When people think of the American Dream, they think of individuals who rise from the bottom to the top of society through hard work and determination. In this way they could possess the materialistic things they had always wanted, live a joyful life, and provide for their families. We also think of a society free from prejudice and discrimination, where everyone is considered equal. However, when Mark Twain wrote his book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he intended to reveal the darker side of humanity and how things really happened after the Civil War. One aspect of the American dream is the pursuit of wealth through hard work and determination. In his book, the King and Duke attempted to realize this part of the dream through alternative means. They would put their lives at risk just to come up with a cleaver plan where they could scam people out of their money. They created an entire discourse about them being the Dauphin, the lost son of Louis XVI, to get along with Tom and Jim. The two then even went as far as staging Shakespearean shows and printing fake "flyers". Instead of actually doing something useful for society, the two scam artists tried to take the easy way out of life, but were eventually caught and punished severely. All in all, the Duke and King were trying to achieve their own little version of the American dream. Another aspect ...