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The Mississippi River symbolism in Huckleberry Finn
Analysis of adventures of huckleberry finn
Thematic significance of the river in huckleberry Finn
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In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, author Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) writes about a young, mischievous, but clever boy from St. Petersburg, Missouri named Huckleberry Finn. Huckleberry runs away from his life of beatings from his drunken father and from his well meaning but strict and religious guardians, Miss Watson and Widow Douglas. He hopes to find peace and freedom. Jim, a runaway slave, hopes to achieve the same thing as these two characters meet on Jackson Island. They soon set sail on a journey down the Mississippi River.
As the story begins, we see the Mississippi River merely as a means of transportation, but as the story progresses and we learn more about Huck and Jim, we see that it is clearly more than that. For Huck, he is on the river because he feels that he needs to leave his frustrating life in St. Petersburg. Before he starts his journey, he feels confined by both a restrictive society and by his abusive father, Pap. After all, Pap did literally lock up Huck in a cabin. “We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all. Other
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places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft” (Twain 130). This quote directly expresses the role of the river to Huck; it provides comfort to him and also the figurative freedom he so desperately wanted. Jim’s trip down the Mississippi contrasts Huck’s in that he travels in hopes of finding literal freedom, in a legal sense, because he is a runaway slave.
Jim’s plan is to float down the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois so he can get to the free states, become a free man, and buy his family back when he earns enough money. However, this plan doesn’t go exactly as planned. The two come across many obstacles on their trip. One obstacle is the Duke and the Dauphin. After being halted by these two, Huck and Jim are forced spend more time ashore, which is a nightmare for Jim, as he is a runaway slave. Huck and Jim find themselves playing along with these two con men, although they recognize the lingering trouble, and in the end the river is there to help them escape. In this case and in other obstacles within Twain’s tale, a recurring theme is how the Mississippi River is an anonymous savior from a cruel
society. In conclusion, it is very clear that the Mississippi River is more than just a way of transportation for Huck and Jim. It is the biggest symbol in the book, being that it gives both of these characters a major sense of freedom. It is the setting where these two characters find adventure, conflict and growth. Both Jim and Huck develop as friends along the river, learning to be compassionate to one another. Most of all, though, they find peace and serenity, which is something that we think everyone can hope for."We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness. It was kind of solemn, drifting down the big, still river, laying on our backs looking up at the stars, and we didn't ever feel like talking loud, and it warn't often that we laughed — only a little kind of a low chuckle. We had mighty good weather as a general thing, and nothing ever happened to us at all — that night, nor the next, nor the next" (Twain 76-77). As they lay on their backs watching the stars, they had not a single care in the world, and we think that this is the way that Mark Twain wanted to portray the great Mississippi River.
When Huck and Jim sink the boat they start to gather some valuables on the robbers boat. They noticed that everything that are taking is just almost everyday materials such as clothes, cigars, and a bunch of books. Huck and Jim bring their raft to the shore and stop and sleep in the woods for the night. When they were just sitting their Huck opened up one of the books and started to read it. As he was reading it, he thought of Widow Douglass and how she would be proud of Huck for reading. While reading the book, Huck also realizes a name in the book the name is Dauphin, and was told that he is out in America wandering around. But Jim just sits back and doesn’t believe what Huck is saying at all.
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain paints the story of a developing friendship between two entirely different people which at the time society considered unacceptable and taboo. Huckleberry Finn is a white thirteen year old boy and Jim is a middle-aged black runaway slave. They meet by coincidence while they are both hiding out on Jackson’s Island located in the middle of the Mississippi River, Huck is hiding from the townspeople who think he is dead, and Jim has runaway and is hiding from his owner. Throughout their journey together, Huck and Jim’s relationship goes from them being mere acquaintances, then to friends, then to them having a father and son relationship.
Mark Twain, a famous American writer and satirist, wrote many highly acclaimed books throughout the world. His masterpiece, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, earned him recognition as one of the greatest writers America would ever produce. The novel follows a teenage boy named Huck Finn, whose father is an alcoholic. Due to his father's violence, Huck runs away and meets a runaway slave named Jim. Instead of turning Jim in, Huck goes against society and decides to help Jim break free from slavery.
In Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn geography plays an important part to how the story plays out. Their journey ironically takes them south, deeper into Confederate territory, where the racism is thick and the tolerance for black runaways is thin. The first notable affect is the amount of natural cover the Missouri shore provides for Huck and Jim. They hide in the underbrush during the day and use the stream to propel them downstream under the cover of night. The river is helpful as much as it is unhelpful, helping them to escape tricky situations but also making them lose each other and putting them into new situations. Throughout the story, Huck and Jim get them selves into a lot of trouble, trouble that generally
Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the greatest American novels ever written. The story is about Huck, a young boy who is coming of age and is escaping from his drunken father. Along the way he stumbles across Miss Watson's slave, Jim, who has run away because he overhead that he would be sold. Throughout the story, Huck is faced with the moral dilemma of whether or not to turn Jim in. Mark Twain has purposely placed these two polar opposites together in order to make a satire of the society's institution of slavery. Along the journey, Twain implies his values through Huck on slavery, the two-facedness of society, and represents ideas with the Mississippi River.
