How Does The Mississippi River Symbolize Freedom

Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shows the development of a young boy named Huck Finn. We see Huck develop in character, attitude and maturity as he goes on his adventure down the Mississippi River. This is displayed through his search for freedom from civilization and it's beliefs and through his personal observations of a corrupt and immoral society. Most importantly, we are in Huck's head as he goes through his confusion over his supposedly immoral behavior and his acceptance that he will “go to hell” as he conquers his social beliefs.

"Sometimes we would have that whole river all to ourselves for the longest time. Yonder was the banks and the islands, across the water; and maybe a spark or two--on a raft or a scow, you know; and maybe you could hear a fiddle or a song coming over from one of them crafts" (Examining the River in Terms of Symbolism in 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'). Freedom is a wonderful thing many Americans today take for granted. According to Webster's Dictionary, the word freedom is defined as "the condition of being free from restraints." Although, both characters, Huck and Jim, were free in different senses, they were still free. "...Because the river was so peaceful and calm that it led to their freedom to do as they please without the barriers given by society on land" (Examining the River in Terms of Symbolism in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn")"Jim is safe from those who hunt runaway slaves. On the river, Huck has the time to ponder all that goes on around

     Life on the river was also good at first, but it also became tiresome for Huck. He liked the sense of freedom that he had while he was on the river with Jim, he didn't have to go to school nor did he have any rules that he had to live by. He didn't have to worry about what his father was going to do to him. However the river still set limits on their freedom, Jim and Huck were only able to travel at night because they were afraid of Jim being found and whenever they would stop for the day, they would have to cover up the raft with leaves and foliage. Huck did not like having to be the one that would have to go look for food and water for them, he never had to be responsible until this time and, he didn't like having to use such precautions so that Jim would not be found. Huck could have made life easier for himself and turned Jim in, but he looked at him as a friend not as a fugitive slave.

Jim is a typical slave yet he represents morality in the community. Located in the south, slavery was widely accepted and a part of southern culture. When people see him, they think of a slave, not a person. While on the Mississippi, Huck begins to realize Jim is just another human being. Both Huck and Jim are running from society towards freedom. This is what the Mississippi offers them, freedom.

Huckleberry Finn is also lifted into great literary status by Twain’s compelling use of symbolism. An example of this symbolism is the Mississippi River. Throughout the novel, the river symbolizes life’s journey and, eventually, Huck’s natural integrity. It represents a place of ease and safety for both Huck and Jim. There is a major difference between their life on the river and their life on the land. On the river, life for Huck is peaceful and easy yet not without its dangers, whilst life on the land is most often cruel, demanding, and deceitful. Another example is how life on the raft is a paradox because, even

As huck and Jim move towards south, the duke and the prince invade the raft, and huck and Jim should pay longer on land. Although the stream continues to supply a refuge from bother, it usually just affects the exchange of 1 dangerous scenario for one more. Every escape exists within the larger context of a continuing drift southward, toward the geographic area and entrenched slavery. during this transition from idyllic go back to supply of peril, the stream mirrors the difficult state of the South. As huck and Jim’s journey progresses, the river, that once appeared a paradise and a supply of freedom, becomes just a short-run suggests that of escape that yet pushes huck and Jim ever additional toward danger and destruction.

In the sense that the river is also a path that Huck can choose of proceeding with his journey or putting a stop to it and returning home as well as, turning Jim in as a runaway slave. This option is established in the 31st chapter in the novel when Huck confronts his options for his journey, and in the end, betrays himself that tells him to turn around and stop what he is doing. This being incorporated into the story would display to those few Southern’s at the time that assisted some blacks in their escape from the South to persuade them to continue with their choice to aid those blacks to their freedom just as Huck did with

Huck's relationship with Jim also progressed on the river (which symbolizes that natural world and freedom from society) but stagnates on the shore (which represents mainstream society). Huck and Jim engage in all their bonding on the river, where they can forget the difference in their races - but when Huck goes out on shore, he is obligated to tie Jim up and leave him behind. Only on the river, free of the corrupting influence of society, are Huck and Jim free to express their true selves.

