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Huckleberry Finn Symbolism

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Imagine almost dying on an adventure to save your friend then deciding to take another right afterward that is what happened to Huckleberry Finn. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, takes place in St. Petersburg, Missouri after Twain's previous novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The book details Huckleberry Finn's journey along the Mississippi River to free a slave named Jim. Huck encounters Jim on Jackson's Island after faking his own death to avoid his enraged, drunk father, Pap. The story ends as Huck announces he is heading west after freeing Jim. Many scholars presented their cases supporting and opposing the method in which Twain ended his magnum opus. While the ending seems hurried and out of place from the previous …show more content…

The best example of this appears during Jim's detainment at Phelps farm. Tom alerts Huck that "old Miss Watson died two months ago, and she was ashamed she was ever going to sell him down the river ... she set him (Jim) free in her will" (Twain 217). The death and shame of Miss Watson ultimately represent the downfall of societies reign over Jim, who symbolizes Huck through his desire for control over his own actions. "Huck’s father [is a] prominent example of the hypocrisy of the whole man in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He is an abusive, racist, drunk old man devouted of most virtues. ... After having been arrested for drunk, yet again, and disorderly behaviour, he is taken into care by the same judge who awarded him custody of his son in an effort to make a 'man of him' (Twain 38). This endeavour fails miserably (Mattisson)." After his father is released again without any repercussions for his actions, even after the pleading by Judge Thatcher, Huck acknowledges that society inevitably will be hypocritical. Roy Harvey Pearce, one of the founders of the University of California San Diego's Literature Department, argues "Mark Twain projects the American's sense that somewhere, at some point ... it would indeed be possible to regain access to the truth, ...but in the present situation, Mark Twain despaired of that possibility and in Huck, his nature, and his history …show more content…

Huck has always resented society as shown through his use of tobacco and artful cussing "knowing that they mean an overt repudiation of Miss Watson's meticulous world" (Neil Schmitz). Huck's rebellion against society is evident even at the earliest stage of his life. During their time at Jackson's Island, "Huck's instinctive sense of Jim as a person becomes clear; he can even bring himself to 'humble [himself] to a nigger' and not be sorry for it. ... He is conscience-stricken at realizing what helping Jim means, still he protects him" (Pearce 3). Huck's conscious choice to protect Jim, knowing it is illegal demonstrates an early form of development of Huck's morality. Robert C. Evans, Professor of English at Auburn University Montgomery and author of twenty books, expounds that when "Huck decides not to obey the conventional morality of his culture—which would dictate that he report the location of Jim, the runaway slave, to Miss Watson, Jim's owner—but instead decides to obey his own humane impulses (269–71), is a prime example of Huck's capacity for ideal civil disobedience." Millicent Bell, Assistant Professor of English at Brown University and journalist, explains at this point "Huck has climaxed his development toward a “free” morality" (Bell). Huck begins to see Jim as a person and resent the idea of slavery. Compared to the beginning of the story where he views

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In the book "The Adventures if Huckleberry Finn", Mark Twain's writing mirrors the society and problems it had in that time. This book promotes seeing African-Americans as people, which is absolutely groundbreaking and unheard-of in the time it was written, right after the Civil War. Throughout the book,, Huck has a complete change in his feelings towards Jim, starting with his highly influenced young mind, only able to view Jim as a slave, all the way to seeing Jim as a father-figure who can protect and provide for him. Although Huck tries to see Jim as a friend and fatherly-figure, society's beliefs don't allow him to see Jim as anything but a slave.

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When one reads The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, themes involving morality and conscience become heavily prevalent. The protagonist, Huckleberry Finn, portrays a manifest dynamic character. His actions and statements ranging from the outset of the novel through its ending show Huck’s development of a more concise sense of morality and conscience prevailing over the societal influences of “right and wrong”. In the nineteenth century American South, the inescapable system of slavery and social hierarchy would have discouraged an interracial bond. Yet Huck, while escaping his abusive father, chooses to befriend Jim, the runaway slave whom he encounters, and shares a pivotal stage in his life with his newfound companion, whereby contradicting

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In the end, the concept of Huck’s overall positive moral responsibility is revealed by Twain as he sacrifices his own well being for the benefit of Jim, emerging

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Every person encompasses their own unique opinion. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck Finn possesses a conscience that makes him one of the most important and recognizable figures in American literature. However, Claudia Durst Johnson, a critic, believes that because of Huck’s actions the novel “is one of the most radical and darkly bitter books in the American canon. It represents the breaking of federal law as moral. It recommends disobedience and defiance on the part of young people.”

