Archetypes In Huckleberry Finn

Jim struggles with major racial difficulties during this time period and Huck learns from his father that blacks are inferior to whites. He makes many comments and attempts to compare his son Huck to Jim who is seen to be “stupid” because of the lesser knowledge that Jim has than that of Pap. Although when Pap pretends to die and Huck seizes his chance to plot and escape, Jim accompanies Huck on his journey down the Mississippi river to find a new home. So far in the novel Jim has shown his loyalty to Huck and Huck begins to question both of their positions in society. Huck sees that it racial inequality because there is nothing wrong with Jim. He is a forced laborer barricaded by whites chaining him to the land but when Huck comes along what little does he know it is wrong to be with a black man. Huck varies from his father Pap because not only does Pap treat his son as an aggressive drunk but Pap doesn’t see the goodness that comes from Jim or even the mere similarity between these to humans let alone there skin. Well Huck sees that in Jim and that’s all that matters is that even though Huck isn’t getting an education he sees morality in this novel and discovers

He constantly found himself battling on whether to help Jim or turn him in, which would be more sociably acceptable. But as Huck befriended him, he came to realize that Jim was more like him than he previously assumed. And after witnessing Jim's emotional outburst concerning his daughter, Huck thought that Jim "cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their’n. It don’t seem natural, but I reckon it’s so" (Twain 117). But this goes against everything he would have been taught to support slavery. One of the rationales behind slavery is that black people aren't humans, but "animals"/"savages". But by Twain showing Jim as having emotions that even a white person can identify with, he displays how the conception that blacks are emotionless animals is untrue. And later on, when he once again struggles with turning in Jim, Huck's actions sheds light on how cruel slavery is and the worth of a black persons life. He came to the decision that he would even risk going to hell to set Jim free, as he stated "All right, then, Ill go to hell" (Twain 162). After experiencing how Jim treated him and how much he acted like a normal "white person" would, Huck was able to realize that Jim's life was equally as valuable as his own and that forced labor would be injustice. Additionally, Twain used Jim's actions in contrast to characters such as the king, Duke, and Pap to further prove his

In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain utilizes the archetypes of the Unwilling Hero, the Shape Shifter, and Haven vs. Wilderness to show that Huck Finn and Jim can find freedom all along the banks of the Mississippi River.  Huck portrays the unwilling hero because he puts a lot of thought into something before he does it, even though it will benefit everybody.  He is also very hesitant to perform heroic acts.  The King and Duke show the archetype of the shape shifter because they are constantly lying about their identities and deceiving everybody.  The Mississippi represents the characters “haven”, and Huck and Jim’s home represents the “wilderness”.

Having been born in a predominantly southern value based environment, Huck Finn grows up accepting the idea of slavery being a vital and ordinary establishment. It was how the southern culture worked and it took a whole war to change that mindset. Huck was torn between the cultural influences that he was raised on and his inner personal morals. Even with the southern culture he found his conscience telling him otherwise. Miss Watson and the Widow try to give Huck a proper education, and teach him manners of a civilized person. When all of the drama and influence drive Huck to confusion he decides running away before his father beats him to death is how to conquer the situation. These events cause Huck to only trust his personal judgement which affects the decisions he makes throughout the rest of the book. Somehow Huck looks past the threats of aiding a runaway slave and decides to help and even become friends with him. Helping Jim is a much larger deal than the author, Mark Twain, makes it out to be. It was not only against the law but also against southerners morals to help a

A timeless classic about the adventure of a young boy floating down the Mississippi River, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a satire on established attitudes and values, particularly racism. Set at an easy reading level, this novel tells the epic adventure every young boy wishes he had. Not just Huck Finn’s coming of age story, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is much more than what meets the eye. Peeled back layer by layer, it reveals messages that many overlook while reading. In particular, the significance of the run away slave, Jim, is undermined by many who read it. Jim has become one of the most controversial characters in American literature. Although, he is depicted as simple and trusting, maybe too trusting, Jim’s qualities

One component of these chapters that I felt was extremely prevalent was the character development of Huck. There were multiple instances when Huck had to make certain decisions that would effect him in the long run, and with most of those decisions came a moral struggle. It seemed as if within these chapters, Huck is trying to find out who he truly is as a person. One example of these moments is in chapter 16 when he is having an internal battle, trying to convince himself that helping Jim gain his freedom is in fact the right thing to do. The quote reads, “I couldn't get that out of my conscience, no how nor no way. It got to troubling me so I couldn't rest; I couldn't stay still in one place…I tried to make out to myself that I warn't to blame, because I didn't run Jim off from his rightful owner” (Pg. 87). In the quote stated above you can clearly see the internal struggle that Huck goes through, trying to find himself along the way. He looks at the situation with 2 different perspectives, one of them being that taking Jim to gain his freedom is immoral and the wrong thing to do, the other being taking Jim to gain his freedom is the right thing to do. Although Jim knows that either way he will feel guilty but he ends up choosing to take Jim's side because of his loyalty. Jim shows his appreciation to Huck by saying things like, "Dah you goes, de ole true Huck; de on'y white genlman dat ever kep' his promise to ole Jim”(Pg. 92), causing Huck

