Huck's Maturation In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

The maturation theme is present in almost all great works and social commentaries. In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the protagonist Nick Carraway matures throughout the novel to the conclusion that he does not want to be a part of his society. Mark Twain, in his American Realistic novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn utilizes maturation in order to comment on the state of American backwoods society, through Huck’s compassion, Huck’s growth towards his view of the world, and lastly Huck’s acceptance of his responsibility. Just as Nick Carraway, the beginning of the text shows Huck as a care-free happy boy. Unfortunately, Huck is very much a product of his time, and has little respect for black people. We can see one such example of his childishness

Huck is looking for a father, and Jim is looking to join a family. The two complement each other well (4). Helping an escaped slave is a criminal offense during this period of time. It could be argued that Huck is not fully aware of the consequences of his actions, but as the reader sees time and time again, Huck is a very wise, very practical, very street-smart boy. It is rather unlikely that Huck makes this decision lightly: like Jim, he too wants to run away. Perhaps Huck feels closer to Jim because of this, and it rationalizes his reasons for helping him. Huck understands Jim’s plight, even relates to it, and he feels Jim’s pain. Similarly, one of the greatest testaments to Huck’s compassion was the river episode and Huck and Jim’s encounter with the sinking steamboat Walter Scott. The protagonists chance across a sinking steamboat, and happen aboard to take a look. Once aboard, they realize that they are in the company of a band of robbers, this time much more deadly than those fixated with Sunday school picnics. After escaping the raft, Huck immediately notifies local authorities of the robber’s calamity. When pressed on the identity of these unlucky crooks, Huck responds that they are his family so that they will be rescued with the utmost haste. Kolb notes that most of Twain’s characters, such as Jacob Blivens from The Story of a Good Little Boy, operate

Claiming to be an escaped English Duke and the exiled French king, the escapades of these two are a source of amusement throughout the book. However, as they outstay their welcome, their shenanigans turn from simply humorous to downright dastardly. Through them, Huck gains a better view of the world. In their first encounter, Huck innocently asks the Dauphin to speak French. Failing to – he claims it’s been too long since he lived in France - Huck makes up his mind that this pair of liars “warn’t no kings nor dukes at all”, just a couple of low-down humbugs and frauds. He decides not to challenge them, if they wanted to be kings and dukes, let them. Huck decides its best not to cause any trouble (Twain 142). In his critical essay Spontaneity and the Quest for Maturity in Huck Finn, author R. J. Fertel posits that Huck actually likes Duke and Dauphin because they are so alike. Both the con men and Huck are improvisers, always ready with a scheme or tall tale to get out of trouble. The difference is, Huck’s improvisation is relatively harmless and always to get him or someone else a greater good, while the Royal Nonesuch’s schemes are designed for their benefit, and their benefit only (12). The arrival of the Duke and Dauphin in the text marks the transition from a commentary on race to a commentary on society, and