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Analysis of huckleberry finn
The relationship between huckleberry finn and jim in mark twain's "the adventures of huckleberry finn
Slavery and American society in huckleberry finn
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In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the search for freedom is a big factor for both Huck and Jim throughout the story. Even thought Huck and Jim are both trying to escape from different reasons, their journeys were similar along the way in the sense that both of them had terrible lives until they escaped. Huck and Jim were both pretty much trying to accomplish the same things; get away from their awful lives and start over. Jim was trying to escape from slavery while Huck was not only trying to get away from his father who treated him poorly, but he was also trying to escape from civilization itself. First, the search for freedom had a major impact on Jim throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, Jim was living his life as a slave. Jim was content with his life until his owner; Ms. Watson was talking about selling him to New Orleans. That is when Jim’s search for freedom actually began. Jim ran in terror, becoming a runaway slave. That is where Jim and Huck met. Jim, like Huck, was also trying to escape from civilization. Jim had been treated poorly the w...
Why would anyone in his or her right mind even think about freeing a slave? Everyone in the society was telling Huck that slaves were no more than ones property, but Huck began to question this belief when he got to know the property for who it really was. During the story there are many times when Huck feels an obligation to turn Jim in to the authorities and just get on with his life, but his conscience kept telling him that this man is a real person. Near the end of the story, Jim was stuck in a holding cell, since he had run away. After much consideration of the situation, Huck decides that he wants to free Jim because he believes that he shouldn't be treated that way. Even though the entire town believes that Jim should be contained and treated like property, Huck still sticks to his morals and goes along with the plan that could get him in trouble or even killed. At the end of the story we find out that Jim had always been free, and we now find Huck's actions to be heroic and noble.
Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim prioritizes other’s needs before his own by sacrificing his freedom to save other characters. When the doctor could not save Tom without assistance, Jim steps out from where he is hiding to help the doctor. In doing so he was “...r[i]sking his freedom...” (Twain 215);whereas, he could have let Tom die to save his own life. But instead Jim willingly risks getting put back into slavery to help save someone else, Tom. Once again, when Huck was staying with the Shepherdsons, Jim decides to wait for Huck. Jim fixes the raft and creates a plan to save Huck and go on with their
Because of his rolling stone like upbringings, conformity is not a part of his forte. In some ways he takes after his father, the infamous town drunk who hasn’t attempted to contact Huck in years. But despite all of the complications and seeming misery, he is a decent boy who only gets himself into a bit of mischief. Therefore, with the difficult life he’s already had at such a young age, it’s a miracle he isn’t either depressed or a delinquent. Jim also hasn’t had it easy. Being a black man living in the south during pre-Civil War times means daily persecution. He lived a life that he could never fulfill because of the metaphorical chains he never got to take off. So he was left no other choice but to run until he found freedom. Although this would be deemed as “reckless” to society, he did it out of love for his family and fear of his life. Every decision Jim made was done with the hope that he would one day be reunited with them. His intentions were pure, and the positive light that’s cast upon him gives the readers a heartfelt sympathy for what he’s going through. Both Jim and Huck had to overcome great struggle until they found solace in the
	Huck with his anti-society attitude, you would presume that he would have no problem in helping Jim. Yet he fights within himself about turning over Jim to the authorities, by this action within Huck shows that he must have feelings that slavery is correct so that the racial bigotry of the time may be seen. This decision for Huck is monumental even though he makes it on the spot. He has in a way decided to turn his back on everything that "home" stands for, this allows us to leave our thought of bigotry behind and begin to see Jim for what he really is a man.
Jim's character traits are easy to over look because of his seeming ignorance, but in reality Jim possessed some qualities that created a positive influence on Huck. He began by demonstrating to Huck how friends teach friends. His honest compassion also eventually causes Huck to resist the ideas society has placed upon him, and see Jim as an equal-- rather than property that can be owned. Huck knew he was going against society, and of the consequences that he could receive for freeing a slave. "It would get all around, that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom; and if I was to ever see anybody from that town again, I'd be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame", (269-270). Huck then claims, "All right, then, I'll go to hell…"(272) This shows that Huck was willing to put himself on the line for a slave, because he ceased to view Jim as property and recognized him as a friend. At the beginning of the story Huck would have never done this, but after the many adventures that occur, Jims unconditional love for Huck pierces the shell society placed ar...
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain is about the great adventures that Huck finn has with his slave Jim on the Missouri River. The story tells not only about the adventures Huck has, but more of a deeper understanding of the society he lives in. Twain had Huck born into a low class society of white people; his father was a drunken bum and his mother was dead. He was adopted by the widow Douglas who tried to teach him morals, ethics, and manners that she thought fit in a civilized society. Huck never cared for these values and ran away to be free of them. During Huck’s adventure with Jim he unknowingly realized that he didn't agree with society’s values and could have his own assumptions and moral values. Twain uses this realization to show how the civilized and morally correct social values that was introduced to Huck was now the civilized and morally contradicting values.
