Society's Influence on Huckleberry Finn

The characteristics and development of one’s inner being are determined by the presence or total absence of the influence of society. We, as a society, learn and grow based on the information and sociocultural influences around us. Therefore, we also grow based on the lack of society in our daily lives and activities. For example, in the satirical narrative written by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the audience encounters the primary protagonist, Huck Finn, at a catalyzing moment in his fictional life. He is entrapped within the constant struggle between society’s influence and the empty freedom that is presented through nature throughout the text. In context, the influential grasp of society never truly engulfs the conscious of the young, southern mind, while nature never truly frees Huck from sociocultural influences. He is found in a constant obscure oblivion in which he is never fully immersed in either of the two entities of the narrative.

In the early stages of the novel, the audience meets a young man living in an early, fictional, southern civilization known as St. Petersburg, Missouri. The young boy has been adopted by a southern woman with the attempt to civilize his primitive behavior with the external influences of his friend, Tom Sawyer, constantly attempting to create mischief. However, despite these influences, Huckleberry Finn still shows brief signs of individualistic thoughts and ideas. For example, in an early chapter of the composition, Twain writes, “Tom whispered to me, and wanted to tie Jim to the tree for fun. But I said no; he might wake and make a disturbance, and then they'd find out I warn't in.” (Twain 8). In this current stage of the novel, Huckleberry shows no obvious signs of caring...

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...uman being to create his own self without external influences from society. The only manner in which once can seek to escape society’s grasp is to embrace it with educated perspective and be able to control your own conscious above all else. Nature, in a sense, is a way for people to Huckleberry Finn, for the most part, showed an extraordinary maturity when dealing with society throughout the entirety of the novel. However, society will constantly be a force upon humanity’s individualistic characteristics.

Works Cited

Twain, Mark. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library, n.d. Web.

"Birney's American Churches and Slavery." Birney's American Churches and Slavery. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.

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