huckleberry finn

462 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Freedom in the adventures of huckleberry finn

In the story of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses many different types of symbols to get Twains numerous messages across. Twain signifies the Mississippi river as a symbol to get away from society for Huck and Jim. Twain also criticizes the way society runs and the things it teaches everyone to be. The river vs. land setting in Huckleberry Finn symbolizes Huck's struggle with himself versus society; Twain suggests that a person shouldn't have to conform to society and should think for themselves.Throughout the novel, Mark Twain shows the society that surrounds Huck as just a little more than a set of degraded rules and authority figures. When the new judge in town allows Pap to keep custody of Huck, adopters are things he doesn't need and doesn't care for. Twain gives Huck the power to think for himself, and come to adult conclusions, which show Twains message; think for yourself.Mark Twain's book Huckleberry Finn is for the reader to interpret for him or herself. But any reader could pick up on Huck's struggle with the freedom the Mississippi River gives him, and the society that holds him back. Huck realizes that he shouldn't have to conform, and he refuses to at the end of the book. Huck's trials and tribulations show the reader that he or she to think for themselves and not conform to societies standards from Huck's time period, or now.

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.

Show More
Related

  • How Does Society Influence Huck Finn

    1486 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck learns a variety of life lessons and improves as a person. Huck goes through a maturing process much different than most, he betters a conscience and begins to feel for humanity versus society. His trip down the river can be seen as a passage into manhood, where his character changes as he can relate with the river and nature.

    Read More

  • Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Alienation of Huckleberry Finn in the Advertures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain is about the great adventures that Huck finn has with his slave Jim on the Missouri River. The story tells not only about the adventures Huck has, but more of a deeper understanding of the society he lives in. Twain had Huck born into a low class society of white people; his father was a drunken bum and his mother was dead. He was adopted by the widow Douglas who tried to teach him morals, ethics, and manners that she thought fit in a civilized society. Huck never cared for these values and ran away to be free of them. During Huck’s adventure with Jim he unknowingly realized that he didn't agree with society’s values and could have his own assumptions and moral values. Twain uses this realization to show how the civilized and morally correct social values that was introduced to Huck was now the civilized and morally contradicting values.

    Read More

  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    670 Words  | 2 Pages

    Are humans naturally good, or evil? Many people argue both ways. It has been argued for centuries, and many authors have written about it. One example of this is Samuel Clemens's, more commonly known as Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The book follows a young boy, named Huckleberry, and a runaway slave, named Jim, as they both run away. Huck runs away to escape being civilized, while Jim runs away from slavery. Together, they talk about life, philosophy, and friends. As they travel down the Mississippi River, both Huck and Jim learn various life lessons. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck witnesses the depravity of human nature on his journey on the Mississippi River.

    Read More

  • The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    	In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops criticism of society by contrasting Huck and Jim’s life on the river to their dealings with people on land. Twain uses the adventures of Huck and Jim to expose the hypocrisy, racism, and injustices of society.

    Read More

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

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    In, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, author, Mark Twain contrasts what life is like on the uncivilized shore compared to the peaceful life on the river. Huckleberry Finn is a character that rejects society's behaviors and values because he does not want to be "civilized" like everyone wants him to be. Huck is someone with a mind of his own and someone who does what he pleases. Since Huck is someone who rejects society, he eventually ends up running away and traveling up the Mississippi River with a slave name Jim. The two runaways find peace on the river and they also find that they do not have to deal with the cruel society on shore. In this respect, what qualities make the river and society on shore so different from one another and how does Twain establish these contrasts? Huck and Jim are two individuals seeking freedom from the uncivilized people on the shore and during their journey together they find freedom on the raft floating up the Mississippi River.

    Read More

  • Huckleberry Finn

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mark Twain’s masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through much criticism and denunciation has become a well-respected novel. Through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy, Huckleberry Finn, Twain illustrates the controversy of racism and slavery during the aftermath of the Civil War. Since Huck is an adolescent, he is vulnerable and greatly influenced by the adults he meets during his coming of age. His expedition down the Mississippi steers him into the lives of a diverse group of inhabitants who have conflicting morals. Though he lacks valid morals, Huck demonstrates the potential of humanity as a pensive, sensitive individual rather than conforming to a repressive society. In these modes, the novel places Jim and Huck on pedestals where their views on morality, learning, and society are compared.

    Read More

  • The search for self in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye

    1943 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Huckleberry Finn Essay 'Parental Relations'

    1426 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of society's favorite figures of speech is that it takes an entire town to raise a child. Such is true in Mark Twain's, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Through Huck's journey down the Mississippi River, Twain illustrates the influence society has on the undeveloped morals. As Huckleberry travels he becomes "the impassive observer" and aware of the corruption in the values of society (330). Encountering these societies gives Huck a selective morality.