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It may be difficult for me to understand the true feelings of the author but I can find meaning in Huck’s attitude. At the beginning of their journey along the Mississippi River, Huck shows that he views Jim as inferior and less than human when he says “Well, I can tell you it made me all over trembly and feverish, too, to hear him, because I begun to get it through my head that he was most free—and who was to blame for it? Why, me” (74). Huck’s conscience leads him to believe that Jim is in the wrong for escaping slavery, despite the fact that Huck essentially did the same thing when he escaped in search of his own freedom. Later on in the story, Huck appears to be changing.

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Huck feels blameworthy for not turning Jim in after he heard Jim talking about stealing his family from their owner by hiring an abolitionist. He feels like it is wrong to steal slaves from people who are

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Huck defies the societal hierarchy, beginning to see Jim as an equal. He not only apologizes to a black person, but he also tries to help thieves and potential murderers, showing that he is looking beyond social categories. After saving himself from the sinking boat where a group of criminals are trapped, “ [Huck] begun to worry about the men—I reckon I hadn’t had time to before. I begun

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Not only are these flawed traits prominent in the characters surrounding Huck, but they are also seen in Huck. Huck learns these behaviors from the society he grew up in. As he grew older, family and friends encourage him to act and speak in a warped way. Society’s poisonous effect on Huckleberry Finn reflects the struggle of many individuals today who are raised without proper guidance and role

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Literature has been the place for consuming knowledge, each piece of text with its unique ideas and purposes. Have you ever read a piece of literature that has made you ponder the author's intent? Mark Twain's novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has caused a debate about whether the novel critiques the race-based culture or if the author purposefully made it racist to make it appealing to white readers of the antebellum south. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn revolves around a boy named Huck who escapes his abusive father and journeys down the Mississippi River with Jim, a runaway slave. While The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn does effectively show the growth of Huck's morals, it mostly fails as an indictment of racism due to its excessive

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Throughout their journey, Huck is aware that Jim has escaped but does not know whether or not to turn him into the authorities. Huck’s mentality about society matures and he realizes his need to protect Jim from dangers. As the novel progresses, Huck begins to realize the flaws in society. Huck ultimately chooses to follow his own

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1141 Words | 5 Pages

Although there are numerous instances where Huck’s moral growth can be seen, the individuals around such as Jim, will influence his moral growth greatly. Jim, a runaway slave, is the most influential individual when it comes to Huck’s moral development. During the beginning of the novel, Huck’s morals are primarily based on what he has learned from Miss Watson. Huck begins to become wary of such ideals that Miss Watson has imposed on him, and decided all he wanted “…was a change” (Twain 10).

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Huck thinks about Miss Watson and how he is betraying her by helping Jim escape. Huck encounters slave catchers and he is internally whether to tell about Jim but decides not to and says, “They went and I got aboard the raft, feeling bad and low, because I knowed very well I had done wrong, and I see it warn’t no use for me to try to learn to do right; a body that don’t get started right when he’s little ain’t got no show -- when the pinch comes there ain’t nothing to back him up and keep him to his work, and so he gets beat” (Twain 102). Then later in the novel Jim is sold by some con men for $40 which upsets Huck and causes him to realize he cares about Jim and says, “All right, then I’ll GO to hell” (Twain 225). Huck is defying society’s laws by deciding to help captured Jim. Huck is maturing significantly because his perception of Jim has changed.

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Globalization involves interaction and integration among people, companies and governments of different countries and it usually encompasses the exchange of world views, products, ideas and other mutual sharing which impact positively to the global market. It was welcomed around the world at the beginning of 1990s and the benefits of free trade and market liberalization were realized despite the discontent within states such as Asia and North America in the later years. Advances in transport, telecommunications and infrastructure were the major factors in globalization which realized the growth of cultural and economic activities of different states (Sassen, 1999). Globalization has always been the key to global markets in the world and they have impacted positively to America and the whole world. The current trend in globalization includes deflation which is an economic contagion that has created a global threat to the world economy.

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Huck would be characterized as a proponent of individuality rather than conformity. Furthermore, Huck did not apprehend slavery and its contribution to productivity. Slavery is so inhumane and blacks should have just as much rights as whites. Towards the end of the novel, Huck’s true innocence is shown when he helps Jim escape his confinement at the Phelps’ house. Innocence got the better of him since he was debating whether he should inform Ms. Watson about Jim’s dilemma or should he save him.

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In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the reader gauges morality through the misadventures of Huck and Jim. Notably, Huck morally matures as his perspective on society evolves into a spectrum of right and wrong. Though he is still a child, his growth yields the previous notions of immaturity and innocence. Likewise, Mark Twain emphasizes compelling matters and issues in society, such as religion, racism, and greed. During the span of Huck’s journey, he evolves morally and ethically through his critique of societal normalities.

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