The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Essay Example For Students

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Essay All children have a special place, whether chosen by a conscious decision or not, this is a place where one can go to sort out 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, Dont 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 shouldnt 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 escapethe Mississippi River constantly flowing nearby. On the river, nature is presented as a thought-provoking environment, when experienced alone. The river is a 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 lowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Then I thought a minute, and says to myself, hold on, spose youd a done right and give Jim up; would you felt better than you do now? No, says I, Id feel badà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 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, showing how unnatural the collective thought of a society can be. The largest and most obvious test of Hucks 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 couldnt see no places to harden me against him, but only the other kindà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I studied a minute sort of holding my breath, and then I says to myself: All right, then, Ill go to hellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 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 him, 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 was 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 childrens 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? Milton's multi-layered poem Lycidas is a literary work with a variety of interpretations and meanings EssayIt is apparent that Huck is overcoming the prevailing attitude of society regarding the justification of breaking up slave families. He is also beginning to see that Jim is more concerned about his children than Pap was about him. Jim is becoming less â€Å"black† and more human and thus begins to reveal to Huck that there is not so much difference between black and white. Also in this section we see Huck taking a stand to help someone else when he tells the girls that the â€Å"Duke and King† are not their uncles and devises a plan for them to be exposed. During this section, Huck took on the identity of being a slave owner when he first met the Duke and King and then later took on the identity of being a servant when the Duke and King set out to fool Mary Jane, Susan, and Joanna and steal their inheritance. These chapters deal with the very important and powerful issues that are alluded to early in the book. Huck is forced to decide between right and wrong concerning slavery when Jim is held by the Phelps. Deciding whether to help Jim or let him be returned to his rightful owner, Miss Watson, is a very powerful struggle with the morality of slavery. When Huck decides to help Jim even if it means going to hell, Huck has finally come to a decision. Huck assumes the identity of Tom Sawyer accidentally when he is mistaken for Tom by Aunt Sally and then together with Tom, who pretends to be Sid, the two of them plot Jim’s escape. The fact that Huck is willing to sacrifice his own soul for Jim’s sake shows the growth that Huck has undergone. This scene shows the change in the relationship between Huck and Jim from companion to friend to family. Huck makes his decision after remembering all the times that Jim protected and cared for him which not even his own family had done before. Once Tom is on the scene, Huck takes a backseat role. Huck is surprised that Tom is willing to steal a slave considering how long it took him to reach that decision. Later it is revealed that Tom already knew that Jim was actually freed so that his decision was not nearly as meaningful from a moral standpoint. Much of this section is a return to Tom’s humorous adventures and escapades as he contrives to free Jim in the most complicated manner. Huck reverts to his simple acceptance and minimization of his intelligence. The conclusion of the book is also the culmination of the struggle for freedom on two levels. Jim is revealed as a free man legally, having been freed by Miss Watson in her will. Jim’s struggles had not been necessary for him to be free but had been for the emotional growth of Huck and his freedom from society’s view of slavery. Huck is also revealed to be free from Pap as it is finally reported to him that his father was the dead person found on the river. The ending of the novel, however, finds Huck still in the same place of trying to escape civilization but Huck is no longer seen as the poor uneducated boy rather intelligent young man who does not want to be part of the middle class hypocrisy. The most profound change throughout the book is the view of Jim and thus of slavery. At first Jim is a background character as are all slaves, his importance as a human being surfaced throughout the book as well as the strength of his character. Through this change Twain sends a strong message about slavery to his reader.