Gratification In Huckleberry Finn

Jim, Miss Watson’s slave, is introduced in the first few chapters as a nincompoop. While Tom and Huck were sneaking by Jim, Tom placed Jim’s hat on a tree limb that was right above Jim’s head. When Jim woke up he claimed that only the witches could have done such a thing. Jim was so proud that he told all the slaves about it. This may have been one of the reasons why there were tremendous amounts of people who disapproved of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The fact that Jim is portrayed as stupid and uneducated causes this group of “Huck Finn Haters” to deem this novel racist. As the story presses on, Huck and Jim’s lives become intertwined when they bump into each other on Jackson’s Island. They both escaped from society and were now spending their time smoking pipes and staring into the vast Mississippi River. Huck knew that Jim was a runaway and felt

A good family teaches their kids to not be racist, just like how Jim was inadvertently teaching Huck not to be racist. Since Huck was a white teenage boy growing up in the south, racism was all he knew. He knew a lot of people who owned slaves and that was normal to him. He did not really think about the fact that they were people too; they were just niggers to him. Slaves were a form of entertainment. Huck learned about slaves lives when Jim started talking about his family. Jim was longing for his wife and children one night in particular. Jim talked about how when he got freed he would go back and bring his wife and children to freedom. He also admitted to his mistakes as a father, such as beating his daughter for not listening to directions even though he did not know at the time that his daughter was deaf and could not hear his directions (Twain pg 154). Huck realized at this moment that slaves had families too and were just as human as he was. “I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their’n” (Twain pg 153). Jim’s honesty had an effect on Huck and made Huck want to help Jim to freedom even more. Even though he does not really view Jim’s feelings as “natural” he is still surprised to see that black families are just as close to each other as white families. Strong family units teach that racism is not okay and that all members should be

Jim, who becomes Huck's friend as he travels down the Mississippi river, is a man of intelligence and consideration. "An understanding of Jim's character is by no means a simple matter; he is a highly complex and original creation, although he appears at first sight very simple" (Hansen, 388). Jim has one of the few well functioning families in the novel. Although he has been estranged from his wife and children, he misses them dreadfully, and it is only the thought of a lasting separation from them that motivates his unlawful act of running away from Miss Watson. Jim is rational about his situation and must find ways of accomplishing his goals without provoking the fury of those who could turn him in. Regardless of the restrictions and constant fear Jim possesses he consistently acts as a gracious human being and a devoted friend. In fact, Jim could be described as the only existent adult in the novel, and the only one who provides an encouraging, decent example for Huck to follow. The people that surround Huck who are supposed to be teaching him of morals, and not to fall into the down falls of society are the exact people who need to be taught the lessons of life by Jim. Jim conveys an honesty that makes the dissimilarity between him and the characters around him evident.

Similarities appear in both Huck's and Jim's view of freedom. First of all, One important similarity is both, Huck and Jim’s, visions of freedom are joined with their escaping from society. Mrs. Watson's attempts at civilizing Huck are expressed when she orders Huck, "Don't put your feet up there, Huckleberry; and don't scrunch up like that, Huckleberry, set up straight" (2). Becoming one with society makes bad experiences for Huck, causing his strong feeling for an unrestricted life. In addition, Jim's bad experiences from society also outcome to Jim's portrayal of freedom. As a slave, Jim is not treated as equally as white people are. Jims unequal treatment from society

In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, we are introduced to Huck a boy of about 13 years of age. From a young age Huck grows up in the absence of both his parents. However, Huck is raised by two women who take him in as family, the Widow Douglas and her sister Miss Watson, who make it their goal to “sivilize” (Twain 1) Huck. In the plot of this novel we learn that Huck is beaten repeatedly, and even kidnapped by his overbearing and critical father, Pap. We also learn that Pap, because he is always drunk, is an intimidating figure in Huck's life. Twain also writes about a character named Jim; Jim was Miss Watson's slave, freed after her death. Throughout the novel, Twain creates a strong friendship between Huck

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, gives an eye opening view of the South during this time period through the eyes of Huck and Jim. Huck and Jim are very unlikely friends but become friends never the less and share many experiences on the river together. The two influence each other in more ways than one and may not even realize they do. They both have their own opinions and views although society heavily impacts them. Society’s view on racism is Huck’s view on racism because that is what he was brought up to be. The society has a powerful effect to smother problems such as slavery and racism. Huck being brought up in a society that ingrains racism in to you as a child is struggling to decide what is morally right and wrong to do and who will hopefully realize Jim's humanity at the end of the novel (Culture Shock).While talking to Huck, Aunt Sally projects "It warn't the grounding -- that didn't keep us back but a little. We blowed out a cylinder-head." "Good gracious! anybody hurt?" "No'm. Killed a nigger." "Well, it's lucky; because sometimes people

The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, sisters who adopt Huck, have a slave by the name of Jim who, on the outside, appears to be both unintelligent and foolish, as by the impression received when Jim first speaks, “Who dah?” (Twain 6).

