Alli DiNatale
Throughout the book Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Twain makes several
references towards the intelligence of the South. These references lead the reader to
believe that people from southern states are not as well educated as people from the
north, and can be extremely gullible. Two characters in Huckleberry Finn, the duke and
the dauphin, help to get these points across to Twain’s audience. Mark Twain
demonstrates the corruptness and gullibility of southerners with the scamming and evil
personalities of the Duke and the Dauphin.
The Duke and the Dauphin are two con men that make their living by traveling
around to different towns in the South. The men are very smart for southerners and know
the men and women that live in the South very well. Because of this they are able to
manipulate and predict their actions. One of the first actions of the Duke and the Dauphin
is to hold a play that cons the people in Arkansas out of their money. The two men
decided to put on a tragedy that they advertised throughout the town. On the flyers it said
that men only were permitted, and that they knew this would be the way to attract all of
the males from the town (177). The men put on a show that consisted of one guy naked
and prancing around the stage painted rainbow. The crowd thought this was hilarious
until they learned that this was the only thing that the show consisted of. Instead of
alerting the rest of the town to tell them not to see the play, they talked up the show so
that all of the other people in the town would get conned too. “We are sold –mighty
badly sold. But we don't want to be the laughing-stock of this whole town, I reckon, and
never hear the last of this thing as long as we live. No. What we what is to go out of here
quiet, and talk this show up, and sell the rest of the town! Then we'll all be in the same
boat. Ain't that sensible” (179). These men thought that they were being smart by letting
all of the other people get conned by the play as well, but really all they were doing was
letting the two con artists make more money. The thought process of the southern men
was that they would all come back on the third night and get back at the con men, but
they were outsmarted when they never appeared on stage and made a run for it. The con
men are able to predict this thought process very easily, which is evidence to support that
southern people are easy to predict and read.
Huckleberry Finn was not the brightest boy, because he had never been educated
before living with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. Huck’s father did not believe in
education. The Duke and Dauphin were able to fool the deep South into thinking that
they were actually actors, kings, dukes, and other assorted people, but they were not able
to fool Huckleberry Finn. After meeting the two con men the first night they spent with
Huck on the raft, Huck said, “It didn’t take me long to make up my mind that these liars
warn’t no kings nor dukes, at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds. But I never said
nothing, never let on; kept it to myself; it’s the best way’ then you don’t have no quarrels,
and don’t get into no trouble (147).” Huck knew immediately that the two men were
lying about who they were.
The con men are almost able to pull off another large scale con when they pretend
to be the brothers of a dead man who will soon be inheriting money. Peter Wilks’s three
daughters fully believe that the Duke and the Dauphin are their uncles, even when they
are warned that they could be imposters from the town doctor. Doctor Robinson suspects
from the beginning that he is not the real Harvey Wilks when he says, “You talk like an
Englishman –don’t you? It’s the worse imitation I ever heard. You Peter Wilks’s brother.
You’re a fraud, that’s what you are! (199)” The two men are able to pull off being the
brother to a man that they have never met before in their lives, and can even fool the
people that are supposed to know who Peter Wilks’s brothers are. Doctor Robinson is the
only one who questions the Duke and the Dauphin until the real brothers show up.
Another thing that showed how corrupt the South was was when they decided it
would be amusing to tie pans to dogs’ tails and watch them run to try to get away from it.
The men thought it was enjoyable to literally watch a dog run itself to death. “There
couldn't anything wake them up all over, and make them happy all over, like a dog- fight
–unless it might be putting turpentine on a stray dog and setting fire to him, or trying a
tin pan to his tail and seeing him run himself to death (165).” The southern men found
this cruel act entertaining and didn’t even feel the slightest bit bad for the dogs they were
torturing.
In conclusion, the Duke and the Dauphin are con men that are able to benefit
greatly from the stupidity of the South. Mark Twain is able to use these characters and
their simple plans to reveal how easily predicted and gullible the southern people are. The
con men are two southerners that come up with elaborate lies to make money and scam
people. Twain was able to express how naïve the South was with the several large scams
the Duke and the Dauphin created, and by the descriptions of the southern townspeople.