Freedom to do what one pleases has been an essential part of American life since the start of the colonies. Every war in the history of America revolves around some variation of freedom. One war that has lasted the duration of America’s existence includes black people’s fight for their freedom: from the Civil War to Civil Rights. During the first half of civilization in America, slaves were kept in physical captivity, which inhibited their freedom. For the remaining half, slaves were segregated and looked down upon, hindering their mental freedom. Throughout Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, two captives take a journey in order to free themselves, one for mental freedom, and the other, physical. The first, Huck, is a young boy attempting to break free of his upbringing as well as the oppressive caretaking of his guardian Miss Watson and his dad, Pap. The other, Jim, is the slave of Miss Watson, who wants to escape slavery in hopes of reconnecting with his family and from fear of being sold down the river to the Deep South. The two escape separately, without knowing the other one’s plan, but accidentally meet up shortly after running away. They continue down the river on a raft, meeting different people who disrupt their goals for freedom. Although they yearn for different types of freedom, they both go on the journey in hopes of escaping oppression. Huck and Jim, despite obvious racial differences, learn to accept each other, but this was not their main intention. Jim and Huck are like caged birds on their journey: “caged birds accept each other but flight is what they long for”(Tennessee Williams). Although Huck learns to treat Jim with equality, their goal was not to become friends but rather to reach freedom and ...
... middle of paper ...
...racism is wrong. Another way Huck proves that he is most interested in freedom for himself is because of the way he treats Jim on their voyage, by leaving him places and generally forgetting all about him at times. Jim, too, cares about his freedom more than becoming friends with Huck because Jim does not tell Huck about his father’s death so that Huck wouldn’t want to turn around. The freedom that Huck and Jim strive for has been a pivotal part of America since the beginning of its history. Whether it is freedom from mental or physical captivity, free will is a common necessity. This want for freedom has triggered every war in our history, and it is the main reason for struggle in everyday life. American life revolves around freedom.
Works Cited
Twain, Mark, John D. Seelye, and Guy Cardwell. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Penguin, 2003. Print.
...ke." Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. An Authoritative Text Backgrounds and Sources Criticism. Ed. Sculley Bradley, et al. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1977. 421-22.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel written by Mark Twain during the late 1800’s (Mintz). The book brought major controversy over the plot, as well as the fact that it was a spin-off to his previous story, Adventures of Tom Sawyer. This book has remained a success due to Twain’s interesting techniques of keeping the audience’s attention. Chapters eleven and twelve of “Huckleberry Finn,” uses a first person limited point of view to take advantage of the use of dialogue while using many hyperboles to add drama to entertain the reader by creating description within the story without needing to pause and explain.
Huckleberry Finn provides the narrative voice of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and his honest voice combined with his personal vulnerabilities reveal the different levels of the Grangerfords’ world.
Slavery is a gripping issue that can be viewed through an individual's experiences or through the general experiences of all those affected. The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain does just that. Readers see a micro perspective through Jim's experiences and a macro perspective through the constant illustrations of slavery throughout the book. Twain examines the issue of Southern slavery in his novel from a macro and micro perspective in that he compares and contrasts Jim's personal experiences such as being viewed as property, the desire for freedom, and his compassionate feelings to those of other slaves in general.
Mark Twain creatively invents many settings throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; each setting effects the characters in different ways. One of the many motifs throughout the novel is the idea of freedom versus slavery. Through various incidents, lifestyles, and character developments taking place on land and water, Mark Twain is able to create two opposing worlds; i.e. one of freedom verses one of enslavement. Twain determines the characters' situations in life in accordance with each location and surroundings. Huck and Jim are constantly moving between these two worlds. For the most part, both are presented with the luxuries of freedom and serenity while on the river, which ends up changing both of their characters for the only as more of person, but a reliable friend. The reader gets a sense of Jim's kindness when he is willing to stand watch all night so Huck can get some extra rest.
In the novel The Adventures Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, a theme of freedom is portrayed. Freedom takes on a different perspective for each character in the novel. In Jim, the runaway slave, and Huck's, the mischievous boy, journey, they obtain freedom. Jim's hunt for freedom is an escape from the clutches of slavery, while Huck's is a flight from the civilized world. Their hunting for freedom is for one reason, for their happiness. This is shown throughout the novel in Jim's desire of escaping slavery and Huck's wish for being uncivilized.
“He ain’t no slave; he’s as free as any cretur that walks this earth!” (Twain289). Tom Sawyer, one of the main characters in Mark Twain’s novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, said these words in defense of his friend Jim, when someone tried to return this once-enslaved man back to his former obligations. This classical novel is about a boy named Huck, and a runaway slave named Jim. Huck escaped his town and ran off with Jim, traveling along the Mississippi River. They confronted many obstacles that forced them to work together and eventually brought them closer in the end. Throughout the novel, there were many events that made Huck treat Jim more like a loyal friend than a runaway slave. Mark Twain uses the recurring theme of friendship to illustrate how Huck and Jim broke societal norms by learning to care for each other despite the rampant racism of the time.
Freedom is something that comes unnaturally to Huck. Huck grew up with no parent figures so freedom appears to be somewhat easy for him to attain, but he has a problem figuring out what freedom is to him. “what’s the use you learning to do right when it’s troublesome to do right and ain’t no trouble to do wrong…” (Page 91). This shows Huck protecting Jim, although it is immoral and he feels bad for going against what society sees as right. Not being the definition of a good person in this society is a step to ...
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Charles L. Webster & Co. 1884. Print.
This essay will analyze the themes of religion, slavery, and democracy in the book Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. By exploring these themes that lie behind the book’s veneer, we can understand Twain’s objective for writing this book.
Discrimination has been a dark shadow over America for decades. African Americans, Indians, women, and people of different religions and views have always been treated differently than the so-called average white European descent. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, discrimination is pointed towards Blacks. Some characters develop a new vision of Blacks in this classic novel and unintentionally develop the idea of an African American being able to be equal to a Caucasian. Not in all circumstances can the people of America rise above these ideas of discrimination though. White’s attitudes toward minorities grew increasingly worse in the 1800’s The Emancipation Proclamation and black codes helped much of America change their views, but the
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.
...cal Edition, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, An Authoritative Text Backgrounds and Sources Criticism. Ed. and Trans. Sculley Bradley, Richmond Croom Beaty, E. Hudson Long, and Thomas Cooley. New York: Norton, 1977. 328-335.
Twain, Mark, and Cynthia Johnson. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print.
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...