According to Laurence Sterne, “Nobody, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, but obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time”. In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the character Huckleberry Finn, also known as Huck, is one who can conceive this plague. Huck Finn’s ‘two projects of equal strength’ was the difficult decision whether to turn Jim, a black slave, over to his rightful “property” owner or to continue helping Jim escape to freedom. This inner conflict took place in Jim’s conscience of trying to decide what the right thing to do was. These two conflicting forces were the basis of how the story was told. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is told from Huck’s viewpoint, and it illuminated the quandary that Huck faces as he befriends Jim and helps him to freedom, as well as convincing himself talkimg himself into believing feeling . A part of Huck thought helping Jim was wrong because helping a black man escape to freedom was against society’s rules and went against everything that he had been taught and raised to believe. The other part of Huck saw Jim as a good person, a friend, and believed Jim should be free from slavery. It was a war between Huck’s conscience of not following society’s conventional laws and following his heart in what seemed right.
When Huck joined Jim, he struggled to reconcile his actions as white person, with the goals of a runaway slave. Jim was set on reaching the free states along the Ohio river. Huck often found himself having to chose between following the rules of white society or his moral conscience to help Jim escape to freedom. In several instances Huck felt guilty like a low down abolitionist. He worried he was violating Mrs. Watson’s right to property by not turning in Jim. Huck’s guilt was further compounded when Jim told Huck his plans for freedom included eventually free his wife and children (Twain pg. 124,125). At first Huck reconciled these feelings by claiming that he had not turned Jim in yet, but he still could. So, Huck attempted to free himself from his guilt by deciding to turn Jim in at the next town. However, each time Huck was presented with the opportunity to turn Jim in he choose to protect Jim. One example that Jim took notice of was when Huck lied to the two slave catchers up stream. Huck told him his sick family was out on the raft to prevent them wandering out to discover Jim (Twain pg.
Huckleberry Finn is not an escapist, but a free spirit who only wants to live deeply disentangled from the bonds of society. An escapist is someone who flees from his/her responsibilities, while a free spirit is a person who knows no boundaries, and cannot be tamed by society.
Civilization expects people to fit into their expectations. The norm for civilization is what is socially acceptable behavior and that includes not murdering anybody when they make someone angry or burping at the dinner table. Freedom, on the other hand, allows people to do whatever it is that makes them feels free. Freedom is different for everybody. Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, there is a strong attempt on the part of those who are important in white society to get Huck to conform to certain standards or to attain traits of a civilized person. Huck rejects civilization because he sees that civilization is hypocritical and confining.Therefore, this is why Huck says away from civilization and pursues his freedom.
Another theme that is dealt with in this book is slavery. In fact, slavery is one of the main topics that has been frequently debated in regards to Huckleberry Finn since it was first published. Twain himself was vehemently anti-slavery and Huckleberry Finn can in many ways be seen as an allegory for why slavery is wrong. Twain uses Jim, a slave who is one of the main characters, as a way of showing the human side of a slave. Everything about Jim is presented through emotions: Jim runs away because Miss Watson was going to sell him South and separate him from his family; Jim is trying to become free so he can buy his family's freedom; and Jim takes care of Huck and protects him on their journey downriver in a very materialistic manner.
...all along Jim was free but being the adventurous boy he is he wanted Jim to turn out and be a hero like the one’s he reads about. Tom knows Jim could have been freed multiple times if he didn’t put him up to all of the childish games. Jim had stayed by Tom’s when he almost died and would do anything for him but Tom couldn’t give Jim the same respect back. His foolishness behavior caused Jim more pain and almost didn’t get him freed. Jim was a father figure to both boys and he stood by Huck’s side since the beginning of the novel.
They travel all over the country just to not find slavery. They just kept traveling, traveling, and traveling, but they couldn’t find a place where they would actually be free forever. “And then think of me! It would get all around that Huck Finn helped a slave to get his freedom; and if I was ever to see anybody from that town again I'd be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame. That's just the way: a person does a low-down thing, and then he don't want to take no consequences of it” (Twain 85). What this quote talks about is how Jim is so thankful that Huck is trying to help him find his freedom.
... he now realizes that stealing property is bad. Since Huck and Tom, although in a drawn-out manner, free Jim it is implied that he regards Jim as a fellow human being, not a slave. Showing Huck this equality and fostering a friendship between him and Jim could only be done by this kind of physical journey, as the idea of equality was only in its infancy at the time and had not taken root with any southerner.
Freedom is what defines an individual, it bestows upon someone the power to act, speak, or think without externally imposed restraints. Therefore, enslavement may be defined as anything that impedes one’s ability to express their freedoms. However, complete uncompromised freedom is virtually impossible to achieve within a society due to the contrasting views of people. Within Mark Twain’s 1885 novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, numerous controversies are prevalent throughout the novel, primarily over the issue of racism and the general topic of enslavement. The characters in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn along with their development take an unmistakable, resilient stand against racism and by doing such in direct relation against the naturalized views of society. Twain’s characters, Jim and Huck are at the focal point of this controversy; they together are enslaved in two particularly different forms, nevertheless they both pursue their freedoms from their enslavements. The development of these characters and the growth of their interdependent relationship generate the structure of the anti-racism message within this novel. Twain’s introductory warning cautions the dangers of finding motives, morals, or plots in his novel, ironically proving the existence of each and encourages the reader to discover them. One of the undisputable major themes that extensively peculated my mind as I read the text regarded the subject of freedom and enslavement. Through Twain’s constant contrasting of freedom and enslavement such as its portrayal of slavery in the form of life on land compared to the freedom on the raft on the Mississippi Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, suggests that people are subject to various ensl...