Huckleberry Finn Friendship Vs Society

Friendship is Greater Than Society

What does friendship mean? If one searches for the meaning of friendship they will realize that there are many different definitions of the word, friendship, but anyone who has a friendship will know the real meaning. Some individuals might even associate this type of relationship with two characters that are in a famous book known as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The author, Mark Twain, wrote about how a young boy named Huck, decides to help a slave named Jim escaped to freedom. Helping Jim escape is very risk because they live in a society where helping a slave escape is a crime. Despite the crime, Huck and Jim head down the Mississippi River searching for Cairo, which will lead them north. Along

In The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, both of the main characters want to be free, Huck wants to be free from civilization, and Jim wants to be free from slavery. This situation ignites a relationship found on trust. Huck and Jim have to learn how to trust one another in order for both of them to be free. One circumstance that shows Jim putting his faith in Huck’s hands is when some men searching for a runaway slave ask to search the raft. Huck responses to the men say, “I wish you would because it's pap that's there, and maybe you help me tow the raft ashore where the light is. He's sick and so is mam and Mary Ann.”(72). Huck feels terrible for lying about Jim’s identity, but he knows that protecting his friend from danger is right. Not only does Jim have to trust Huck, but Huck has to trust Jim as well, because Huck is a minor he could get in trouble if someone finds

Jim would never do anything to put Huck in danger or pain because of the close connection they share. The small details in the novel tell the readers just how close the characters are, and some people often say Huck and Jim’s relationship is similar a father and son’s relationship. One instance when Jim plays a parental role when they approach the floating house they see on the river and find a dead man in it. Jim covers the man’s face up because Jim recognized that it was Huck’s father. Jim told Huck, “Come in, Huck, but doan' look at his face -it's too gashly.”(41). Jim’s reaction to the situation displays that he does not want to see Huck in pain over the loss of his dad. Another role where Jim is a like a father figure to Huck is when he finally reunites with Huck after they get separated by the fog. Jim, he says to Huck, “Goodness gracious, is dat you, Huck? …. It's too good for true, honey….Lemme look at you, chile…. No, you ain' dead! you's back again…thanks to goodness!”(72). Jim’s response not only shows how happy he is to see Huck, but it gives readers an understanding of how much Jim cares for