In extract one from chapter 12 in The Catcher in the Rye Holden takes another taxi ride from his hotel to a nightclub. He meets a cab driver, a man named Horwitz, and engages him in a conversation in which he reveals his anxiety towards society and his growing depression. Extract 2 from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is from chapter 16 and features Huck and Jim drifting further south on their raft to Cairo, whereupon Huck grows more concerned about the enormity and consequences of his actions. Escape is presented in both texts in remarkably similar ways: in Catcher in the Rye the emblematic nature of the ducks that Holden inquires about expose us to his inner conflict and separation from society, whereas in Huck Finn, Huck’s struggle between …show more content…
Although Huck has escaped the Widow Douglas and her attempts at ‘sivilising’ him by this point in the novel, he is still subject to the expectations and demands set by his society. The men Huck meets on the ‘skiff’ at the end of this extract are, like all the other characters that Huck meets, caricatures of the southern way of life that Huck is escaping from. The conversation that follows is dominated solely by the two men, with Huck taking short turns through the form of ‘yes sir’ and ‘only one, sir’. This is incongruous with his earlier ‘conversation’ with his conscience in his internal monologue, where he takes comparatively long turns. Huck describes his conscience as saying ‘What had poor Miss Watson done to you, that you could see her nigger go’. Huck subverts society’s expectations in this chapter by allowing Jim to escape but in turn goes against all of the values taught by his society; the term ‘nigger’ is rooted in pre-abolition America but from the 21st century readers’ point of view it would be considered taboo, with Huck’s use of it accentuating to the reader that he is a product of his society. Later in the novel, Huck describes Jim as a ‘mighty good nigger’ – to many in 19th century America, it would be seen as impossible for a black person to be ‘good’. The eventual result of this is that he rejects conventional morality, instead choosing to do what his …show more content…
In this extract we see Holden becoming concerned about ‘the ducks that swim around’ in the lagoon at central park. Perhaps JD Salinger intends the ducks, a recurring motif in the novel, to be symbolic of mortality because when the ducks ‘fly away by themselves’ they are no longer around – similar to how Holden fears that when he dies he will be forgotten by those around him in the same way that Allie and James Castle were. While Horwitz and others may find solace in romanticised logic – that ‘mother nature’ will take care of its own – Holden does not, instead seeing death not only as something physical but something mental and emotional as well. This scene shows escape from society in a different, more ‘mature’ way to Huck Finn: it could be said that, for Holden, the only way he can escape from society is through his own death (as shown in Chapter 14, when Holden says ‘What I really felt like, though, was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out the window’) Contrastingly, it could be said that the ducks are also representative of innocence, which Holden covets and yearns to protect and that this in turn represents Holden’s desire to understand what happens to those who are forced by society to grow up. Holden’s questioning about whether ‘a truck… takes [the ducks] away’ or if ‘they fly away by themselves’ could be
In the novel, Huck is pitied and frowned upon because he did not exhibit a desire to be “civilized” like Ms. Watson. Others simply felt bad for him due to the fact that he was an orphan.
Mark Twain throughout the book showed Huckleberry Finns personal growth on how he started from the bottom as a lonely, racist, immature kid who knew nothing to where he is now, by finally breaking away from society’s values he was taught in the beginning. He has alienated himself from the from that society and revealed how in fact these values were hypocritical. He realized that he can choose his own morals and that the one he chooses is the correct one.
Twain uses Huck to show the readers how living under an authoritative figure causes one to conform to the ideals and beliefs created by society. He proves to the readers, that while under the care of adults, Huck is forced to follow rules and is limited in his own freedoms. However, in the setting of nature, Twain explains how Huck has more liberties and is free to live his life as he pleases, including “shameful” activities such as befriending Jim. As the story unravels, Twain emphasizes to the audience that society is the cause of one to conform and that action should be taken to permit more liberties and uniqueness within
Mark Twain’s masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through much criticism and denunciation has become a well-respected novel. Through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy, Huckleberry Finn, Twain illustrates the controversy of racism and slavery during the aftermath of the Civil War. Since Huck is an adolescent, he is vulnerable and greatly influenced by the adults he meets during his coming of age. His expedition down the Mississippi steers him into the lives of a diverse group of inhabitants who have conflicting morals. Though he lacks valid morals, Huck demonstrates the potential of humanity as a pensive, sensitive individual rather than conforming to a repressive society. In these modes, the novel places Jim and Huck on pedestals where their views on morality, learning, and society are compared.
Mark Twain once described his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as “a struggle between a sound mind and a deformed conscience”. Throughout the novel, Huck wrestles with the disparity between his own developing morality and the twisted conscience of his society. In doing so, he becomes further distanced from society, both physically and mentally, eventually abandoning it in order to journey to the western frontier. By presenting the disgust of Huck, an outsider, at the state of society, Mark Twain is effectively able to critique the intolerance and hypocrisy of the Southern South. In doing so, Twain asserts that in order to exist as a truly moral being, one must escape from the chains of a diseased society.
