Symbolism In Huckleberry Finn

Many novels have used symbolism to express certain feelings and emotions in discreet ways. What is symbolism? "The practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships" (Dictionary.com). Numerous authors use the same denotations to illustrate different thoughts or ideas. Mark Twain uses various symbols, such as the river and the land to expose freedom and trouble in his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

One of the obvious ones is the Mississippi river, equally, the Mississippi River, more than any other physical entity in the novel, symbolizes freedom, both for Jim and Huck. Both of them can only find protection and peace of mind on the river and whenever they get onto land, they find themselves getting into difficulties. We also saw how Twain also uses many of his main characters to exemplify certain characteristic of Americans people in that time. Huck, for example, is the typical American frontiersman: he is clever, even scheming at times, and over all, he is a realist. Tom, however, he has many of the same characteristics, is less of a realist, but instead tries to idealize his world. On the other hand, Huck's pap who has been describes as an immoral love of equality. He symbolizes the dishonesty of human and the evil of those who live outside of civilization. Huck's pap is a perfect opposite of the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, who represent the politeness of religious women in

In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a variety of people influence Huck’s ideology. From the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson’s religious rhetoric to Pap’s brutal, uncivilized manner, many contrasting ideas shape Huck’s belief system. However, among these people, Tom Sawyer holds the greatest impact over Huck’s actions and mentality because of Huck’s immense admiration for him. Huck’s initial encounters with Tom Sawyer establish Tom as a major component of the ideology Huck maintains throughout his journey. Despite Huck’s skepticism and confusion about Tom’s imaginative schemes, Huck regards Tom’s judgements as the truth and follows all of Tom’s plans.

Huck Finn's relationship with slavery is very complex and often contradictory. He has been brought up to accept slavery. He can think of no worse crime than helping to free a slave. Despite this, he finds himself on the run with Jim, a runaway slave, and doing everything in his power to protect him. Huck Finn grew up around slavery. His father is a violent racist, who launches into tirades at the idea of free blacks roaming around the countryside. Miss Watson owns slaves, including Jim, so that no matter where he goes, the idea of blacks as slaves is reinforced. The story takes place during the 1840's, at a time when racial tensions were on the rise, as northern abolitionists tried to stir up trouble in the South. This prompted a

Huck just wants to be free and “[he] can't stand” the thought of being civilized by Aunt Sally (Twain 293). Huck does not enjoy the idea of being tied down the land, as Huck does not want to be restricted. Huck also expresses that a normal Southerner lifestyle is not for because he is not in compliance with the morals of the South. The river provides an escape for Huck as he has not rules or stipulations to follow on the water. Huck finds living of the raft “mighty free and easy and comfortable” (Twain 96).

When he and a runaway slave named Jim from a semi-accidental coalition and float down the Mississippi to freedom, the two of them experience incredible amounts of bonding and Huck gains respect for Jim as a human beyond his skin color; however, despite many revelations that Jim, a black man, is actually an intelligent, caring, human being, Huck continues to treat the vast majority of the race with superiority and disrespect, not realizing that they are like Jim in that respect.

In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the adventures are an important factor throughout the characters in the novel. As it progresses throughout the novel, readers start to enhance their understanding of each character and their adventures. However, some characters in the novel demonstrate more to which they reveal significant ideas that portray the author’s society. Huck, Jim and Tom’s adventures help to understand their society through the themes in their experiences. More specifically, the themes of growing up, morality, slavery, and freedom are all prime examples that help explore the social norms of their adventures.

Even though Huck had a very convincing story as to why he had Jim on the boat with him, Jim’s fate could have ended very differently while they travelled on the river. Huck was a young boy any wiser man travelling on the river could have found a way to take Jim and reap the reward that was on Jim. Like Caleb, Huck and Jim could have died while traveling on the river. But the river does not remain a negative symbol in the book. The River is like a border of the community before continuing on to Elsewhere.

The Mississippi River is where a lot of action is taken place. Huck and Jim travel down this channel of water to set them apart from St. Petersburg. The river rids them of slavery, civilization, and frauds. The Mississippi River, in this novel, symbolizes freedom.

Since Jim cannot be out in the open it requires Huck and Jim to reverse societal roles as servant and master. This tasks Huck to make food for him and care for any of his needs; Huck submits to Jim and reverses the role of civil systems in the South, where a black man is subordinate to a white man. The relationship from a slave to his master is supposed to be respectful and authoritative; however Jim is dependent on Huck. Huck represents a feminine and subordinate character by his support for anti-slavery and showing the plight of slaves in the antebellum South. The struggle between gender identity and subordination are good insights into Mark Twain’s ideas about sexuality because in same-sex relationships there are dominant and submissive counterparts that each person takes

Mark Twain, author of Huckleberry Finn, lived in the nineteenth century, an era ripe with slavery, tentative technological advancements and hypocrisy ingrained in religion. His attitude toward various moral dilemmas is manifested in the character Huck, who experiences a life-changing journey that seeks to segregate Huck's moral and religious thoughts. Twain's message in this novel is that morality does not originate from religion, and he uses various examples to illustrate his statement by contrasting the two with various symbols. Mainly, the author indicates the hypocrisy of certain characters, expresses symbolism through natural phenomena and brings his lesson to light via interactions between Jim and Huck.

The symbolism of the Mississippi river throughout Mark Twain’s famous novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is beautifully painted to represent the river as not only as a path to freedom but a place of refuge as well as a second home. The river allows Huck to escape from not only physical imprisonment but also mental captivity of society’s standards and norms and therefore decides to abandon the society, and the way to accomplish this is through the river. Mississippi river functions as both an escape route away from civilization as well as a route to freedom for Huck and

A major theme in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is slavery and our evolvement towards the institution. “In fact, Twain’s novel is often taught as the text that epitomizes this tradition, with Huck held up as its exemplar: a boy courageous enough to stand against the moral conventions of his society. . .” (Bollinger, 32 – Say It Jim) In the beginning of Huckleberry Finn’s relationship with Jim, he has little respect for him and as their journey progresses he

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 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.