Freedom in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

584 Words2 Pages

Nothing is more important in the book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer than freedom. Freedom plays an enormous role in the book Tom Sawyer. Whether it is people earning freedom or people not being granted it, every young boy in St. Petersburg wanted some form of freedom. The word freedom means the power to say and do what you want. Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and Joe Harper are all boys seeking freedom. Freedom is the key reason the boys run away to Jackson Island. Freedom is one of the main themes in the book. Tom is always looking for ways to earn freedom. One of the main plots in the story is Tom’s quest for freedom. Freedom gives Tom a sense of accomplishment after he finishes a deed or task. “The secret to happiness is freedom. The secret to freedom is courage.” - Thucydides Ancient Greek Historian Sometimes he doesn’t earn it but he attempts to get out of his responsibilities. Tom is always envying Huck for his lethargic lifestyle. His Aunt Polly is not a fan of freedom she thinks that boys should do their chores and be civilized. “Spare the rod and spoil the child, ...

Show More
Related

  • Greed In Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer

    578 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The point is that you can’t be too greedy,” says Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. Many people look up to him as he is apparently now president. The definition of greed is an intense and selfish desire for something especially wealth or power. Greed is a part of human nature. The main character, Tom Sawyer experiences it quite often in the book. Thomas Sawyer is an eleven-year-old boy who lives with his aunt in a small religious town. One of the themes that Mark Twain explores in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is that everyone has some amount of greed in them. Three examples that support this theme are when Tom risked his life in the search for gold, Tom tried to get Becky by making her jealous, and when Tom and his friends ran away because they didn’t feel appreciated.

    Read More

  • How Does Tom Sawyer Influence Huck Finn's Bad Behavior

    761 Words  | 2 Pages

    Basing his morals off of society and those around him, Huck obtains very little knowledge as to what is just. Tom Sawyer, Huck’s best friend, is one major character that influences Huck’s bad behavior. Easily influenced by Tom’s ideas, Huck decides to join a gang with him that’s filled with robbers and murderers. If any member was to betray the gang, they were to kill their family and,

    Read More

  • Freedom: Jackie Robinson And The Pursuit Of Freedom

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the Collins Dictionary, “freedom” is defined as “the state of being allowed to do what you want to do”(“freedom”). The definition of freedom is simple, but make yourself free is not easy. Concerning about some common cases which will take away your freedom, such as a time-cost high education attainment. In this essay, I shall persuade that everyone should try his or her best to insist on pursuing freedom. For the individual, it appears that only if you have your personal freedom, can you have a dream; for a country, it seems that only if the country is free, can the country develop; for mankind, it looks like that only if people has their own pursuit of freedom, can their thoughts evolve.

    Read More

  • Huck Finn Laughter Analysis

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    However his teasing and care-free nature shows how he has little care for those around him, rather only focusing on how he will benefit from the experience. This can be seen when Huck proposes an easier way to get Jim out of Uncle Silas and Aunt Sally’s shed. Tom chastises Huck by saying, ‘Oh, shucks, Huck Finn, if I was as ignorant as you, I’d keep still – that’s what I’d do. Who ever heard of a state prisoner escaping by a hickry – bark ladder? Why, it’s perfectly ridiculous’ (pg 254). This shows both Tom’s tendency to complicate simple things in order to follow the “rules” of adventure, as well as how careless he is of other people and his dominating nature. Tom is so self-absorbed in his own world that he does not realize how cruel he is being to Huck and everybody

    Read More

  • Violence and Freedom in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    Huck's father is a perfect example of the greed in society. He does not care about anything else besides Huck's money. Huck's father will even beat him for no reason or because he is jealous of Huck for being clean and educated. Huck states,

    Read More

  • Twains Huck Finn Compared To The Movie

    856 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tom is intelligent, creative, and imaginative, which is everything Huck wishes for himself. Because of Tom's absence in the movie, Huck has no one to idolize and therefore is more independent. Twain's major theme in the novel is the stupidity and faults of the society in which Huck lives. There is cruelty, greed, murder, trickery, hypocrisy, racism, and a general lack of morality. All of these human failings are seen through the characters and the adventures they experience. The scenes involving the King and Duke show examples of these traits.

    Read More

  • Escaping Into Freedom: A Huck Finn Narrative

    620 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain is about a young boy and a slave who run away from their normal lives in Missouri, in the 1830’s. Huckleberry Finn, a young, immature boy forced to live with his drunken, abusive father decides to fake his own murder in run away. His guardian's slave, Jim ends up running away too, and they both hideout on an island. Later on, after finding out, the whole town thinks, Huck was murdered by the slave, they decide to build a raft and run away down the Mississippi River. They run into a few problems along the way, but together learn how to get passed them. Huck teaches Jim how to talk and become more educated and in return, Jim teaches Huck to be more mature and grow up. In the end, Huck does what he thinks is right and let’s Jim go free.

