The reality of Huckleberry FinnHuckleberry Finn is a book that contains elements of romantic and realistic fiction; even though it contains both of these elements, it is a book about realistic fiction, and that's how it was written. Mark Twain used historical facts and data to make this story realistic, he used situations that would normally have happened in the time period in which the novel is set. Huckleberry Finn's father is a vagrant and a despicable person; his actions are written based on how a man with that characteristic would behave. Two other characters in this novel also behave accordingly; the Duke and the Dauphin. A pair of crooks and impostors who are sick at heart and produce no good. A kind man, Jim, a black slave at the beginning of this novel, goes through many hardships and many people go through many hardships for him. Of these characters I just mentioned, Jim is the only caring one, while the Duke and Dauphin and Huckleberry Finn's father are evil. Huckleberry Finn has no strong feelings for his father except that of resentment. His father abandoned him when he was a child and returns to town from time to time. His father beat Huck many times usually because he was drunk. This is not unusual for someone drunk to do this if that person is a hitter. “I was always afraid of him, he tanned me so much.” (Twain, p. 25) In addition to beating Huck, his father instilled fear in Huck, which is sad, but realistic. In addition to beating Huck, he also scolded him for trying to get an education; he thought Huck was trying to become smarter than his father, and he wouldn't let it. "You're educated too, they say, you know how to read and write. You think you're better than your father, now, do... middle of paper... the head of the bend. Is your man black or white?'" Then Huck answers : "'He's white.'" (Twain, 120) While this may not seem like a great quote, it is quite an important one. It shows how Huck feels about Jim, and that a friendship between two people is very strong, and most people in that situation with a friendship like that would do the same, making it a realistic situation. Yes, Huckleberry Finn has elements of romance and elements of realism. But throughout this book the element of realism prevails, thus making it a realistic fiction novel. These examples I have provided should be just enough to demonstrate this point of realism versus romanticism. These two elements coexist, but the romance is not a strong enough element to classify the book. But to say that this book contains only elements of realism is unfair..