Before the Civil War, the United States was divided between the North and the South, or the anti-slavery North, and the pro-slavery South. In the South, slavery was a common practice because the use of forced labor contributed positively to the economic growth of the region. However, in the industrialized North, where slavery was not crucial to the survival of the economy, the practice was deemed as morally and ethically abhorrent. Just after his daring escape, and shortly after he begins his voyage down the river, Huck meets his partner in crime, a runaway slave named Jim. Jim had runaway from his master because the slave had overheard that he was going to get sold to another owner, and did not want to be sold. Huck and Jim quickly become close friends and decide to continue their journey together. During the time, especially in the south, society would prohibit the tolerance of people of colour. Yet, Huck and Jim manage to overcome the standards set by southern society at the time, developing a complex relationship that would not typically be seen during the 1800’s. For instance, Huck is willing to keep quiet about information given to him by Jim when they first come across one another during the

Watson about Jim's whereabouts. He initially is a proponent for telling Ms. Watson, believing that "it would a thousand times better for Jim to be a slave at home where his family was..." (236). However, he begins to realize that doing so would most likely make Jim vulnerable to being sold downriver, and that "he'd feel ornery and disgraced" (236). After more and more moments of reflecting on the weight of this possible decision, Huck states how his conscience went to grinding him, and the more wicked he got to feeling with every single passing moment (237). Here Twain presents his audience with a situation that most would find easy to decide; however, he displays this irony in the form of his central character Huck, who doesn't seem as able to understand how easy the decision should be (as it is in the audience's eyes). Now although Twain doesn't make Huck out to be a necessarily bad person, he does make it shocking however that the line of discernible morality has been so skewed that even a child can't distinguish between human dignity and the lack thereof of

He like the majority of the Deep South’s population was forced to submit to popular religion in the form of Christianity, being racist and not being able to criticize the institution of slavery, as well as acting like a “proper” boy and being civilized with manors, rules, and restrictions. However, he is the polar opposite of the ideals expressed by his society. Huck is forced to reside with Widow Douglas, he describes the experience in the first chapter, “She took me… allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time … I wanted to smoke, and asked the widow to let me. But she wouldn't. She said… I must try to not do it any more.” (Twain, 2). In this particular environment, Huck is forcefully civilized by the Widow Douglas as well as Miss Watson. This essentially shows an indirect form of slavery in which Huck is forced to do as society and his elders dictate regardless of what he believes in which many of us are also subject to. This enslaves him and leads him to decide that he needs to relocate himself as far away from society as possible. Therefore, he forges his death and runs away meeting Jim on the way. This idea of Huck being controlled by society influences him through the novel, for instance he thinks about turning Jim in because it is wrong to steal since Jim is

Twain uses Huck to make decisions based on this hypocritical slave-owning, Christian lifestyle. Huck must choose to either aid a runaway slave named Jim or return him to Miss Watson, while the white society of the South would expect Huck to return Jim to Miss Watson. Huck and Jim 's friendship makes this a significant decision because Huck is morally conflicted. Jim is his friend, but he is also the property of Miss Watson. An excerpt from Magill 's Survey of American Literature puts the situation in a right perspective exclaiming “Jim is property before he is man, and Huck is deeply troubled, surprisingly, by the thought that he is going to help Jim, not only because he sees it, in part, as a robbery, but more interestingly, because he sees his cooperation as a betrayal of his obligation to the

“All modern American Literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing good since.” Famous author, Ernest Hemingway, praised Twain. The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tells the story of a runaway boy who encounters an escaped slave. The pair begins an unlikely friendship and even learns life changing lessons while they venture the Mississippi River. Throughout this coming of age novel, Huck must decide on whether to use his better judgement or the morals he was taught growing up. This is a continuation of Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer leaves off with the titular character and his best friend Huck Finn, whom finds stolen money totaling in six thousand dollars. The town Judge, Mr. Thatcher keeps the money and evenly distributes it to the boys all year round. Twain’s Huckleberry Finn incorporates each major theme in American literature; the journey from innocence to awareness, the American dream, land of the frontier, the hero and community.

.” (Twain, ix) He openly and firstly acknowledges the irregularities in this story and explains that it is not on a whim that he uses this specific type of language but with the purpose to expose the world to a new and original form of literary design. The main character in this story is Huckleberry Finn, the complete opposite of a traditional European hero; he is not the typical king or nobleman that traditional stories tell of. He is an everyday boy uneducated and seemingly unworthy, Huckleberry Finn is the epitome of a real American every day hero. Mr. Twain writes this book as a way to show that just by simply maturing and growing up so that Huckleberry Finn can make the right decisions in all aspects of his life; it makes him a noble character. “We are asked to trust this not as a sport, but rather as a well-considered and well-honed document. . . We are invited to experience and to appreciate this narrative in terms of its thought, its thoughtfulness, and its craft.” (Fertel, 159 –Free and Easy”)

In the fictional book, “Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, the moral ambition of the journey to friendship was a significant idea, this played an enormous role in the book as for main ideas. The relationship between Huck and Jim was like no other relationship at this time period. A slave would not have a relationship with a white male or female. This relationship opened up the eyes of many Americans because nobody at the time would think that a slave was equal to any other non- slave. The moral ambition of the journey to friendship between Huck and Jim certainly showed how being reverent, accountable and dishonest builds a friendship between two people.

The following paper will briefly show arguments, and conclusions within the writings of Mark Twain’s story Huckleberry Finn. I will discuss the various themes that Mark Twain is bringing to light within his story. This paper will show how Mark Twain uses those themes within the story, and how they are specifically used. I will also briefly discuss the life of Samuel Clemons, the author known as Mark Twain, and give the reasoning behind choosing the name of Mark Twain when writing his novels. Themes of escapism will be discussed.