Archetypal Hero In Huckleberry Finn Analysis

In the novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn is anything but a static character. Huck’s evolution through the story can be seen through not only many people, but through objects in the story as well. Huck’s battles throughout with society, Tom, and even his father, Pap, are huge parts of how he evolves into the archetypal hero throughout. Twain introduces the reader to Huck Finn as an uneducated, uncivilized teenager. Twain makes Huck’s evolution in the beginning of the story slightly harder to decipher, as he is still developing, and figuring out society way’s, his own ways, and Tom Sawyer’s ways. And Huck is seen as a “new guy” in the Twain author series, and is apparently “worthy” of the illustrious Tom

Huck decides that Jackson island would be a good place to go. He knows his way around the island, knows that almost nobody goes there, and it’s big enough to sustain him. The river is a huge part in the story as Twain uses it for a scene of “romance”. This is, and always will be a big part of Huck’s evolution into the archetypal hero. Once Huck arrives on the island, it is time for huck to truly find out his place in society, and find his own ways from society’s grasp. Just as Huck thinks he is alone on the island, it turns out that Jim has run away from his owner, Miss Watson. Huck actually goes up to Jim with a gun, until he realizes who he is. Jim is quite scared at the start, as he believes Huck is dead, so he thinks that this figure in front of him is Huck’s ghost. “Doan’ hurt me—don’t! I hain’t ever done no harm to a ghos’. I alwuz liked dead people, en done all I could for ‘em,”(Twain 41). Although Huck does have an opportunity to be like Tom here, and pretend he really is a ghost, the reader sees Huck resist the urge to be a jokester. Huck tells Jim immediately that he is not truly dead. Now the reader sees a Huck vs. society battle, while Jim is hesitant to tell Huck

The little fact that Huck forgot is that snakes mates go find their dead mate. “I struck a light, the snake’s mate was there, and bit him,” (Twain 53). Although this is a slight mess up, even heroes have to learn from their mistakes. But to be an archetypal hero you can’t just be good at one thing. Not only is Huck an archetypal hero, he is a crafty hero. Huck knows his way around nature, and when he wants to know what is going on, he figures out a way to do it. Huck and Jim both wonder what is going on, but neither of them can go into town without being recognized. Huck and Jim however, with their crafty selves, look around at what they have and wonder if they couldn’t get Huck dressed up like a girl. “I said I reckoned I would slip over the river and find out what was going on…. Couldn’t I put on some of them old things and dress up like a girl?,” (Twain 54). So Huck goes back into town, and gets taken in by Judith Loftus and gets caught up on what he and Jim have missed. Ironically, the lady talks to Huck about Huck’s death, and how people believe it was Huck’s father that did it. Now Huck’s father, Pap, has a bounty on him, and so does Jim. However, it is not much longer after Huck is