Transcendentalism In Huckleberry Finn

Slavery and transcendentalism were significant parts of the 19th century. Slaves like Frederick Douglass fought to escape to the North, and writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson encouraged the public not to conform to society. Freedom was an issue that connected these topics. Slaves desired a literal form of freedom: to not be owned by another person. Emerson advocated for a more figurative freedom: the freedom to be oneself. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd emphasize that one cannot achieve freedom alone, as others reveal issues with societal norms, and physically assist them on their journey; though Ralph Waldo Emerson in Self-Reliance argues that freedom comes through autonomy, Frederick

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, a young boy named Huck befriends a runaway slave named Jim. Through being around Jim, Huck notices flaws with society’s image of slaves. When confronted with the choice of turning Jim in to Miss Watson or continuing their adventure, Huck recalls “somehow I couldn’t seem to find no places to harden me against him [Jim], but only the other kind. I’d see him standing my watch on top of his’n, ‘stead of calling me, so I could go on sleeping… and would always call me honey, and pet me, and do everything he could think of for me” (Twain 214). Jim indirectly reminds Huck that slaves are more than property, and are capable of being caring, loving, and kind. Due to this realization, Huck breaks societal norms by deciding to remain loyal to Jim, giving him freedom from a prejudiced society. Similarly, in The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the Main Character,

In 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote an essay describing what a man must do to be free, called Self Reliance. Emerson states, “A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best (Emerson 1). The word “his” is used repeatedly, which shows Emerson’s belief that one must work alone to achieve happiness. He expresses that no one can help one achieve freedom, because one is only truly self-reliant, and by extension, free, if they set themselves free. On the contrary, other people provide education that is crucial to being self-reliant, and therefore free. In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, Douglass explains his path towards freedom. It all starts with learning to read and write. His former mistress started to teach him, but she soon stopped, as she learned how slave owners generally kept their slaves ignorant, as it made them easier to control. After that, Douglass found a new source of teachers: children. He notes, “The plan which I adopted, and the one by which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of these as I could, I converted into teachers” (Douglass 2). As Douglass was a slave, his owners did not allow him to have access to books, which meant he could not teach himself. Becoming literate by himself was not an option, so he had to seek help from others. The white boys