Defining Freedom as found in the themes of Huckleberry Finn
“ The truth is that I love feeling alive. I love feeling free. So if I can’t have those things I feel like a caged animal. I’d rather be dead. And it’s real simple. And I think it’s not that uncommon.” Angelina Jolie defines her idea of freedom as having independence in life without the feeling of being enclosed in a rigid civilization. This quote directs to Jim and Huck’s pursuit of freedom as they begin their journey to escape from social restraints. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the theme of freedom is presented throughout the story as Jim and Huck overcome hardships along their adventures. Firstly, Jim and Huck have grown up in a society where they were pushed
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In fact, this was the one place where both Jim and Huck were able to be their true selves since there was no brutality of society could reach them. The raft was their home where their fears slipped away and they couldn’t be touched by any atrocities happening in the world. Jim expressed his feelings about living on the raft, “We said there warn’t no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft” (Twain 117). For a while, Jim and Huck were living on the raft sailing through the Mississippi River. In the raft was where they felt ataraxia with the relaxation of nature. They weren’t caged creatures in society anymore, they weren’t abused or misunderstood, they now felt that their existence in the world had a purpose. As a result, Jim and Huck were alive and free in nature, they didn’t hide or disguise themselves because there was no reason to. The river was reassuring and soothing, a place unlike anything they’ve ever experienced before, “It’s lovely to live on the raft. We had the sky up there. All speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened” (120). Jim and Huck both related to each