    Read More

  • Carper's Ways Of Knowing In Nursing Analysis

    2169 Words  | 5 Pages

    Personal knowing focuses on experiencing and knowing self and others. Carper (1978) indicated that personal knowing is the most difficult to master and teach. As personal knowing is identifying and knowing oneself through interaction and relationships, this would be very difficult to teach in a classroom. Zander (2011) further supported this thought, specifically that “personal knowing could only be achieved through complex interpersonal relationships.” (PAGE). The qualities of authenticity, genuineness, and wholeness are also associated with personal knowing (Chinn & Kramer, 2011). These qualities help to identify what is true about oneself and how to display that truth with others, mostly through relationships and interactions. This is very important in nursing, as who we are affects patient

    Read More

  • Individual versus Society in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mark Twain published his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as a response to problems he saw in modern society. The reader is able to see many different distinct themes throughout the novel. From the very beginning of the book, Huck was different from the rest of society and had his own thoughts about how things should be done. Huck didn't want to wear clothes, study religion, or want to be “sivilized”. Widow Douglas attempted to conform Huck to the ways of society, but he decided to break free and live his life under his own individual law. Huck and Jim escape from society on a raft; both having different reasons for escaping. Huck is fond of Jim but he is worried that he is breaking the law by helping a runaway slave. One hand tells him to return Jim to Miss Watson, the other says to help Jim escape. On the raft, Jim and Huck can be themselves, which mainly consists of: being naked, being talkative and being free of social norms. This paradise doesn't last for very long as the Duke and king find our friends on the raft. Jim gets sold into slavery again when king sells him to go drink. On Huck's new adventure to free his friend Jim, he reunites with Tom Sawyer, who surprisingly accepts Huck's morals and helps him steal Jim in an extravagant, "by the book", way. At the end of the novel, after everything is resolved, Huck is already prepared to embark on his next adventure away from “sivilization" in the west. Mark Twain satirizes things like organized religion, norms of modern civilization, usefulness of education, slavery and family feuds, to show his readers that the morals that society holds, might not be so moral after all. The reader discovers that Huck's morals are much higher than those that society holds. Huck was ...

    Read More

  • Huckleberry Finn Journal Entry

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    On February 10, in chapter nine and ten, Huck and Jim have developed somewhat of a friendship. They hide the canoe in a cavern; just in a case there were visitors that had dropped by. Unfortunately, it rains very hard, and the two hide in the cavern. The two find a washed-out houseboat, they find a dead body in the house, the body had been shot in the back. While heading back to the cave, Huck has Jim hide in the canoe, so he would not be seen. The next day, Huck puts a dead rattlesnake near Jim's sleeping place, and its mate comes and bites Jim. Jim's leg swells. A while later, Huck decides to go ashore and to find out what's new. Jim agrees, but has Huck disguise himself as a girl, with one of the dresses they took from the houseboat. Huck practices his girl impersonation, and then sets out for the Illinois shore. In an abandoned shack, he finds a woman who looks forty, and also appears a newcomer. Huck is relieved she is a newcomer, since she will not be able to recognize him. The two characters share a few important traits in common. One of the most obvious similarities is their confidence in superstition, though superstition was also a part of the society in which they lived, where people thought cannon balls and loaves of bread with mercury could find drowned corpses. The two are from “civilization” and more generally the white upper class world. Of course, Jim’s background is much deeper than Huck's. As an African American, he simply is less a part of it. Jim's freedom is endangered by that world; he must hide himself during the day so that he is not taken back to it. Journal Entry 6

    Read More

  • Religion, Slavery, and Democracy in Huckleberry Finn

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    Another theme that is dealt with in this book is slavery. In fact, slavery is one of the main topics that has been frequently debated in regards to Huckleberry Finn since it was first published. Twain himself was vehemently anti-slavery and Huckleberry Finn can in many ways be seen as an allegory for why slavery is wrong. Twain uses Jim, a slave who is one of the main characters, as a way of showing the human side of a slave. Everything about Jim is presented through emotions: Jim runs away because Miss Watson was going to sell him South and separate him from his family; Jim is trying to become free so he can buy his family's freedom; and Jim takes care of Huck and protects him on their journey downriver in a very materialistic manner.

    Read More

  • Healthy Diet Essay

    1440 Words  | 3 Pages

    Healthy diet, according to “CDC-Dietary guidelines for Americans 2010, diet which emphasizes eating foods rich in fiber, potassium, vitamin-D, calcium such as beans, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts and low fat milk and milk products, and also Low in saturated fats, cholesterol, trans-fat, salt and added sugars, within a day calorie need”. But if you were taking more dairy, little servings of vegetables, fruits, and proteins, and then piling up as many fats, grains and superfluous oils, you are accurately near to the depiction of modern American diet. Yes unhealthy diet is a major contributor to poor health and health disparities.

    Read More

  • Huckleberry Finn Character Analysis

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, comes from a pivotal moment in American history. The Civil War has ended, but the country is still facing a great divide. The title character, Huck Finn, is an adolescent in southern America left to face this issue head on. Huck is on a journey to free himself from civilization, yet he continues to find himself stuck between moral and social obligations. While on his quest for freedom and individuality, Huck does the unthinkable and forms a relationship with a runaway slave instead of turning him in. Since Huck wants to make the moral choice to help Jim, he must endure an internal struggle against the social conventions.

    Read More

More about huckleberry finn

Open Document