    Read More

  • The Mississippi River in The Adventures of Huckleberrt Finn

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    The majority of Americans take freedom for granted, and the only way to be appreciative is to have that freedom taken away. For Jim, a runaway slave, freedom was the ultimate attainment. He would risk life and limb for even the slightest chance to be free. For this particular slave, the Mississippi River offers a chance, even if only temporary, to be a free man. Jim develops a fondness of being a free man, only to have it ripped away once again. He vows to buy his family back when he gains his permanent freedom. The Mississippi River allows Jim to experience the feel of freedom.

    Read More

  • Parental Influence on Huck Finn

    1596 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Mark Twain's novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the adults in Huck's life play an important role in the development of the plot. Pap, Huck's father, constantly abuses the boy, never allowing him to become an intelligent or decent human being. He beats and attacks Huck whenever they meet up, and tries to destroy Huck's chances of having a normal life. This situation is balanced by several good role models and parent figures for Huck. Jim, the runaway slave, embraces Huck like a son, and shares his wide ranging knowledge with him. He also protects Huck on the journey down the river. Widow Douglas is another good role model for Huck. She tries to civilize him and make him respectable to society, while also being caring and compassionate. There is a stark contrast in the ways Huck is treated by adults, and all have an affect on him.

    Read More

  • Freedom in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    Freedom is the capacity to exercise choice and free will. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the narrator, Huck, seeks freedom from society. Huck, a thirteen year-old boy, lives with Widow Douglass and her sister Miss Watson. He lives with them because before this he had no home, only a drunken father, whom he rarely sees. Both of the ladies attempt to civilize Huck by sending him to school and teaching him good manners. "Pretty soon I wanted to smoke, and asked the widow to let me. But she wouldn't. She said it was a mean practice and wasn't clean, and I must try to not do it any more" In this passage from chapter one you can see that Huck enjoyed doing what he pleased when he choose. "I liked the old ways best, but I was getting so I liked the new ones, too, a little bit." This passage is from chapter four of the book spoken by Huck. In it one can see that although Huck begins to like the civilized ways he still has a craving for his old ways, which seem uncivilized to all.

    Read More

  • Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn's Friendship

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since Tom’s parents died, he lives with his Aunt Polly, his half-brother Sid, and his cousin Mary. Huck, however, still had his father, Pap, but is equivalent to not having a father at all. Pap always disappeared for months and would return home often drunk. Huck lives by himself, usually homeless. He does what he pleases at his own leisure. Huck does not attend school nor church, so he has very little education. He smokes and swears without anyone to fuss at him. Tom envies Huck’s freedom and laid-back life. Tom, on the ...

    Read More

  • The Liberties Within The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an iconic novel that satirizes many of the romantic writers during it’s time. The main character, Huck, is a young boy who lives with a widow and her sister because of his father’s drunken stupors and abusive ways. When Pap comes to take Huck’s money, Huck gives it away, and out of anger for Huck’s indecency and civilized manners, Pap kidnaps Huck and takes him to live with him. Not long after Huck’s arrival, he escapes and fakes his death and floats towards Jackson Island. There he finds the widow’s runaway slave, Jim. Huck helps Jim escape the many threats of capture and in the end steals him from slavery. Within the novel, Mark Twain uses the topics of personal will, literal and figurative prisons, and the burden of an unequal society to advance the theme of freedom.

    Read More

  • Search For Freedom in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"

    523 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 though Huck and Jim are both trying to escape for 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 thing: 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.

    Read More

  • The Theme of Freedom in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    2203 Words  | 5 Pages

    All things considered, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, suggests that people are subject to various enslavements and attempt to pursue freedom from these enslavements. The reason I selected this theme as the most important is due to its real world application. This theme is relevant to real life due to the fact that numerous people are deprived of freedom and are attempting to obtain the freedom that they desire. People throughout history and even today seek their freedom. In this novel, one of the freedoms sought after was the end to racial discrimination, this was achieved in the 1960s by the Civil Rights Movement and famous American hero’s we now admire such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..

    Read More

  • Theme Of Freedom In Huck Finn

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, freedom is portrayed from the perspective of two characters in the book: Huck Finn and an escaped slave, Jim. They travel together along the Mississippi River and their characters develop throughout the journey. Twain develops Huck’s character by the choices he makes as the novel progresses and he goes through many changes. Huck struggles with racial values that has been taught to him by the white adults in his life, they collide with the feelings he has towards Jim, a slave who gradually becomes his friend over the course of their journey down the river to freedom and is forced to reevaluate his point of view on slavery. There are many turning points in their relationship which contributes to Huck’s rejection of society’s false beliefs: when Huck promises Jim that he will not tell anyone that he has run away, when Huck decides to keep his promise despite what his conscience it telling him to do, and also when Huck decides to risk all the guilt he will feel by helping Jim find his freedom from is enslaved life. Twain uses the ideas of freedom in contrast to slavery, and civilization against modern society. These moments show Huck’s growth as an actual person, which corresponds along his isolation of rejection from society and its’ morals.

    Read More

More about Freedom in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Open Document