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Huckleberry Finn Research Paper

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Mitch Albom once said, “Strangers are just family you have yet to know.” Huckleberry Finn, of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, most likely would have agreed with this statement as his personal experience proved it to be true. Finn was a young 13 year old boy who did not have a mother, but a father whom he called “pap”. Pap was an abusive and ignorant human being, and someone Finn desperately wanted to get away from. Pap being his only real family, Finn relied on the people around him, and eventually took the role of a family member with them. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain shows that anyone could be thought of as family regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, or blood-relation.
Family is important because …show more content…

Not only will one be protected and supported, but through family, people can learn a variety of life lessons, whether the lesson is learning to be kind, or learning to become an individual. Twain revealed Jim’s fatherly characteristics when Finn “went to sleep” and was not awaken by Jim “when it was [his] turn.” (Twain 139). Jim stayed up throughout the night giving Finn a few more hours to sleep, symbolizing friendship and family like qualities as he cared for Finn. Also, because of the numerous hours Jim and Finn spent together on the raft, they were able to learn to live apart from society’s rules, and the values of making a decision based on what the heart told them to. No matter how hard Finn tried to bring himself to turn Jim in, it was clearly shown he could not, as Finn stated he “couldn’t seem to strike no places” to get himself to turn against Jim. The raft symbolized a place where there were no rules, and a separation from the real world. Finn was reminded by his conscience that ever since the beginning Jim was “running for his freedom” and he could have “paddled ashore and told somebody.” (66). However, the love Finn had for Jim lead him to the decision of what he himself thought was right, to not turn Jim in.
How a typical family is viewed in American society may vary, however, when people hear the word “family”, some will think about happiness and love, while others will think about the

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