Mark Twain, the author of Huckleberry Finn, has written a story that all will enjoy. Huck is a young boy with not much love in his life, his mother died when he was very young, and he had drunk for a father. Huck lives with the widow and she tried to raise him right. While at the widow's, Huck went to school and learned to read and write. The widow also tried to civilize him. She would buy him nice clothes, and make him do his homework.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is a novel about a young man's search for identity. Huckleberry Finn goes through some changes and learns some life lessons throughout his journey. Huck changes from being just an immature boy at the beginning of the novel to being a more mature man who looks at things in a different perspective now.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel and sequel through which Mark Twain weaves a consistent theme regarding the battle of right versus wrong. Twain presents Huckleberry Finn, or simply Huck, as the main character who finds himself on a current-driven journey down the Mississippi River to escape the abuse of his alcoholic father. The encounters of Huck and Jim, the escaped slave of the widow Mrs. Watson, serve as a catalyst for the moral based decisions in this MORAL-riddled novel.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a classic novel about a young boy who struggles to save and free himself from captivity, responsibility, and social injustice. Along his river to freedom, he aids and befriends a runaway slave named Jim. The two travel down the Mississippi, hoping to reach Cairo successfully. However, along the way they run into many obstacles that interrupt their journey. By solving these difficult tasks, they learn life lessons important to survival.
Set in pre-civil war America, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn takes place along the Mississippi river. As Huckleberry travels along it he learns lessons about life, society and most importantly; himself. Surrounded by a world of prejudice and racism, Huck is forced to learn to make decisions on his own. He is able to learn from the imperfections in the rest of the world as he views them. While on the river, Huck and Jim are at peace. The river symbolizes freedom for both Jim and Huck. The river is Jim’s path to freedom from slavery, and it is Huck’s freedom from society. When Jim and Huck journey onto the banks of the river they see the inhumanity to man that goes on in the world. This juxtaposition of the river and the land help emphasize the peacefulness of the river in comparison to the crazy society on land. Huck learns to think for himself, and tries not to conform to the ways of the people on the land. Although the world that he lives in teaches him to be a racist, his journey down the river teaches him to use his own mind, and find out what he really believes in.
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, Huck's main goal is to get away from a terrible, abusive drunk of a father. Without the access of the Mississippi, Huck might not have ever escaped his father, and his father could have easily killed Huck. For Jim, who's goal was not only freedom, but to see his family again, the river was a free way to reach the free states. With Huck's fortune he could have bought a train ticket or paid another way to get to Cairo, but it was important for him to make his journey with Jim. In that time a black runaway slave could not have ridden on a train or even walked on land in the light of day without being caught in a matter of minutes.
...emaining close to the river, they always have an outlet incase something goes wrong. The Duke and Dauphin lead Huck and Jim on various adventures, from scams such as the Royal Nonesuch to pretending to be the long lost Wilkes brothers. The plans for these adventures are made at night when they are floating down the Mississippi River on the raft. This shows that the Mississippi River provides an outlet for adventure for Huck and Jim. The Mississippi River protected both Huck and Jim from the evils of society and civilization. The activities they did during the daytime, such as fishing and swimming in the river further removed them from the rules of society. The adventures they went gave them freedom and happiness. The Mississippi River allowed Huck and Jim to elude the normal clothing, eating habits, and daily routines that are usually followed in a civilized society.
In the classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses symbolism to represent the good and evil of the Mississippi River. Throughout the novel, an uneducated Huckleberry is pulled into two different directions pertaining to what society thinks about African Americans. The racist southern society of St. Petersburg, Missouri or a runaway slave named Jim. Twain symbolizes the Mississippi River greatly whereas it's the ticket to freedom for both but can also lead to dangerous situations. Along the way Jim teaches Huck about the true meaning of life."Just because you're taught that something is right and everyone believes it's right, it don't make it right" (pg. 98). They form a trustworthy friendship during their adventures down the Mississippi.
Huck and Jim continue on the river as it guides them and forms the story. The river “cannot tolerate any design, to a story which is its story, that might interfere with its nce. Things must merely happen, here and there, to the people who live along its shores or commit themselves to its current” (154). The river surely seems to do this in Huck’s adventure, casting them into unsuspected adventures, introducing them to odd new people. Huck and Jim also come across problems that they need to figure out on the fly, problems that seemingly come from nowhere. The river also seems a sanctuary to Huck and Jim. These things are undefined especially because they seem random, or unpredictable. Of course, the river has these paths that it steers Huck and Jim on, and they accept them and go with the flow, no pun intended. Huck and Jim also finish the story with something that doesn’t seem to end their story- merely a continuation.