The critic Leo Marx believed that Mark Twain failed to see the vision of his journey in chapters thirty-three through forty-three in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". In these last ten chapters the focus changes from an exploration for freedom to an escape from oppression. Mark Twain fulfills these claims by changing his view on the journey and his approach to conclude the novel.
             In considering the theme of Huckleberry Finn, one might have the idea that a voyage to freedom is the main idea of the story. The majority of chapters contain tales of adventures that Huck and Jim have during their journey on the river. The river means freedom for both Huckleberry Finn and Jim. Each of them wants their freedom but for totally different reasons. Jim wanted his freedom because Miss Watson was going to sell him and send him to New Orleans. "...I hear old missus tell de wider she gwyne to sell me down to Orleans" (50). He did not want to be permanently separated from his family. Huck wants the journey to freedom because he does not want to be contained by the rules of civilized society. "The widow Douglas she took me for her son and allowed she sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn't stand it no longer, I lit out" (1). Huck did not want his drunken father to be replaced by a smothering mother.
             In the last several chapters, the tide seems to turn away from the theme of a freedom quest. Huck and Jim's route to freedom is basically ended when they miss the turn for the Ohio River which would take them on a northern trek to the Free states. This occurrence brings a turning point in the novel because they end up heading south which is back towards slavery for Jim and 'sivilization' for Huck. This brought a far greater risk of them both be
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