In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay

In The Adventures of huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain juxtaposes huckabacks adventurous and liberating excursion along with Jim on the raft d swindlesume the river multiple sclerosis with the corrupt livelihood-time that allows unconscious acceptance to the values of society on the shore.The novel unf of age(predicate)s Hucks inner mind and records his learning and lesson development as he encounters morally corrupt and crooked good deal on his journey to freedom. The novel contrasts between the constricting aliveness on the shore and the freedom offered by the journey on the river. Though Hucks raft deciphers the river towards its downward journey, he goes over against the stream in his bearing learning on his own the hard realities of feel.Huck eng quiters the two flush sisters widow woman Douglas and leave out Watson, who adopt him, as the true representatives of the society that is ground on hypocritical religious and ethical values. Though Widow Douglas is much pati ent and gentle towards Huck, he finds her c be and concern quite differencerictive.When she puts him in new clothes he could do nonhing but tonus cramped sweating a lot. He does non find every meaning in prayer before the dinner and in the stories of Moses and the Bulrushers who were bloodless long time ago. Though the life in the c ar of Widow Douglas is decent and dignified, cozy and comfortable, Huck does not like it much. He find outs his old ways of living argon the best. Living in a put up and sleeping in a bed pulled on me pretty preposterous mostly, but before the cold weather I used to veer out and sleep in the woods sometimes, and so that was a rest to me. I liked the old ways Best. (Twain 13)He finds Miss Watsons attempts to sivilize him most annoying. For him, she is the best example of severe and unforgiving laws of Christian life which atomic number 18 against his individual freedom. He feels Miss Watson she kept pecking at me, and it got tiresome and loneso me. He is so vexed with the ways of living infra the care of Miss Watson that he feels one night quite low-spirited and feels I felt so lonesome I most wished I was dead. (Twain 5)When Miss Watson insists that he should pray he can not find some(prenominal) reason to pray when his prayers are not answered by God. When he asks her to try for him she calls him a fool. Huck tries several times in his own way asking God for the things he wanted, but he could not find any response from God. He finds it quite impractical. He does not find any advantage for him in praying for others as told by Widow. He finds a lot of difference between Widow and Miss Watson who twain pray and teach the aforesaid(prenominal) things to him slightly Providence. The following lines best beautify his reason of his two guardians who differ a lot in their attitude.I judged I could see that at that place was two Providences, and a poor lumberman would stand considerable show with the widows Providence, but if Miss Watsons got him there reprehendt no help for him any more. (Twain 11)Hucks father, Pap, an incorrigible bust up with his disgusting and ghostlike expression in tattered clothes, represents the generally debased white society and the failed family. Pap, who is endlessly after the money earned by Huck, feels jealous of his sons education when his son is living with Widow Douglas and going to school. He not however kidnaps his son but in addition virtually imprisons him in a cabin in the woods and beats him completely drunk. In fact, he set ups dangerous and provides the immediate and most potent cause for Hucks execute from the society on the shore.On the contrary, he finds a trust and caring surrogate father in Jim who accompanies him in his escape from the shore. Jim, a run forth slave from the erect of Miss Watson, stands for strong family relationship, nobility and loyalty. He takes the extreme step of running away from Miss Watsons house as he suspects he wou ld be sold for another reign which will eventually separate him from his family. Though he seems superstitious and ignorant, he is an intelligent man with a deep understanding of human life. Jim he was well(p) he was most always right he had an grotesque level head for a nigger. (Twain 55).There is a strong link of friendship and understanding between Huck and Jim on the raft. Both are desperately in need of defending themselves from the selfish plenty in the society. The raft on the river Mississippi provides them an opportunity to save their lives. It offers them the much infallible freedom. The following passage aptly conveys their dire need to run away from society.I was powerful glad to conquer away from the fights, and so was Jim to get away from the swamp. We said there warnt no family like a raft, after all. Other blots do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft dont. You feel powerful free and easy and comfortable on a raft. (Twain 83)The life on the raft is different in umteen ways from the life that is found on the shore. Theraft provides them not only as escape from the corrupt and selfish people, but withal an opportunity to be what they are and to do what they like. It gives them a unique opportunity to explore their true identicalness and their stand in relation to many things in life. They are close at hand(predicate) to their true nature on the raft in the lovable and world powery presence of the river and the woods. It offers them unrestricted and uninhibited freedom. Huck feels happy and liberated on the raft and expresses the similar in the following wordsIts lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all dashed with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and establish about whether they was made or only just happened. (Twain 84)Twain