In The Problem of the Ending, Leo Marx asserts that Mr. Eliot?s and Mr. Trilling?s positive commentary of Mark Twain?s Huckleberry?s Finn?s conclusion and Huckleberry Finn?s conclusion itself is flawed. Marx supports his argument by discussing the ?flimsy devices of plot, the discordant farcical tone, and the disintegration of the major characters [betraying] the ending? and the portrayal of ?defeat in the guise of victory? in regards to the ?return, in the end, to the mood of the beginning [of the book]. Marx explains how ? the last fifts of the novel has the effect of diminishing the importance and uniqueness of Huck?s victory? in order to highlight Eliot and Trilling?s ?disservice to criticism?. Marx formally and didactically addresses his audience of literary persons.