Growing Up In Huckleberry Finn

The novel by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, analyzes many subjects of social importance during the Gilded Age in America, or the last 19th and early 20th centuries. These include race, class, greed, exploitation, and stereotypes. It is the coming of age tale of a young boy named Huck, who as a victim of domestic abuse, leaves his home and became friends with a runaway slave called Jim. The tone of the novel ranges from bitter to cheerful, suspenseful to angry. The novel features pure and original language which is hard to comprehend at times, however it is used to symbolize the many controversy’s facing America in the era in which it was written.

The first adventure Huck and Jim take part in while searching for freedom is the steamboat situation. Huck shows development of character in tricking the watchman into going back to the boat to save the criminals. Even though they are thieves, and plan to murder another man, Huck still feels that they deserve a chance to live. Some may see Huck's reaction to the event as crooked but, unlike most of society, Huck Finn sees good in people and attempts to help them as much as he can. Getting lost in the fog while floating down the Mississippi River leads to a major turning point in the development of Huck Finn's character. Up to this event, he has seen Jim as a lesser person than himself. After trying to deny the fog event to Jim, he says, "It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a [slave]; but I done it, and I warn't ever sorry for it afterward, neither"(74). He continues by explaining how he could never do such a thing again. Huck has clearly gained respect for Jim here and shows it by feeling so horrible over what he did.

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is a piece of fiction that is so strongly written it can be conceived as the truth. Mark Twain’s ability to paint a clear and realistic picture of the Southern way of life in 1885 is unparalleled in any author. The story of Huckleberry Finn is one that gives ample opportunity for interesting sights into the South at that time. The story consists of Huck and a runaway slave, along with two men and Huck’s faithful friend Tom Sawyer and some points of the novel, floating down the Mississippi’s shores and encountering different feats of Southern culture, tragedy, and adventure. A nice example of Twain’s ability to turn an event on a river into an analysis of Southern culture is a fun bit of the story where Huck

     The final sign of maturity occurs at the end of the novel when Tom and Huck are mistaken for thieves and Tom is shot. If this occurred at the beginning of the novel, Huck would have probably tried to fix it himself, making up a grand story to go along. Now, at the end of the novel, after Huck has matured, he decides to blow their cover and against Tom’s wishes, seek medical help.

Over the course of the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain, conveys a “coming of age” story that spurs the main character into making life defining decisions that ultimately affects the resolution of his rationality. The novel alludes to the character Huck, who matures overtime as he realizes the menacing affect that slavery has on African Americans. Throughout the course of the story he displays his growth the most by involving himself to set his friend Jim free. Huck exhibits the stages of youth based on his treatment towards Jim and how his perception of him, adjust to the situations they face together. Overall, he grasps the idea that “slaves” are human, and more than the conception of property.

Tom enjoyed acting like a convict, he would steal, lie, and trick people. He was also always the leader without giving anyone any chance to deny “‘Now, we'll start this band of robbers and call it Tom Sawyer's Gang. Everybody that wants to join has got to take an oath, and write his name in blood’” (Twain 16). Huck would never argue or question Tom’s leadership until he left. Towards the end of the book the two are reunited. Once again Tom wants an elaborate plan like a convict would. However, this time Huck questions Tom’s thought process, “It was most pesky tedious hard work and slow, and didn't give my hands no show to get well of the sores, and we didn't seem to make no headway, hardly” (Twain 335). As Huck begins to think for himself more he realizes some things he’s doing is stupid. The more and more Huck grows he begins to understand he is able to do and think what he

Readers aren’t aware of why Huck has done this, but instead are left to ponder on the matter. However, Huck's reason why starts to become clear as the readers are informed of Pap’s alcoholic tendency of getting drunk when he has money and his intention for suing to gain custody of Huck and his money. 4. Twain begins to question the morality of slavery in chapter six by having Huck in a similar situation to that of many slaves in the area. Huck is kept in a small place for most of the day and is held against his will by an abusive person.

