The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is often acclaimed as one of Mark Twain’s most influential pieces, and his accomplishments are proclaimed for him by Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner. Part of the novel’s extreme charm is that it causes the reader to examine weighty issues through the eyes of an uneducated and rambunctious thirteen year old runaway. Twain convincingly writes the way Huck Finn thinks and accurately portrays his education level, social background, personality, and tragic experiences. You can tell by the way Huck talks about his father’s abuse and the multiple deaths he encounters that he accepts violence as a part of normal life: “But by-and-by pap got too handy with his hick'ry, and I could't stand it. I was all over with welts.” Behind the dialect and nonchalance, it’s actually very sad.
The drama in the novel revolves around Huck’s internal conflict between innocence and the rules of a corrupted society. Themes such as death and rebirth, freedom and captivity, and the individual versus society resurface at various times throughout the novel. Huck and Jim’s journey is a flight from constraint and a metaphorical search for an ideal state of freedom. As the pair float deeper to the South, it becomes obvious that freedom exists neither in the North nor in the South but on the raft floating down the river.
The freedom of the river is the very heart of the story. In contrast to the oppression and restrictions of the society on shore, the raft stands as a sacred place removed from the evils of civilization. Free from the restrictions and rules of society, Huck and Jim are free to allow their natural friendship to develop without regard to their social status or race. The episodic structure includes a variety of complex and trying incidents on shore that stand in contrast to the peacefulness of the raft and the river. On shore, Huck encounters abuse, death, manipulation, and tragedy, but by returning to the river, Huck experiences a renewal of hope and idealism.
In the novel, Mark Twain also comments on the institutionalized religion and romanticism of the South. In both cases, he attacks the mindless acceptance of societal values. Huck and Jim’s litany of superstitions are presented in contrast to the “Christian” values of society. An illustration of this satirical purpose is the irony of Miss Watson’s attempt to “civilize” Huck while simultaneously holding slaves. The relationship between her fundamental sense of humanity and religion seems to be broken at best. In the eye of the reader, Huck’s practical morality makes him more “Christian” than those who are trying to teach him. Southern romanticism is allegorized by the wreck of the steamboat Walter Scott and in the Grangerford/Shepherdson feud that exposes the true horror of a traditionally glamourized situation.
The drama in the novel revolves around Huck’s internal conflict between innocence and the rules of a corrupted society. Themes such as death and rebirth, freedom and captivity, and the individual versus society resurface at various times throughout the novel. Huck and Jim’s journey is a flight from constraint and a metaphorical search for an ideal state of freedom. As the pair float deeper to the South, it becomes obvious that freedom exists neither in the North nor in the South but on the raft floating down the river.
The freedom of the river is the very heart of the story. In contrast to the oppression and restrictions of the society on shore, the raft stands as a sacred place removed from the evils of civilization. Free from the restrictions and rules of society, Huck and Jim are free to allow their natural friendship to develop without regard to their social status or race. The episodic structure includes a variety of complex and trying incidents on shore that stand in contrast to the peacefulness of the raft and the river. On shore, Huck encounters abuse, death, manipulation, and tragedy, but by returning to the river, Huck experiences a renewal of hope and idealism.
In the novel, Mark Twain also comments on the institutionalized religion and romanticism of the South. In both cases, he attacks the mindless acceptance of societal values. Huck and Jim’s litany of superstitions are presented in contrast to the “Christian” values of society. An illustration of this satirical purpose is the irony of Miss Watson’s attempt to “civilize” Huck while simultaneously holding slaves. The relationship between her fundamental sense of humanity and religion seems to be broken at best. In the eye of the reader, Huck’s practical morality makes him more “Christian” than those who are trying to teach him. Southern romanticism is allegorized by the wreck of the steamboat Walter Scott and in the Grangerford/Shepherdson feud that exposes the true horror of a traditionally glamourized situation.