Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay

Huckleberry Finn is also lifted into great literary status by Twain’s compelling use of symbolism. An example of this symbolism is the Mississippi River. Throughout the novel, the river symbolizes life’s journey and, eventually, Huck’s natural integrity. It represents a place of ease and safety for both Huck and Jim. There is a major difference between their life on the river and their life on the land. On the river, life for Huck is peaceful and easy yet not without its dangers, whilst life on the land is most often cruel, demanding, and deceitful. Another example is how life on the raft is a paradox because, even

The novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, has received much criticism through the years. Yet Ernest Hemingway, among other great American writers, considers this work a great American classic. This novel addresses many social issues in the South before the Civil War, causing some critics to find it racist or degrading to the African American culture. For this reason, these critics often attempt to ban Huckleberry Finn, or at least censor it, taking it out of the teaching curriculum for junior high and high school students. Analyzing Twain’s major themes—his satire of racism, the cruelty of the dehumanization of Jim—and the ignorance and inhumanity

The hypocrisy of late 1800’s American society is shown in countless ways, page after page in Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Just like Huck, Twain himself saw the flaws and ignorance in humans:

When he shows the corruption, materialism, and poor morals of society contrasted with the apparent good morals and lack of issues on the raft Twain argues that people would be better off away from society. After the traumatizing experience of witnessing the murder of Buck and his family, Huck escapes with Jim on the raft. Away from the violence they believe “ there warn’t[sic] no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery” (Twain 117). By juxtaposing this description of the raft with describing the “civilized” society Twain is able to show the ridiculous nature of society. This idea is evident because Huck would rather be on a few pieces of wood strapped together floating down a river than in society. Furthermore, Twain contrasts the materialistic nature of society with the communal economy of the raft to illustrate that man would be better in his natural state than in society at that time. When the King and Duke come onto the raft, they demonstrate the drastic materialism of society. Initially evident when the King claims to be a “changed man”, the materialistic focus of the King and Duke continues as they take advantage of people along their journey (Twain 131). From taking advantage of girls who lost family to make a few thousand dollars to scamming entire towns into paying for poor productions, the King and Duke were “just low-down humbugs and frauds.” (Twain 125) These unadorned attempts at making money are Twain’s attempts to satirize society. Through this satire he highlights the moral failings of society, especially when contrasted with the communal economy of the raft. While on the raft, Huck and Jim have all the supplies they need to survive, but as soon as the Duke and King invade their raft bringing with them the moral failings of society, their entire focus shifts to be solely about obtaining material

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain that focuses on the coming of age of a young boy in the mid 1800s in Missouri. Throughout the novel, the main character Huckleberry Finn faces many moral dilemmas through his adventure where his decisions affect the growth of his maturity and morality of his character. However, Huck Finn eventually shows that by the end of the novel that he has matured morally through his interactions and shared experiences with runaway slave Jim and reaches Stage 6 of Kohlberg’s Moral Development Theory whereas at the start of the novel he was at Stage 1. Kohlberg’s Moral Development Theory is a belief started by John Kohlberg that ranks the stage of morality that a human has based on social interactions from stages of 1 to 6. The first two stages of this theory is when a human makes moral decisions based on self-interests/conveniences, the next two stages is when decisions that are made are based off pleasing others, and the final two stages are decisions made based on what is right even if they break the social norms.

The character development of Huckleberry Finn from Mark Twain’s piece, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” reflects the transition from boyhood to manhood of the main protagonist who is challenged by society to either maintain his own unique perspective and attitude or assimilate into a civilized community that upholds traditional White-American beliefs. Similarly, Kate Chopin in her novel “The Awakening,” utilizes fictional storytelling to articulate the internal struggle of Edna Pontellier on her quest to part from her conventional role as a woman and for the first time since youth, pursue her self interests. Chopin’s work targets current social understanding of morality and ethics, removing the notion that you have to abide by what society demands from you based on predetermined unjustified reason. The development of the characters’ identity in these texts reciprocate the complex nature of living life with society pushing down on you with standards and expectations, challenging your own thoughts and visions. This a persistent topic that Chopin and Twain, both engage in explaining through storytelling to highlight current social issues, where they indirectly reference the American Civil War and Women’s Rights Movement during the mid to late eighteen hundreds. The social conflict in Huckleberry Finn examines the nature of an individual’s process to gain consciousness about their role in life, which enables them to do what they consider morally just. This thinking is also

Furthermore, the novel illustrates the unrestricted freedom the river provides through the connection with nature, independence from slavery, and the pair’s relationship. After escaping the clutches of the restrictive lifestyle of Miss Watson and the violent relationship with his father, Huck seeks refuge in the waters surrounding himself with nature, considering it as his home as he proclaims, “...there warn’t no home like the raft…Other places feel so cramped and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft” (Twain 117). As Jim escapes from civilization towards life on the raft where open friendship and freedom that the river provides overcome prejudice against racism and slavery, he grows as an individual as he declares risking his life and freedom for Huck, “my heart wuz mos’' broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn' k'yer no mo'

