Examples Of Archetypal Hero In Huckleberry Finn

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A hero is someone that defies the status quo and makes a change for the better. In Mark Twain’s novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck undergoes a spiritual cleansing in a pre-Civil War time period, defying what others have told him and befriending a runaway slave, and in doing so, he acts as an archetypal hero.

When the reader is first introduced to Huck’s life, he is at the beginning of his hero’s journey, in the ordinary world, but will soon want more out of life, which leads to him embarking on a journey. At the very beginning of the story, Huck lives an ordinary, uncomfortable lifestyle. Huck has lived his whole life without parents, so he is used to a life that is very different than the life that he has recently

Unfortunately for Huck, the Widow Douglas refuses to give up. “The Widow Douglas, she took me for her son, and allowed that she would sivilize me” (Twain 1). Huck has started his journey in the Ordinary World, the beginning phase of the hero’s journey, in which Huck doesn’t enjoy many aspects of his new lifestyle. Sarah McGuire explains, “The mundane ordinary world is presented in stark contrast with the “special world” that the hero will enter when they accept their quest” (McGuire). In Huck’s case, the greatest contrast between his constricted life and the freedom of the river is Miss Watson. “Miss Watson she kept pecking at me, and it got tiresome and lonesome” (Twain 3). Clearly, Mrs. Watson is not very empathetic to Huck, and is constantly bothering him to the point of extreme annoyance. Huck’s father, Pap, acts as a necessary medium to push Huck along on his hero’s journey. “Pap he hadn’t been seen for more than a year, and that was comfortable for me; I didn’t want to see him no

It is shown early on that Huck does not miss his father, and would prefer that he never return. After they meet for the first time in more than a year, Pap kidnaps Huck and nearly kills him. “He chased me round and round the place with a clasp-knife, calling me the Angel of Death, and saying he would kill me” (Twain 31). The Angel of Death incident leaves Huck afraid for his life, and makes him realize that he needs to escape. “Well, last I pulled out some of my hair, and blooded the axe good and stuck it on the back side, and slung the axe in the corner.” (Twain 35). Here, Huck shows the reader his resourcefulness in escaping his father, making it seem as if he has been murdered so that no one will come after him. After Huck escapes from his father, he begins his journey along the river and ‘meets the mentor’, Jim, who helps Huck become a better person. As Sarah Mcguire describes, Jim fills the mentor role because he is a “wise… older… man, [and] guides the hero in gaining the supplies and knowledge needed to embark on the adventure” (McGuire). Upon meeting Jim on the island, Huck soon learns that Jim has run away. “‘Well, I b’lieve you, Huck. I—I run off.” “Jim!” “But mind,