GRE 38-Verbal Question 16-17

Critics of Mark Twain's novel, Huckleberry
Finn, view the protagonist's proclamation "All
right, then, I'll go to hell" in chapter 31 as the
story's climax. Twain's novel lent itself to such
radical interpretations because it was the first
major American work to depart from traditional
European novelistic structures. thus providing
critics with an unfamiliar framework. The re-
maining twelve chapters act as a counterpoint,
commenting on, if not reversing, the first part in
which a morality play receives greater confirma-
tion. Huck’s journey down the Mississippi repre-
sents a rite of passage, in which the character's
personal notions of right and wrong come into
constant conflict with his socially constructed
conscience by the various people and situations
the protagonist encounters.

The novel's cyclical structure encourages crit-
ics to see the novel's disparate parts as inter-
linked; the novel begins and ends with the boys
playing games. Granted, this need not argue to
an authorial awareness of novelistic construc-
tion; however, it does facilitate attempts to view
the novel as a unified whole. Nevertheless. any
interpretation that seeks to unite the last few
chapters with the remaining book is bound to be
tenuous. This is not because such an interpreta-
tion is unnecessarily rigid, but because Huckle-
berry Finn encompasses individual scenes of the
protagonist's self-recognition that are difficult to
accommodate in an all-encompassing interpreta-
tion. In this respect, the protagonist can best be
likened to the Greek tragic figure. Oedipus.

Question 16
The author most probably mentions the “novel’s cyclical structure” in order to

1. demonstrate that Twain was keenly aware of novelistic construction
2. show that the remaining twelve chapters have little connection to the rest of the novel
3. support the critic’s position that Twain was unaware of novelistic construction
4. provide support for a particular critical interpretation of Twain’s work
5. argue that Twain’s protagonist has much in common with Oedipus

Question 17
Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?

1. In order to understand Twain’s novel, critics must compare its protagonist to Oedipus.
2. Twain’s novel contains some chapters that resist easy inclusion into a unified interpretation.
3. The unconventional structure of Huckleberry Finn indicates a lack of authorial awareness.
4. Twain’s novel was the first major American novel to discard traditional European structures.
5. The protagonist of Huckleberry Finn is considered a modern day Oedipus by critics.

16. D According to the author, The novel’s cyclical structure encourages critics to see the novel’s disparate parts as interlinked … however, it
does facilitate attempts to view the novel as a unified whole. Thus, the cyclical structure supports a critical interpretation of the novel.
Choice (D) best summarizes this idea.
17. B In the first paragraph, the author states, The remaining twelve chapters act as a counterpoint, commenting on—if not reversing,—the
first part where a morality play receives greater confirmation. According to the second paragraph of the passage, Huckleberry Finn
encompasses individual scenes of the protagonist’s self-recognition, that resist inclusion into an all-encompassing interpretation.
Throughout the passage, the author shows that the novel has certain elements that do not fit nicely into a unified vision of the book.
Choice (B) is the best restatement of the information given in the passage.