Twain uses Huck to make decisions based on this hypocritical slave-owning, Christian lifestyle. Huck must choose to either aid a runaway slave named Jim or return him to Miss Watson, while the white society of the South would expect Huck to return Jim to Miss Watson. Huck and Jim 's friendship makes this a significant decision because Huck is morally conflicted. Jim is his friend, but he is also the property of Miss Watson. An excerpt from Magill 's Survey of American Literature puts the situation in a right perspective exclaiming “Jim is property before he is man, and Huck is deeply troubled, surprisingly, by the thought that he is going to help Jim, not only because he sees it, in part, as a robbery, but more interestingly, because he sees his cooperation as a betrayal of his obligation to the

A difficult moral situation is presented to Huck that has no option which completely satisfies his conscience after he discovers the Phelps farm purchased Jim. Huck is afraid of the social repercussions he might face for his previous actions with Jim if he notifies Ms. Watson about Jim’s location. On the other hand, Huck has pity for Jim if he were to be detached from Huck. Huck disregards the social consequences he may face and attempts to reunite with Jim anyway. His decision goes against the way he was nurtured as a boy, showing an ability to think individually even if his opinion is unpopular. Huck’s decision to help Jim is courageous because it opposes the racially discriminatory qualities and unethical morals Huck developed as a

In the novel, individual conscience plays a big role on the lives of the characters. Throughout the novel, Jim and Huck help each other to find their true identities through their journey down the river, although they are both very different, in social class, race, and view on society and the world, they are able to form a father-son relationship in which Huck is able to mature and grow his conscience. Jim is able to mold Huck’s conscience into the way it should be, not the way society wants it should be. Mark Twain uses Huck in the novel to the reader that when it comes to friendship, race should never be an issue, and that individual conscience is far more important than society’s opinion. Jim forces Huck to take a closer look at the

Even though Huck forms a friendship with Jim, his upbringing almost pushes him to betray his new friend. Huck decides not to turn Jim in, but is left feeling “...bad and low, because [he] knowed very well [he] had done wrong” (Twain 127). Even though he knows he is betraying society, he also realizes that he would not be happy either way. Huck asks himself, “‘...s’pose you’d a done right and give Jim up; would you felt better than what you do now? No, says I, I’d feel bad-I’d feel just the same way I do now’” (127). While Huck may believe that he is not man enough to betray Jim, he is actually “child enough to follow his natural impulses” (Martin 108). Despite society teaching Huck that a slave like Jim is inherently inferior, this scene marks the moment where questioning enhances his sound heart, so that it can begin to conquer his deformed

Through the theme of rebellion against society, Huck demonstrates the importance of thinking for oneself and embodies the idea that adults are not always right. This is highlighted in his noncompliance when it comes to learning the Bible and in the decisions he makes when it comes to Jim, decisions that prove to be both illegal and dangerous. By refusing to conform to standards he does not agree with, Huck relies on his own experiences and inner conscience when it comes to making decisions. As a result, Huck is a powerful vehicle for Mark Twain’s commentary on southern society and

There are many stories of archetypal heroes and their hero’s journey throughout the history of literature. However, few of those stories tell as critical and powerful of a story as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In the narrative The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the character Huckleberry (“Huck”) Finn goes on a hero’s journey, starting with his leave from home, to his learnings of the world with his mentor, to his figuring out of what is right and wrong, and finally to his final journey before normalcy, showing the theme of how friendship transcends superficial differences in the process.

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is widely considered a classic - an embodiment of American literature. It rightfully tackles the issue of slavery through the illustration and vernacular of the young protagonist, Huck Finn and his adventures with a runaway slave, Jim. However, beneath a linear challenge towards slavery, Twain’s depiction of Huck’s changing views of Jim reveal Huck’s unique attitude and philosophy towards slavery, and in particular - his partner-in-“crime” - Jim. Although Huck never abandons societal opinions of slavery and never opposes the bondage, his exception for Jim unveils the follies of his society and flawed upbringing.

The following paper will briefly show arguments, and conclusions within the writings of Mark Twain’s story Huckleberry Finn. I will discuss the various themes that Mark Twain is bringing to light within his story. This paper will show how Mark Twain uses those themes within the story, and how they are specifically used. I will also briefly discuss the life of Samuel Clemons, the author known as Mark Twain, and give the reasoning behind choosing the name of Mark Twain when writing his novels. Themes of escapism will be discussed.

In contrast, Twain commends humanity the few times it does triumph, despite religious and social norms attempting to hinder it from doing so. On one occasion, Huck first finds Jim on Jackson’s Island and Huck promises not to turn Jim in. He keeps his promise even though “people would call me a low-down abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum” (Twain 51). Here, Huck “is the protesting battleground on which conscience, custom, and law (the Moral Sense in different aspects) clash with primal sympathy, the impulsive will to freedom, over the question of aiding or preventing Negro Jim’s flight” (Parsons). By the perfect fairy tale ending of the novel, however controversial, it is implied that this was the right decision. Consequently, even though