has brilliantly contrasted the plight of a white boy with that of a slave Jim. The fib of the novel revolves around these two uses that are almost in the same boat with similar problems. As luck would have it, they make out the same raft in their escape for freedom.Huck finds Jims presence on the raft comforting and supportive as Jim is practical, intelligent and trustworthy though, at times, he seems sentimental. Jim not only cooks food for Huck but also protects him from dangers. Jims acts of selflessness and his longing to meet his family have left an unerasable impression on Huck. Huck is very determined till the end to save Jim and to get him free.However, the life on the raft is not without its share of dangers and threats. Huck and Jim get separated when their raft is hit by a steamer in the river. Hucks encounter with the family of Grangerfords exposes him to pretentious brilliance that people attach to their familys honor or prestige. Huck suspects slowly the chassishearted and gentle people in the family, there is an unreasonable feud between them and the Shepherdsons. It makes no sentiency to Huck. Many of the people belonging to these families fleet in a bitter gun fight from which Huck as luck would have it escapes.After facing many challenging spatial relations Huck and Jim once again continue their journey on the raft further towards the south. The two con artists who ask for help and seek refuge on the raft prove dangerous to Huck in the end. The two con artists involve in various crimes at times claiming to be the descendants of royal family and sometimes, pretense to be great actors and evangelists. They once again remind the crookedness of the people in the society on the shore.The raft has be an excellent place to enjoy the perfect freedom and bliss without any interference. Though Jim is there with him all the time, he is silent and provided a good company with his reconciling nature. Huck enjoys Jims company and the journey most. He expresses his happiness saying,It was kind of solemn, drifting down the big, still river, laying on our backs looking up at the stars, and we didnt ever feel like talking loud, and it warnt often that we laughed only a little kind of a low chuckle. (Twain 47)The long journey on the raft has provided Huck with many opportunities to learn new things and develop his own logic. Every challenge he faces presents him with an opportunity to entail about it deeply and to come to a shutting which he feels right. His association with Jim on the raft has given him opportunity to think clearly and form his own opinion without any interference. He prefers to follow his own instinct and logic than to accept the unquestioned conventions of the society.Hucks determination to save Jim when he is caught demonstrates his maturity and broadness of understanding. Huck has to endure an internal struggle to overcome some of the notions that have been ingrained in him by the society. Every time Huck faces a problem he applies his mind and comes out with a decision what he feels right, though it might look wrong and offending to the white community . He takes help from gobbler Sawyer in rescuing Jim finally.Huck loses his faith in the society that has failed to protect him. Though the Widow tried her best to give him what he has missed, it has proved imperfect to mould him. His growing distance from the society makes him skeptical about it. His natural intelligence and his ability to think through a situation have enabled him to form his own right conclusions. Thus, he creates his own rules and develops his character throughout the journey.Twain depicts the society around Huck with people who are degraded in their values. The actions of these people defy logic and commonsense. For example, when the judge allows Pap, the wreck and disgusting drunkard, to keep custody of Huck, he gives more importance to the right of ownership than to the welfare of the innocent boy. It clearly depicts the social system that has go in its moral standing. It highlights the white mans rights over his keeping whether it is a slave or a son.The M ississippi River plays the most pregnant role in the novel providing freedom and refreshing experience to Huck and Jim who are in their quest for freedom. They travel from their kin town St. Petersburg, Missouri, trade union of St. Louis, hundreds of miles into the Deep South. The odyssey down the river lends the story a mystic element go contentment to the people who come in search of freedom.The river with its power and magnificence sets a meaningful background to the story that contrasts life on the river with the life on the shore. The river plays the role of liberating influence on the two characters Huck and Jim. It is the only place where they can feel at home though they are on a raft. Huck arrives at the conclusion that the idyllic life, pacification and brotherhood of himself and Jim have given him more satisfaction and a sense of freedom and understanding as opposed to the inhumanity, the feud and the degenerated values of society.Thus, it is a journey in search of understanding and freedom leaving female genitals the so called sivilization that destroys innocence and enslaves human beings. In short, Hucks journey is from unthinking acceptance of received values and knowledge to an independently achieved understanding of what is right. It is journey from boyhood to manhood, from servitude to freedom. T. S. Eliot, the great English poet and critic of the twentieth century who also grew up on the banks of the same river says, the river makes the guard a great book It has fired the imagination of the boy Huck and became the only real home for him.ReferenceTwain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn http//www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/twain/huckfinn.pdf