The Land vs. The Rive in Huckleberry Finn

In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, Huck lives in two different settings. One of the settings is on land with the widow and with his father and the other is on the river with Jim. There are many differences of living on land as opposed to living on the Mississippi River. On land, Huck has more rules to live by and he has to watch himself so as not to upset the widow or his father. On the river, Huck didn't have to worry about anything except people finding Jim. He also had to worry about the king and the duke for a while. Even thought there are many differences of the two living styles, there are also some similarities.

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck resides in two different environments: the Mississippi River and on land with Pap and Miss Watson. Living alongside with people from different backgrounds, they obligate Huck to conform to society’s central dogma of being “sivilized” and to support the crude idea of slavery. On the contrary, the river is a physical body that embodies freedom and tranquility. In an environment consisting of isolation and thought, Huck and Jim are able to liberate themselves from living a legalistic, rigorous society. With Huck’s internal conflicts and Jim’s departure, Twain implies that civilization is conflicting and barbaric, hypocritical, but life on the river is a place of freedom.

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.

One of the themes that has been addressed by writers since the beginning of civilization is the issue of the split between living in society and living by oneself. We see this in that peculiarly American genre of books known as "road books", in which the protagonist embarks upon a long journey or period of time away from society in order to "find themselves." One of the quintessential examples of this type of book is Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, technically a "river book" rather than a "road book". In it, as in many "road books" before and since, spending a long period of time away from society allows the protagonist to see the difference between the rules of

Jim ran away from the custody of Mary Warren in hopes of escaping the town. Huck bonds well with Jim because he has more moral similarity with Jim than he does with white society. Jim is black and an uneducated slave. Despite the deisadvantages, he remains intelligent and a good role model for Huck. Jim spreads many messages to Huck, but one of the main ones is to be thankful for what you have; “It lays in de way Sollerum was raised. You take a man dat’s got on’y one or two chillen; is dat man gwyne be wasteful o’chillen? No he ain’t; he can’t ‘ford it. He know how to value ‘em,” (Twain 78). Jim is talking about the Great King Soloman and how greedy he is, and then proceeds to describe another person who does not have much in life but cherishes what they do have. Huck develops a deep relationship with Jim when they are isolated on a raft; “For what you want, above all things, on a raft, is for everybody to be satisfied, and feel right and kind towards the others,” (Twain 125).The solitude of the raft allows Jim and Huck to escape society. Even as other characters in the book invade the peacefulness of the raft with society’s evils, Huck’s close friendship with Jim prevails. Huck’s natural instinct is to protect his friend rather than turn in the runaway slave. Jim represents the goodness of society, and he brings out Huck’s best

In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck decides that he wants to reject civilization. Huck does not like to live on the shore and would rather live on the river in his raft. Huck learn’s a hand full of new things while living on the river that he never learned on the shore. His experience has helped him to realize how to live.

In the novel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, Mark Twain writes about Huck and the adventures his faces as he travels down the Mississippi River, along with his companion Jim. Throughout the story, Huck experiences obstacles that make him question society’s perspective and morals. As Huck spends more and more time with Jim, their friendship grow and Huck begins to see Jim as more than just a companion but a close friend. This causes Huck to challenge the morality behind slavery and ultimately decides to guide Jim to freedom. At this point in time, Huck has had an realization and decides to make his own path with his own beliefs and standards separating himself from society.

However, when Huck is taken out of these controlling situations and faced with sudden autonomy, he rises to that occasion. One way that he is able to do so is through the help of his friend Jim. As they travel down the Mississippi River together, Huck and Jim develop a relationship of co-dependence on each other. Huck helps Jim numerous times when they are escaping the law, often times covering for him and using his own ethnicity as a way to gain leverage. This was blatantly shown when Huck covers for Jim when the two men stop and try to check their raft, and Huck covers by expressing that Jim “He’s white…You best stay away sir, he’s got the smallpox… Good-bye, sir, I won’t let no runaway niggers get by me if I can help it”(Twain 102). In this situation, Huck thinks on his feet and uses the excuse of Jim being sick to stop the police from searching the boat. Huck, at this point, has come to the conclusion that Jim is not just any nigger, but someone who he feels a bond with and does not want to lose. By knowing that if he had allowed for the police to search the raft, they would have most definitely believed that Jim was one of the five runaway

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck experience different way of life and different people. Huck and Jim are on a raft throughout there adventure and it becomes there home. Huck considers a raft a home because Huck has a horrible home, other people are rude and murders, and it goes places, anywhere even and keep from society.

"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 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”.

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

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

When Huck runs away from his father, he goes down the river in a canoe that he found until he gets to Jackson Island. There he is able to relax and recharge while feeling “rested and ruther comfortable and satisfied” (44). While Huck is on the island, no one can find him and take him back to the widow or his father. He is safely hidden from everything he was trying to escape from. Jackson’s Island is where Huck and Jim find each other after they’ve both escaped and it’s the place where they first become acquaintances. “…it was Miss Watson’s Jim! I bet I was glad to see him” (49). In this moment, Huck and Jim are no longer on their own. From then on, they both had each other and nature to rely on to help them escape from what was holding them back. The river is the only place where Huck, a white boy, and Jim, a black slave, are able to interact as friends and form a deep level of bonding. Jim even tells Huck, “’Jim won’t ever forgit you, Huck; you’s de bes’ fren’ Jim’s ever had; en you’s de only fren’ ole Jim’s got now’” (106). In normal society at that time, a black and white would never have a friendship like theirs, but on the river there’s no one to see them interacting and judge them for it.

The first book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, features Huck, who narrates his adventures along the Mississippi with Jim, a runaway slave. Huck escapes from his alcoholic, abusive father early in the book, and, immediately thereafter, is primarily concerned with his own survival and contentment. However, even these basic amenities are threatened as he continues his voyage south. First and foremost, Huck must survive in the wild, a task he undertakes with remarkable skill and resourcefulness. Early on in the novel, Huck's skill at living in the wilderness is plainly established, and the reader never doubts his ability to provide for himself.