The relationship between Huckleberry Finn and Jim are central to Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Huck's relationships with individual characters are unique in their own way; however, his relationship with Jim is one that is ever changing and sincere. As a poor, uneducated boy, Huck distrusts the morals and intentions of the society that treats him as an outcast and fails to protect him from abuse. The uneasiness about society, and his growing relationship with Jim, leads Huck to question many of the teachings that he has received, especially concerning race and slavery. Twain makes it evident that Huck is a young boy who comes from the lowest levels of white society. Huck's father, Pap, is a drunk who disappears for

In the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain juxtaposes two environments that tackle many different aspects of life. From Christian reforms, domestic abuse, and slavery to reflective solitude and liberation, Twain brings together a plethora of obstacles for the main character Huckleberry Finn and his companion Jim to encounter and assimilate. The two contrasting settings depict intermingling themes of the repressive civilization on land, the unrestricted freedom on the raft, and the transcendentalism that Huck and Jim experience during their escape from captivity towards liberation.

Huck's dissatisfaction in civilization and it's beliefs is the trigger to his development and growth. At first, Huck is shown as an ignorant 12 year old, born in to the harsh life of pre civil

In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain follows protagonist, Huck Finn throughout his endeavors. This coming of age story displays Huck’s actions that lead to him running away from home. From a young age, Huck is forced to become emotionally and physically autonomous due to his father’s alcoholism. Huck runs away and begins his adventure with fugitive slave, Jim. Together they meet a diverse range of individuals and families. Mark Twain illustrates Huck Finn’s character development by exposing him to different moral systems.

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses essential pivotal moments to show the psychological evolution of the protagonist, Huckleberry Finn. The entire segment of life in which Huck is living in a cabin with his father shows development through, observing the de-evolvement of the situation around him, discerning freedom from captivity, as well as recognition of societal norms. Mark Twain uses this to show how the past that an individual comes from doesn’t define what one person’s future may

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is widely considered a classic - an embodiment of American literature. It rightfully tackles the issue of slavery through the illustration and vernacular of the young protagonist, Huck Finn and his adventures with a runaway slave, Jim. However, beneath a linear challenge towards slavery, Twain’s depiction of Huck’s changing views of Jim reveal Huck’s unique attitude and philosophy towards slavery, and in particular - his partner-in-“crime” - Jim. Although Huck never abandons societal opinions of slavery and never opposes the bondage, his exception for Jim unveils the follies of his society and flawed upbringing.

Essentially, the story is episodic, and with each important episode, the boyish Huck is entering the world of grown-ups. The incidents he goes through are a kind of initiation into manhood. For example, when he witnessed the mean-spirited fight in the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons episode, he wishes he ""¦hadn't ever come ashore that night, to see such things" (Twain, 134). He knows people are mean, not just to Blacks, but to each other, and this is part of his education while growing up a free boy in a crazy world.

Another important fact regarding the picaro as a wanderer is the notion that he will change as a result of his travels, "the main character often grows intellectually and morally through his various encounters along the path of his journey" (Bibliomania). Huck's character matures throughout the novel from that of a boy to one that can be seen as something closer to a man. Huck begins to have a conscience, which proves that he is beginning to mature because he begins to actually think about things, and care about them. Huck's maturation can be observed in the scene where he chooses to tell Mary Jane the truth about the two men posing as her uncles, "I got to tell the truth, and you want to brace up, Miss Mary, because it's a bad kind and going to be hard to take, but there ain't no help for it" (420). Huck's maturation is evident here because he can't stand to see Mary Jane and her sisters cheated of the money they deserve, and so happy because their uncles are back when in reality they're only frauds. Huck's conscience continues to bother him until he tells Mary Jane the truth, and therefore it is apparent that Huck is growing as a result of his travels because his conscience begins to affect him, forcing him to show that he is a good and kind-hearted person.