Life on the river for Huck and Jim is very peaceful. Jim built a snug wigwam to keep their belongings dry, they could just lay looking up at the sky, and they good weather. Huck says, “We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness” (Twain, 64). The river provided Huck and Jim many things, not only food, but also a way to escape. For Huck, the river provided him an escape from his life with his father and the Widow. For Jim, the river provided an escape from being a slave. On the river they were both free from their past lives. Mark Twain, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, shows us how nature can offer an escape from society’s restrictions and evils. Even though nature has changed immensely since this book was written, it still provides an escape from society. In today’s world, nature can be utilized as a thinking place or as a place to recover from pain. There are many more themes that we can see in today’s society. Several themes of Huck Finn are still relevant today, including “Nature offers an escape from society’s restrictions and evils,” “People tend to act cruelly or irrationally in groups,” and “Discrimination causes pain and suffering for many people”.

Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain's classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, tells the story of a teenaged misfit who finds himself floating on a raft down the Mississippi River with an escaping slave, Jim. In the course of their perilous journey, Huck and Jim meet adventure, danger, and a cast of characters who are sometimes menacing and often hilarious.

“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.” (Twain, ix) Mark Twain opens his book with a personal notice, abstract from the storyline, to discourage the reader from looking for depth in his words. This severe yet humorous personal caution is written as such almost to dissuade his readers from having any high expectations. The language in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is completely “American” beyond the need for perfect grammar. “Mark Twain’s novel, of course, is widely considered to be a definitively American literary text.” (Robert Jackson,

Mark Twain also demonstrates how undesirable civilized society really is. Both Huck and Jim desire freedom, which greatly contrasts the existing civilization along the river. They both turn to nature to escape from the unprincipled ways of civilization. Huck wants to escape from both the proper, cultured behavior of Miss Watson and Widow Douglas and the tyranny of his father. Jim, on the other hand, hopes to escape from slavery and start a new life as a free man, hopefully with his own family eventually. Throughout the novel, the raft enables Huck and Jim to escape from the barbarism of their society to a place of serenity and peace, which is always on their raft, away from any other people. Through the duration of the story, Huck learns and does many things that would be contrary to the beliefs of society such as helping Jim

In �The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn�, the Mississippi River plays several roles and holds a prominent theme throughout much of the story as a whole. Huckleberry Finn and Jim are without a doubt the happiest and most a peace when floating down the river on their raft. However, the river has a much deeper meaning than just a compilation of water. It almost goes to an extent of having its own personality and character traits. The river offers a place for the two characters, Huck and Jim, to escape from everybody and even everything in society and leaves them with a feeling of ease. In the middle section of Huckleberry Finn, the river takes on more of a concrete meaning and will be discussed more so in the paragraphs that follows.

If Huck was at home, he would be subject to his father’s abuse, but the raft creates freedom for Huck to do as he pleases while protecting him from the society he lives in. Furthermore, on the raft, Huck and Jim have to talk and develop a friendship. Huck learns to love Jim and exclaims, “poor Jim” when he the king sold Jim into slavery (Twain 196). While on the raft, Huck and Jim develop a friendship learn to love each other. The raft provides a way to create a safe place for Jim and Huck to do become friends and protects them from the American society and standards of a white male and a black male being friends. Huck and Jim are free to become friends without critics all because of the raft. When off the raft, Huck faces difficulties. The first incident of Huck getting off the raft is to look at a wrecked steamship. Huck gets off the raft, goes on the boat, and looks around. When realizing the boat has a gang threatening murder, he tries to leave, but he gets “shut up on a wreck with such a gang” (Twain 66). He is stuck on the boat with thieves threatening murder and has no way to transportation. After searching, Huck finds the raft and escapes the boat. When Huck is off the raft, Huck sees the

For centuries have the American people heard about a man named Mark Twain, a renowned author who has been well-known for many of his popular and essential literary works, especially the masterpiece Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has been ubiquitously read around the country by many people and considered to be one of the greatest American novels by many American scholars. Concerning the book, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic novel exhibiting Twain’s confidence through the personality of Huckleberry, who is the protagonist of the book, and Twain’s talented use of the American English through his exactly correct use of various dialects. Concerning the content of the Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, not only does the book tell the

The highly lauded novel by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, entertains the reader with one adventure after another by a young boy (and his runaway slave friend Jim) in the mid-1800s who is on strange but interesting path to adolescence and finally adulthood. What changes did he go through on the way to the end of the novel? And what was his worldview at the end of the novel? These two questions are approached and answered in this paper.