Watch this video to learn how Mark Twain uses dialogue to make his characters come alive.
Real Talk
Narrator:
The key to writing believable dialogue is to get to know your characters. Once you understand where they’re from, what their personality is like, and what motivates them, you can begin to imagine what they would really say in a situation.
Mark Twain is famous for his ability to write realistic dialogue for his characters. His book. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was the first major American novel that showed characters talking in their own unique way depending on where they’re from. This use of different dialects makes Twain’s characters seem more like real people, as you can see in this conversation where Huck discovers that his friend Jim has run away from a life of slavery.
Huck:
"How do you come to be here, Jim, and how'd you get here?"
He looked pretty uneasy, and didn't say nothing for a minute. Then he says:
Jim:
"Maybe I better not tell."
Huck:
"Why, Jim?"
Jim:
"Well, dey's reasons. But you wouldn' tell on me ef I 'uz to tell you, would you, Huck?"
Huck:
"Blamed if I would, Jim."
Jim:
"Well, I b'lieve you, Huck. I—I run off."
Huck:
"Jim!"
Jim:
"But mind, you said you wouldn' tell—you know you said you wouldn' tell, Huck."
Huck”
"Well, I did. I said I wouldn't, and I'll stick to it. Honest injun, I will. People would call me a low-down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum—but that don't make no difference.”
