For the duration of existence, people undergo the physical and mental stages of growing up. During this phase, people establish through their dealings who they actually are in addition to what they are worth. For instance, Treasure Island is an adventure tale, but it is also the story of one boy’s (Jim Hawkins) coming of age. On the outset of the voyage, Jim was a timid adolescent, but by the closing stages, he had matured incredibly. In his novel, Treasure Island, author Robert Louis Stevenson focuses primarily on the journey of main character Jim Hawkins to exemplify the process of growing up and proving oneself. Jim Hawkins’ transformation from a timid, 13-year old boy to a young man began when a sailor by the name of Billy Bones …show more content…
He thought it was in his best interest to see what Dr. Livesey thought of this matter. After Jim comes back to Admiral Benbow from staying with Dr. Livesey, he finds that Jim’s mother has hired a young boy to be an apprentice in replace of Jim. Jim finally begins to see that his adventure has forced him to forget about his previous life at the Inn. He realizes he is leaving his normal life, the Inn, and his mother (Stevenson 59-60). Jim may have got the feeling he was being replaced, but he knew that day would come soon enough. “In many respects a typical British boy of his age, Jim has lead a sheltered life at the Admiral Benbow Inn. The arrival of Billy Bones triggers his desire to explore the larger world beyond his home. Although he has grown up on the sea coast, Jim knows little of the seafaring life. His adventures constitute on initiation into adulthood, by means of which he learns survival skills and moral lessons that far eclipse the typical education of a British gentleman” (Beetz, Niemeyer 2007). Although only the age of thirteen, Jim was determined to set sail and wasn’t going to let his age define who he was, until tragedy struck. Following the death of his father, Jim took this opportunity to discover himself on the open sea. It was at this time that Jim would embark on a journey he would never forget. “I said good-bye to my mother and the cove where I had lived since I was born, and the dear old Admiral Benbow” (Stevenson 59-60).
In Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, Jim Hawkins develops a growing sense of integrity and eventual ability to do what is morally right, no matter what the personal cost. In the beginning of the novel, Bill, Jim’s friend dies and still owes money to Jim’s family. Jim wants to take all of his money instead of what he is owed. Jim exclaims, “‘Mother’, said I, ‘take the whole and let’s be going.’”(25) Here, Jim’s impulsive actions demonstrate his greediness, especially because no one is watching him rob a dead man. Later in the novel, on the boat, Jim hears his fellow crew member Long John Silver plan a mutiny and tells Captain Smollett. Jim “did as [he] was bid”, sat down, and “told the whole details of Silver’s conversation”. This
In Jim’s early life he was born in Logan County, Kentucky in April of 1796. When Jim was six years old his family moved to Bayou Boeuf, Louisiana in 1802. In Louisiana, he developed the spirit of adventure. His usual hobby was wrestling alligators and just exploring around the areas he lived by. In 1812 he enlisted in the Louisiana militia after the start of the war in 1812 against the British but he was too late to see any action. Soon he was back in the Louisiana selling timber. But with the money that he earned he bought slaves. Jim later met Jean Lafitte, who was a gulf coast pirate who was involved with illegal slave smuggling. Jim’s brothers bought smuggled slaves and said that they found them and kept the money when they were sold at
Twain, an American writer and author of the adventures of Huckleberry Finn, establishes in his book how a boy is “coming of age” through his applying of Huck’s personality towards Jim a slave with whom he has run away with. Huck is cautious through his traveling up the river in order to make sure that neither he or Jim get caught and taken back, but his most concern most of the time is Jim since he is a runaway slave who if caught will be taken back into slavery. In the 31st chapter of this book, Huck feels that he is doing wrong by stealing Jim from Miss Watson, and what consequences he might face if he does not turn back, but he displayed how he doesn't care happened to him. He then decides to proceed with adventure not caring what might happen to him if he keeps going, and this, therefore, displays how Huck has is maturing and is willing to accept the consequences in order to help Jim escape. In this way, Twain indicates how Huck has started “coming of age”.
Erik Erikson and Carl Jung both developed intricate theses concerning the ideas of personality and the idea of ‘coming of age’. They both set out certain guidelines in order to specify and locate those who have successfully completed the coming of age process. In Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, Huck is used as the character that must come of age; moreover, he is faced with many challenges that allow him to become to take gradual steps in his quest to come of age. It is clear that through these challenges, Huckleberry Finn goes through a lot of changes, which in turn makes him a dynamic character. According to Erik Erikson, one must master their environment, unify their personality, and perceive the world and themselves correctly in order
Pridefully, Jim thinks he can become the non-mutineers’ hero by cutting the anchorage of the Hispaniola and sailing it single-handedly to the North inlet of Treasure Island. Jim Hawkins’ continued exhibition of immature characteristics is the explanation for his lack of
In the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain juxtaposes two environments that tackle many different aspects of life. From Christian reforms, domestic abuse, and slavery to reflective solitude and liberation, Twain brings together a plethora of obstacles for the main character Huckleberry Finn and his companion Jim to encounter and assimilate. The two contrasting settings depict intermingling themes of the repressive civilization on land, the unrestricted freedom on the raft, and the transcendentalism that Huck and Jim experience during their escape from captivity towards liberation.
