneducated past. This quote is also an example of one of the many places in the novel where Huck is doubting himself, and feeling guilty over his actions. “Blame” is a strong word, Blame comes from failed responsibility. Huck feels as if he has let down his responsibility and allowed Buck to die, hence his guilt. This creates a negative view of death for Huck because he is traumatized believing one man’s death is his fault. One’s own experience, especially a negative one, is enough to start a whole life believing death is frightful. Slyvia Plath’s diction in her poem “I Am Vertical” contains many literary devices, such as metaphors, and symbolism, to convey her idea of death. In “I Am Vertical” Plath connects herself to nature to point out her calm and tranquil idea of death. In the poem whilst she is comparing her death to a tree, she states, “I am not a tree with my root in the soil / Sucking up minerals and motherly love” (Plath ll. 2-3). In this quote, Plath uses metaphors to escalate her idea. Slyvia Plath using terms like “motherly love” and “minerals”, suggest a natural view on death, and an understanding that it's inevitable. These choice words also provide warmth and comfort over what can be a difficult or triggering topic/event. Both texts showcase polar opposite ideas of death. These texts couldn’t compliment the other better, with Plath's poem showing calm and accepting views of death, and Twain’s excerpt catching the uneasy view 

Both authors, Twain and Plath, use syntax to emphasize the theme of death throughout their works. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses syntax to emphasize the scar that death has brought upon Huck Finn. After Huck narrowly escapes the gang shooting at him, he goes to hide in a tree in the forest to hide safely for the night. While Huck is sitting in the tree, he begins overthinking the events that have just occurred. He states, “I stayed in the tree til it began to get dark, afraid to come down. Sometimes I heard guns away off in the woods; and twice I seen little gangs of men gallop past the log store with guns; so I reckon the trouble was still a-going on. I was mighty downhearted; so I made up my mind I wouldn’t ever go anear that house again, because I reckoned I was to blame, somehow. I judged that that piece of paper meant that Miss Sophia was to meet Harney somewheres at half past two and run off;and I judged I ought to told her father about that paper and the curious way she acted, and then maybe he would ‘a’ locked her up, and this awful mess wouldn't ever happened.” (Twain 118). Twain uses a total of four sentences in this one paragraph, while Huck is talking in the tree after the fight, this shows how much Huck was overthinking his decision. Huck is traumatized by these past events, scared at what he saw and what could happen to him, this caused him to talk quickly and begin rambling about these moments. On the other hand, in the poem “I am Vertical”, Plath uses syntax to express her calm and understanding outlook on death. Throughout the poem, the author uses short sentences and rhyme schemes to create a calming tone throughout her writing. While Plath is comparing death to feeling more accepted, and feeling as if death gives her a place amongst the trees, she states “It is more natural to me laying down. / Then the sky and I are in open conversation, / And I shall be useful when I lie down finally: / Then the trees may touch me for once, and the flowers have time for me.” (Plath ll. 17-20) Through these lines, Plath uses commas, colons, and periods, though using punctuation frequently, shows Plath is accepting of the inevitable idea of death. Using a lot of punctuation creates the idea that Plath is using a slow tone, creating a calm and nonchalant view of death. These two authors write a completely opposite view on death and how to deal with the inescapable. These two texts complement each other with their contrasting ideas of the same theme.

Briefly, Death can be dealt with in a multitude of ways, as shown two ideas on different sides of the spectrum, through Mark Twain’s, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Slyvia Plath’s “I Am Vertical”. Plath took on a symbolic and calm tone to her death, displayed through many literary devices, and short sentences. While Twain created a stressful and anxious view of death for Huck with quick speaking and very little punctuation. Given both excerpts have an underlying theme of death, each author took contrasting views and used syntax and diction to make their point.