Essay Symbolism: the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, uses various concrete objects, such as rivers, to symbolize a diverse range of feelings, emotions, and even actions. The ultimate symbol in the novel is the Mississippi River. Rivers often

     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.

People often hesitate to accept what they do not understand. In the absence of love and compassion, it is no question that fear, ignorance, and hatred, all contribute to a melting pot of negativity in the world. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, is about the love and friendship cultivated by a young boy and a black slave on the Mississippi River. Despite the pair’s differences, they are able to endure the struggles and difficulties that the toilsome journey brings. Mark Twain, in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, emphasizes the shift in Huck’s view towards slavery by contrasting Huck’s initial tone of reflectiveness to his assertive tone, both collectively addressing the issue of racism in society.

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

Mark Twain's novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is based on a young boy's coming of age in Missouri in the mid-1800s. The adventures Huck Finn gets into while floating down the Mississippi River depict many serious issues that occur on the shores of civilization, better known as society. As these events following the Civil War are told through the young eyes of Huckleberry Finn, he unknowingly develops morally from the influences surrounding him on his journey to freedom and in the end, becomes a mature individual.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is a story about the adventures of a homeless Huck Finn and his encounter with a runaway slave named Jim. As they flee down the Mississippi River on a raft, they discover friendship, danger and acceptance as they head towards their destiny. There are many stories that use symbolism to express feelings and emotions. What is symbolism? "The art or practice of using symbols, especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representation" (Merrimack-Webster.com).

The theme of freedom, throughout the novel, takes place on the Mississippi River. In the story the main purpose of the river is to be a symbol of freedom. Rivers are seen as

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

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”.

“The situation of the orphan is truly the worst, you’re a child, powerless, with no protectors or guides. It’s the most vulnerable position you can be in, to see someone overcome those odds tells us something about the human spirit. They are often depicted as the kindest or most clever of characters.” Michelle Boisseau describes how important these types of characters are. In a Sunday Times article, she states that a lot of the stories and novels are considered to be apologues about orphans becoming the hero of the book. Huck’s story is quite like this subject. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel written by Mark Twain, it’s about a boy named Huckleberry Finn, who sets

Flowing and penetrating through the deep seeded racism and violence of the deep South, the Mississippi river serves as a route of escape and a pathway of adventure for both Jim and Huck in Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Jim utilizes the river as a passage to the North where he can achieve his freedom by breaking the chains of slavery of the South and furthermore, the river serves as an apparent heaven for Huck, who uses it to escape from the evils of society. In his novel, Twain describes the river as a place of freedom and as an escape from the violence on shore through his description of the river as a safe haven and heaven in order to convey his message that only when one isolates himself from society, can he discover

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been labelled as a picaresque novel. A picaresque novel is an adventure story that involves an anti-hero or picaro who wanders around with no actual destination in mind. The picaresque novel has many key elements. It must contain an anti-hero who is usually described as an underling(subordinate) with no place in society, it is usually told in autobiographical form, and it is potentially endless, meaning that it has no tight plot, but could go on and on. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has moulded itself perfectly to all these essential elements of a picaresque novel. Huck Finn is undeniably the picaro, and the river is his method of travel, as well as the way in which he wanders around with no

“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.” (Twain, ix) Mark Twain opens his book with a personal notice, abstract from the storyline, to discourage the reader from looking for depth in his words. This severe yet humorous personal caution is written as such almost to dissuade his readers from having any high expectations. The language in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is completely “American” beyond the need for perfect grammar. “Mark Twain’s novel, of course, is widely considered to be a definitively American literary text.” (Robert Jackson,

When reading this part of the novel, �The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,� I found that Huck and Jim were set in a period of society that was or can be labeled as somewhat hypocritical, judgmental, and hostile. However, the characters have one escape that being the Mississippi River. The river is a quiet and peaceful place where Huck and Jim can revert to any time to examine any predicament they might find themselves in. The natural flow of the river and its calmness causes deep thoughts, which shows how unnatural the collective thought of society can be. We actually see Huck grow up having the river as a

it got tiresome and lonesome. . . . I felt so lonesome I most wished I