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.
Huck embarks on his journey within the novel due to innocently feeling a need to be liberated from his situation. At the beginning of the novel, Huck has the naive view of not wanting to be “sivilize[d]” (1). As Huck is raised by Widow Douglass and Miss Watson, he eventually is told “why
Salinger significantly represent the struggle of nonconformity. Although these novels were written in very different times, the narrators, Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield, resemble one another in that they make efforts to preserve their individuality. The former finds himself helping Jim, a runaway slave, escape to freedom, despite his southern upbringing in the pre-Civil War time period. Throughout his journey along the Mississippi River, Huck struggles with inner turmoil brought on by his rebellious nature. Equivalently, Holden experiences various inner conflicts accompanying his bold actions as he stays in New York City on his own, afraid to return home after his private school, Pencey Prep, expels him. Therefore, Twain’s narrator relates to Salinger’s narrator in that rebellion has induced conflicts and adventures for each of them. Principally, both Huck and Holden prove to be nonconformists due to their resistance of common ideas. Furthermore, these protagonists eventually find peace through nature. Thus, Huck’s and Holden’s similar transcendental philosophies advocate the necessity for individuality and the ability to find one’s self in nature, two needs that still exist in today’s
Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered the great American Novel with its unorthodox writing style and controversial topics. In the selected passage, Huck struggles with his self-sense of morality. This paper will analyze a passage from Adventures of huckleberry Finn and will touch on the basic function of the passage, the connection between the passage from the rest of the book, and the interaction between form and content.
At the beginning of the book, he explains how the Widow Douglas decided to take him in and civilize him. Huck, who has been raised to do whatever he wanted without worrying about consequences, has now been thrust into a life of monitoring everything he does. “Miss Watson would say, ‘Don’t put your feet up there, Huckleberry’; and ‘Don’t scrunch up like that, Huckleberry - set up straight’” (2). Huck is not quite sure why these rules are in place; he just knows that he will be scolded if he does not follow them. Even though his father is a dangerous drunk, Huck still prefers to live with him because he has the freedom to do what he likes without having to worry about whether he is following the rules. Twain is making a point that it is a bit strange that one is required to follow so many rules to be accepted into society, which contributes why Huck is an outcast. He prefers to follow the beat of his own drum, even though that means he is not a respected member of society. Huck, however, is okay with that because he feels that American society is not
The Catcher in the Rye focuses on Holden Caulfield’s journey to New York City after he learns that he has flunked out of the fictional Pencey Preparatory School. Caulfield, a troubled sixteen-year-old boy, is totally alienated from his environment and from society as a whole. (Telgen 120) Caulfield is not alienated by others, rather he chooses to alienate himself. He feels a desire for isolation sometimes because he cannot stand the company of others, or because he becomes disappointed with their company, and at other times because he feels a need to drive others away. (Engel 53)
At the beginning of the tale, Huck struggles between becoming ?sivilized? and doing what he pleases. He doesn?t want to listen to the rules that the Widow Douglas and her sister force upon him, even though he knows the widow only wants what is best for him. Miss Watson pushes Huck away from society even more through the way she treats him. She teaches him religion in such a dreary way that when she speaks of heaven and hell, Huck would rather go to hell than be in heaven with her: ?And she told all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there?I couldn?t see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn?t try for it? (12-13). Huck is taught a very different kind of morality by his father who believes ?it warn?t no harm to borrow things, if you was meaning to pay them back?? (70). He likes his father?s idea of morality better because he is not yet mature enough to fully understand right and wrong, although living with the widow...
...ore closely related to a bildungsroman than to a simple picaresque novel. Huck shows considerable development, both morally and psychologically. Through the people he meets, he gets a taste of many spectrums of society and morals. This is the very last line of the novel: “But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me and I can’t stand it. I been there before.” (AHF, 220). The last line clearly shows he is not the same little boy that he was at the beginning of the book. Because he has been there before, he is no longer ignorant of “there”. By choosing to make his own choices, Huck makes a steady path towards maturity not only of his morals, but of himself as well.
Escape is a recurrent theme within both J.D. Salinger’s ‘the Catcher in the Rye’ and Mark Twain’s ‘Huckleberry Finn’ and both Twain and Salinger use linguistic and literary features to develop the theme of escape. The ‘Huckleberry Finn’ extract occurs after Pap has taken Huck to live in his cabin. Huck decides that he needs to escape from Pap’s violent and drunken state- “I made up my mind I would fix up a way to leave there”. The ‘Catcher in the Rye’ extract occurs after Holden has had a fight with Stradlater and is about to decide to escape from Pency - “I decided what I’d really do. I’d get the hell out of Pency- right that same night and all.”
...d his adventure with Jim on the hero’s journey, he now sees the world a different way, a different way that may cause Huck severe consequences if society became involved. Huck believes his ways are right and the society’s ways are wrong. Today the society we live in was Huck’s perspective in the years before the Civil war. Back then during that time society was more strict and involved in slavery. The way we think and act today would probably