Huck Finn
Before the waters of the Midwest grew angry, the rivers of the region behaved as they usually do - restrained, strong, not quick to lash out with destruction. The writer Mark Twain knew the Mississippi that way, and Huck Finn knew life on the river in the calm of the Midwestern night. But in Twain's classic story, the river was, in fact, much more than just a body of water. It was the source of knowledge and the guiding light of the entire tale. In fact, as Mindi Lazear points out, the mental "landscape" of Huckleberry Finn is actually limited by the view along either bank (37). In some novels the natural world is so important that some feature of it is virtually another character in the story. With respect to the river, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a novel like that. Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, a small town on the Mississippi River. He patterned some of his characters' adventures after his own boyhood experiences (Poznar 316). But I also find that he did more than just that. In the novel, young Huckleberry Finn and a companion, Jim, an escaped slave, flee by raft down the Mississippi River. Often helpless to steer in the strong currents, Huck and Jim allow the big river to take them where
Tom's ambition is to become famous without counting the cost to himself or others. We was drifting straight down for her. Clearly, without the river-- these characters would have been completely lost-- forever. Huck has no way of knowing what is right. He found himself writing not a boy's novel, like Tom Sawyer, but a man's novel, about real moral dilemmas and growth-- all based entirely around the river. Thus, we can infer that the river was very much a background motivator for the realization of much more than just a journey-- but for the creative implementation of all that transpired thereafter as well. Consider even the obvious contrast in the character of Tom Sawyer and that of Huck Finn. The adventure's the thing; the hurt and anguish of Aunt Sally, the pain and discomfort of Jim, these never occur to him. Jim's supposed savior, Huck, has led him as far astray as a slave can go, and the farther they go, the worse it is going to be for him. When I write that the river was like a guiding light, I refer also to the fact that its location and its existence acted as sources of guidance for Huck Finn and his peers. All during the trip down river, he tries to answer the question of whether he is doing right by the Widow's sister and by Jim, or not. But he is also tender, sensitive, loyal, and capable of very deep feeling. Jim is illiterate, superstitious, and afraid of unnamed forces, characteristics that are the subject of some of the comedy in the book.
Common topics in this essay:
Jim Jim,
Huck Jim,
Huck--and Twain,
Winifred Madison,
Aunt Sally,
Miss Watson,
Carol Hurst,
Huckleberry Finn,
Tom Sawyer,
Huck Finn,
huckleberry finn,
huck jim,
source knowledge,
huck finn,
guiding light,
deep feeling,
miss watson,
mark twain,
travel river,
mississippi river,
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Acceptance Essays