In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim desires freedom from slavery so that he can be together with his wife and two children, and Huck desires freedom from his violently abusive father as well as the restrictions of society and civilization he faces when living with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. Running away on the Mississippi River allows the two freedom to be what they want and do what they want without restraint, even if danger and loneliness are the price they must pay for this freedom. In the end, when Huck is invited to come back to live with the Widow Douglas, he chooses instead to head out West toward the frontier, the classic American symbol of freedom and Independence where society and its rules and regulations will not

Furthermore, the novel illustrates the unrestricted freedom the river provides through the connection with nature, independence from slavery, and the pair’s relationship. After escaping the clutches of the restrictive lifestyle of Miss Watson and the violent relationship with his father, Huck seeks refuge in the waters surrounding himself with nature, considering it as his home as he proclaims, “...there warn’t no home like the raft…Other places feel so cramped and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft” (Twain 117). As Jim escapes from civilization towards life on the raft where open friendship and freedom that the river provides overcome prejudice against racism and slavery, he grows as an individual as he declares risking his life and freedom for Huck, “my heart wuz mos’' broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn' k'yer no mo'

Life on the river for Huck and Jim is very peaceful. Jim built a snug wigwam to keep their belongings dry, they could just lay looking up at the sky, and they good weather. Huck says, “We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness” (Twain, 64). The river provided Huck and Jim many things, not only food, but also a way to escape. For Huck, the river provided him an escape from his life with his father and the Widow. For Jim, the river provided an escape from being a slave. On the river they were both free from their past lives. Mark Twain, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, shows us how nature can offer an escape from society’s restrictions and evils. Even though nature has changed immensely since this book was written, it still provides an escape from society. In today’s world, nature can be utilized as a thinking place or as a place to recover from pain. There are many more themes that we can see in today’s society. Several themes of Huck Finn are still relevant today, including “Nature offers an escape from society’s restrictions and evils,” “People tend to act cruelly or irrationally in groups,” and “Discrimination causes pain and suffering for many people”.

With Huck and Jim running away from slavery towards freedom they have to learn how to travel and survive without being caught. While they both are working together to find freedom they learn that they should stay on the raft where no one can see them but learn that there are still some challenges. Throughout the whole book, the reader realizes how the Huck is very against slavery like how Mark Twain was, showings that Huck's story could possibly be Twain's

Mark Twain also demonstrates how undesirable civilized society really is. Both Huck and Jim desire freedom, which greatly contrasts the existing civilization along the river. They both turn to nature to escape from the unprincipled ways of civilization. Huck wants to escape from both the proper, cultured behavior of Miss Watson and Widow Douglas and the tyranny of his father. Jim, on the other hand, hopes to escape from slavery and start a new life as a free man, hopefully with his own family eventually. Throughout the novel, the raft enables Huck and Jim to escape from the barbarism of their society to a place of serenity and peace, which is always on their raft, away from any other people. Through the duration of the story, Huck learns and does many things that would be contrary to the beliefs of society such as helping Jim

In �The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn�, the Mississippi River plays several roles and holds a prominent theme throughout much of the story as a whole. Huckleberry Finn and Jim are without a doubt the happiest and most a peace when floating down the river on their raft. However, the river has a much deeper meaning than just a compilation of water. It almost goes to an extent of having its own personality and character traits. The river offers a place for the two characters, Huck and Jim, to escape from everybody and even everything in society and leaves them with a feeling of ease. In the middle section of Huckleberry Finn, the river takes on more of a concrete meaning and will be discussed more so in the paragraphs that follows.

The Mississippi river is one of the most widely recognized symbols of freedom in the novel. It is used as a means of escape by both Huck Finn and Jim. The first time it is used as such is when Huck runs away from his father and the possibility of being forced back into society. Huck devised an elaborate scheme to escape via the river. He had a few close calls but when he saw his chance he took it: “I didn't lose no time. The next minute I was a-spinning down-stream soft, but quick, in the shade of the bank. I made two mile and a half, and then struck out a quarter of a mile or more toward the middle of the river,” (pg. 48).Without the aid of the river Huck’s departure