The land of the Mississippi is well known for it's rich heritage and unique dialect. Mark Twain had a good understanding of this, and lifetime of experience with it. He knew a person's history could roughly be predicted by the manner of their speaking. Such as rich, well bred, educated citizens often had a voice containing a large vocabulary, finely pronounced words, and produced easily understood sentences. This gave them the essence of ellegence and class, and as Twain put it, "He was well born, and that's worth as much in a man as it is in a horse." On the other end of citezenship was the un-schooled, un-privilaged, and poor slaves and servents. Their upbringing was focused less on impressing people with their intelligense, and more on survival, tolerance, and hard work. Their speech was hardly understandable. It consisted of broken words and poorly constructed sentances, "Git up! What you "bout." They mostly conversed only with their fellow workers and children, and were not needing a formal education. Somewhere between these two stereotypes belongs the character Huckleberry Finn. He was raised by his abusive alcoholic father, learning the ways of solitude in nature and survival on the river. Later in his childhood though, he was taken in by a caring, upper class woman who nurtures him like the mother he never had, teaching him the ways of the bible and school. She also added to his kind personality. Huck is raised with both sides of lifestyles; half rich, half poor. This gives him the unique personality he has, being unconforming yet very caring. Twain's knowledge of these not only makes his books more interesting, but accurate in the presentation of American cultures.
