Benjamin Tullis, Utah Valley University
Humanities
Wayne Both has defined rhetoric as “the whole range of arts not only of persuasion but also of producing or reducing misunderstanding” (10). In The Rhetoric of Fiction, Wayne Booth also writes about four general rules that an author can use to enhance his or her writing and persuade readers. This rhetorical approach to fiction is not common. In addition, literary texts can be analyzed from a rhetorical perspective and many classical texts can be seen in a new way. My research uses Booth’s four general rules to dissect The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This book has been read and analyzed by millions of people since it was first published in 1884. My work finds a new correlation between Booth and Mark Twain. For example, Booth’s first general rule is that “…novels must be realistic” (23). Twain used his life experiences to create a world that, though it is imaginary, still rings true to the reader. Booth also states that, “all authors must be objective” (67), and “true art ignores the audience” (89). Twain was successful in following both of these rules because although he personally believed that that racism was wrong, he knew that other people, especially during his lifetime, did not share this same view. He used rhetoric indirectly in the story so that the reader can make up his or her own mind. Booth’s fourth rule states that authors should use “emotions, beliefs, and the reader’s objectivity” (119). Twain manipulates the emotions of his readers through the characters he created and the scenes he described. By carefully analyzing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in this new way using Booth’s four general rules, the modern reader will find a powerful rhetorically persuasive function in this classic text that many view primarily as children’s entertainment.