In one’s life, a person goes through a certain processes to mature into an adult. In the book, Crabbe, by William Bell, a teen boy named Franklin Crabbe runs away from his old life which was preventing him from maturing the way he wanted to. Firstly, Franklin Crabbe experiences personal growth while staying in the wilderness. Secondly, Crabbe learns a various number of new life skills which he can use later in the future. Thirdly, Crabbe while being in the wilderness, he developed his independence. The experiences the main character Franklin Crabbe has while in wilderness contributes to his maturity into adulthood.
In every man’s life he faces a time that defines his maturation from boyhood to manhood. This usually comes from a struggle that the boy faces in his life. In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck’s defining moment of maturity is Huck’s struggle with Tom in helping Jim escape. Tom sends Huck and Jim through a wild adventure to free Jim because of his Romantic thinking. Tom represents society and its Romantic ideals while Huck struggles to break away from these and become his own realist individual. These Romantic ideas lead Huck into many dangerous situations that pit Huck and Jim as Realist individuals versus a society infused
Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” commences off with a rather interesting note to the readers: “you don’t know about me, without you have read a book by the name of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, but that ain’t no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly” (1). Right from the beginning, the well-known and highly criticized Mark Twain portrays a personal connection between the main character and himself. Although not stated, it is presumed that Mr. Twain may share a similar outlook on life as Huckleberry Finn (to an extent). Our young protagonist is nothing short of engaging; he is depicted to be biologically motherless (deceased) and abused by the hands of his alcoholic biological father.
Imagine a boy who is mischievous as a monkey, always showing off, pulling pranks and making adults look silly. This boy is Tom Sawyer, the main character in “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain. During the first half of the novel Tom is immature and irresponsible. He spends his free time stealing, fibbing, getting into fights and avoiding his chores. Tom only cares about himself and having fun adventures. After seeing Dr. Robinson get murdered by Injun Joe, Tom grows up and becomes more responsible and caring. To me, one of the greatest signs of growing up is learning to be responsible for yourself and caring for and helping others.
In the book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, enslaved men try to break free from their slave owners as they sail down the long windy Mississippi River. Mark Twain, the author, wrote this book because he wanted to portray the American south during the pre-civil war era. This book revolves around multiple themes, and styles such as Natural life through the freedom of spirit and slavery regarded issues. In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain used the setting of enslaved men floating down the river in 1854 as a true story to show what really happened to enslaved people who broke away, which further examines how people broke away and became free as the conflicted characters Jim and Huck sail down the Mississippi.
Despite the resolution of the divisive issue of slavery at the end of the Civil War, when the 13th amendment to the Constitution passes, the issue of racism continues from that point on and remain prevalent today. In Mark Twain 's realistic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the lack of depth involving the characterization of Jim as well as other slaves and their relationships, causes a direct focus on the satirization of romanticism, while the issue of slavery and racism come second, which reveals Twain’s short sightedness. Due to Twain’s widely known stories, his sphere of influence affects young and old with the ideas he portrays, and so by the reduction of a prevalent and long spanning issue in favor of another arguably less important issue, African Americans once again fail to achieve their desired equality for another couple decades.
The Mississippi River assumes many important roles in the story and creates compelling evidence to refer itself as a major character. Not only does the river create the setting for the adventures and sets itself up as the backbone of each episode and story, it has the power to propel the story forward and forces the characters into situations as they follow the flow of the water. Indirectly it causes the characters to grow and adapt to face each new circumstance and help further develop their morals and face the differences of what they perceive as right and wrong. Yet the most prominent symbol it represents, freedom, becomes a recurring, heavily debated topic as it provides both negative influences and positive influences on the main characters at any given moment during the story. Undeniably, the most influential piece of the story becomes the river as it has an unwavering presence throughout each episode, as it can connect each fragment of the story and piece it together as a structured whole. In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the almost constant presence of the river mimics the twists and turns of life to measure and show the growth and maturation of each prominent character throughout their adventures to provide an example that each of one’s experiences can change their perspective on the world around them.
The highly lauded novel by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, entertains the reader with one adventure after another by a young boy (and his runaway slave friend Jim) in the mid-1800s who is on strange but interesting path to adolescence and finally adulthood. What changes did he go through on the way to the end of the novel? And what was his worldview at the end of the novel? These two questions are approached and answered in this paper.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer By Mark Twain Mark Twain's, The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer, is a story told from the eyes of the young Tom Sawyer. The story takes place in the small rustic town of St. Petersburg Missouri. Tom Sawyer is the main character of the book. Tom is an imaginative young man who always seems to be getting into trouble.