Humanity Never Changes Throughout Time
As a child and throughout my early teenage years, video games have always been something that interested me. However, I was never particularly good at them, so I resorted to watching other people master the games and learning about the lore as much as I could. This turned me to the youtube channel called Game Theory, which endlessly fulfilled my dream of being good at video games.
While reading Kaufman's piece on the ending of Huck Finn, I couldn't help but connect the idea of Huck using multiple masks or personalities based on his situation to the game Majora's Mask.
Throughout the game, the main character Link uses masks in order to survive encounters with the foes along his path. He uses them to adapt to the situation he has found himself in during his journey. This is the same for Huck in his journey. As Kaufman says, "he wears a mask of deceit"(70) at the beginning of the novel. During of the intro of the game, Link gets turned into a forest creature, which deceives others of who he really is. Outsiders are blinded to their true personalities, even if it is unintentional to both Link and Huck. While Link's masks are more literal and can be blatantly seen, Huck's are more subtle but also very convincing.
Another similarity between the two is the reoccurring concept of death and rebirth. It is very prominent in Majora's Mask, because the plot line is centered around Link resetting the same three days over and over until he beats the boss. Many theorists believe that it is symbolism of Link dying and being rebirthed continually. Additionally, in Huck Finn, they cycle of death and rebirth is reoccurring in the novel. Huck endures the cycle of death and rebirth in again, a figurative sense because he "dies" and becomes a new person based on the struggles he endures on his journey. He is spiritually reborn after he sheds each false identity.
Throughout life, everybody undergoes experiences that change them and who they present themselves as. In both Huck Finn and Majora's mask, the idea of hiding your true identity and the cycle of death and rebirth are prominent in the plot. Through time, people undergo the same experiences and share them with the world. As long as people keep creating and telling their stories, humanity will continue to connect with each other.
While reading Kaufman's piece on the ending of Huck Finn, I couldn't help but connect the idea of Huck using multiple masks or personalities based on his situation to the game Majora's Mask.
Throughout the game, the main character Link uses masks in order to survive encounters with the foes along his path. He uses them to adapt to the situation he has found himself in during his journey. This is the same for Huck in his journey. As Kaufman says, "he wears a mask of deceit"(70) at the beginning of the novel. During of the intro of the game, Link gets turned into a forest creature, which deceives others of who he really is. Outsiders are blinded to their true personalities, even if it is unintentional to both Link and Huck. While Link's masks are more literal and can be blatantly seen, Huck's are more subtle but also very convincing.
Another similarity between the two is the reoccurring concept of death and rebirth. It is very prominent in Majora's Mask, because the plot line is centered around Link resetting the same three days over and over until he beats the boss. Many theorists believe that it is symbolism of Link dying and being rebirthed continually. Additionally, in Huck Finn, they cycle of death and rebirth is reoccurring in the novel. Huck endures the cycle of death and rebirth in again, a figurative sense because he "dies" and becomes a new person based on the struggles he endures on his journey. He is spiritually reborn after he sheds each false identity.
Throughout life, everybody undergoes experiences that change them and who they present themselves as. In both Huck Finn and Majora's mask, the idea of hiding your true identity and the cycle of death and rebirth are prominent in the plot. Through time, people undergo the same experiences and share them with the world. As long as people keep creating and telling their stories, humanity will continue to connect with each other.
I think what you did with this is really unique. Connecting Hucks journey to a video game was really cool because it kind of connected an old school form of media with a new school form of media, showing how certain lessons last many years. I also think it’s nice that you chose to talk about the masks because I don’t think we talked about that part of Kaufman’s piece enough, an it was quite interesting what he was saying. Overall, your blog was really good! Do you think that Jim May have been aware of Huck’s masks and saw the shifts in his behaviors?
ReplyDeleteI never really connected the theme of death and rebirth in Huckleberry Finn, but now I definitely see it! I also think at the end of the novel, when Huck and Tom talk about running away again, is similar to how Majora's Mask is resetting the same three days over. Huck, by choosing to travel westward, is almost repeating his same journey again, hoping for a different outcome. Do you think this game was intentional with its similarities to Huckleberry Finn, and do you think classic literature influences modern day video games?
ReplyDeleteVideo games would have been the last thing that i would have thought to connect to Huck Finn, which is what makes this post all the better. It's great to hear someone else's perspective on a topic! I also thought it was really cool how you took something that sounds simple on the surface and related it to a complex topic like life and death. Cool response and great job :)
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