FREE ESSAY ON ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN

ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
All children have a special place, whether chosen by a conscious decision or not this is
a place where one can go to sort their thoughts. Nature can often provide comfort by
providing a nurturing surrounding where a child is forced to look within and choices can
be made untainted by society. Mark Twain once said Don't let school get in the way of
your education. Twain states that this education which is provided by society, can
actually hinder human growth and maturity. Although a formal education shouldn't be
completely shunned, perhaps true life experience, in society and nature, are a key part
of development. In the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain throws the
curious yet innocent mind of Huck Finn out into a very hypocritical, judgmental, and
hostile world, yet Huck has one escape--the Mississippi River constantly flowing nearby.
Here nature is presented as a thought provoking environment when experienced alone. The
river is quiet and peaceful place where Huck can revert to examine any predicament he
might find himself in: They went off, and I got aboard the raft, feeling bad and
low...Then I thought a minute, and says to myself, hold on,- s'pose you'd a done right
and give Jim up; would you felt better than you do now? No, says I, I'd feel bad...
(p.127). Only a few weeks with Jim and still feeling great ambivalence, Huck returns to
the river to think. Twain tries here to tell the reader how strong the mob really is, and
only when totally alone is Huck able to make the morally correct decision. The natural
flowing and calm of the river cause this deep-thought, show! ing how unnatural the
collective thought of a society can be. The largest and most obvious test of Huck's
character is his relationship with Jim. The friendship and assistance which he gives to
Jim go completely against all that sivilization has taught him; at first this concept
troubles Huck and causes him a great deal of pain, but over time, through his life
experiences and shared times with Jim, Huck crosses the line upheld by the racist South
and comes to know Jim as a human being. Huck is at a point in his life where opinions are
formed, and by growing on the river, Huck can stand back from society and form his own.
Eventually he goes as far as to risk his life for Jim:And got to thinking of our trip
down the river; and I see Jim before me, all the time, in the day, and in the night-time,
sometimes moonlight, sometimes storms, and we a floating along, talking, and singing, and
laughing. But somehow I couldn't see no places to harden me against him, but only the
other kind...I studied a minute sort of holding my breath, and then I s! ays to myself:
'All right, then, I'll go to hell'... (pp.270-271). After a long and thought-provoking
adventure, Huck returns to the raft one final time to decide the fate of his friend.
Symbolically, Huck makes the morally correct decision away from all others, thinking on
the river. Although it might not be evident to himself, Huck causes the reader to see
that sivilization, in their treatment of blacks especially, is not civilized at all.
Every person Huck and Jim come across seems to just be following someone else blindly, as
the whole country were some sort of mob. In the last few chapters, Tom Sawyer is
re-introduced and the reader is left to examine how different environments: sivilization
and nature (the river), have affected the children's growth. It is distinctly evident
that Huck has turned out to be the one with a clear and intelligent mind, and Tom,
although he can regurgitate worthless facts about Louis XVI and Henry VIII, shows no real
sign of maturity. The first time I catched up to Tom, private, I asked him what was his
idea, time of the evasion?- what it was he planned to do if the evasion worked out all
right and he managed to set a nigger free that was already free before? And he said, what
he had planned in his head, from the start, if we got Jim out, all safe, was for us to
run him down the river, on the raft, and have adventures plumb to the mouth... (p.360).
Huck has always thought of Tom as more intelligent than himself, but he cannot understand
how Tom could toy with Jim's life in such a way. For much time, Huck is! without the
river and it is though his mind clouds; he follows along with Tom playing a sick game
until the end when he is once again threatened with being sivilized. But I reckon I got
to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because aunt Sally she's going to adopt
me and sivilize me and I can't stand it. I been there before (p.362). Huck's adventure,
if nothing else, has given him a wary eye towards sivilized society. When the prospect of
settling down with Sally is presented he light's out for the Territory to distance
himself from a restrictive, formal education. Twain ends his novel by setting Huck up for
a new experience and personal growth. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn taught an
important lesson, one that showed the importance of the self in the maturing process. We
saw Huck grow up by having the river as a place of solitude and thought, where he was
able to participate in society at times, and also sit back and observe society. Through
the child's eye we see how ignorant and mob-like we can all be. Then nature, peace, and
logic are presented in the form of the river where Huck goes to think. Though no concise
answer is given, the literature forces the reader to examine their surroundings, and
question their leaders.