The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain demonstrates the cultural collision between Huck’s own identity and the values that were forced upon him by the morally corrupt southern white society. With the help of Jim who is and African slave, Huck matures and gains confidence, builds a mind of his own, and learns to value life and freedom. During the difficult journey to freedom, Huck is free from society; able to make his own decisions without restrictions.

In the beginning, Mark Twain introduces Huck as a rebellious, immature and strongly against “civilizing” which seems natural for a thirteen-year-old boy. He comes from the lowest levels of white society, with an alcoholic father that abused him all his life. Eventually he was adopted by Widow Douglas who attempted to civilize him by taking him to school, teaching him about religion and indoctrinating him with the same social values as white middle-class boy should be taught. Huck felt he didn’t belong in the Widows house, and the Judge decided he had to live with his dad. Huck didn’t understand the contradiction of society. He felt he was seen as property (a slave), that he belonged to the owner no matter what. “I didn’t want to go back to the widow’s anymore and be so cramp up and civilized, as they call it.” With low confidence and the fear of facing his problems and saying what he believed in, Huck faked his death and escaped to an Island away from the restrictive society. “I laid there in the grass and the cool shade, thinking about things and feeling rested and ruther conferrable and satisfied.” When Jim and Huck meet on this Island, they escaped in the raft that carries them toward “freedom”. For Jim it is toward the free states; for Huck, an adventure and being away from his abusive father.

In addition, Huck’s liberal mind and growing relationship with Jim leads him to question many of the teachings that he had previously received, especially regarding to race and slavery. Throughout the novel, Huck is put in many situations where it’s his moral beliefs or his conscience, which he builds from being Jim’s friend. He first had the power to turn Jim in to the authorities, but he didn’t. “Well, I’b’lieve you, Huck. I-I run off.” Huck promised him he wouldn’t say anything. “I saved him by telling the men we had small-pox aboard; and he was so grateful, and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the world, and the only one he’s got now.” Towards the end of the novel his dislikes for society reappear and influence the important decision he makes. Jim is sold to the Sawyer’s family and Huck is the only one that can save him. The more Huck thought about what was the right thing to do, the more he felt he was taught the contradiction of what’s “right”. He completely forgot about all the morals he had learned and built his own mind from his conscience. “I was trembling.. I studied a minute, sort of holing my breath, and then said to myself: All right, then, I’ll go to hell”

Finally, during this struggle to “freedom” Huck learns to value life and the opportunities he has. Once Jim was free he was still thinking of traveling west, no longer specifically running away for freedom but from avoiding regular baths and mandatory school. Also, Jim made Huck realize that the widow wasn’t that bad. She was just trying to help him by teaching him how to read and write. Education is something not everyone one has. “What did the poor old lady do to you, that you could treat her so mean? I got to feeling so mean and so miserable I most wished I were dead. ” Huck matured through all this process. He learned to read the world around him, to distinguish good, bad, right, wrong and friends. He also valued the importance of what the journey to freedom meant to Jim, and he was the one that was helped the most. Huck started from not caring about anyone, not even himself, to risking his life to save his black friend the only guy he felt comfortable with. “We said there warn’t no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft doesn’t. You feel mighty and free and easy and comfortable on a raft.”

Thanks to Jim, Huck learns what life really is; a struggle. He matures by accepting that he can no longer run away from his problems because they are everywhere. He builds a mind of his own with his experiences. He also learns how life really is and finally learns to appreciate life. In the beginning of the book we were introduce to a lost child who had no morals. But it wasn’t his fault. His family didn’t spend time with him, so he learned everything by himself. He was independent, so it was really hard to for him to transfer from living in the woods (uncivilized) to living in a rich house with slaves and fancy things, which, for him, had no value. But Jim did everything his father and the widow did not do. He spent time with him. He heard him talk, but didn’t criticizes him or force him to become someone else. Rather, he gave him advice, love, and called him “honey”, like a good parent would. For Huck, it was a great experience. He learned that not everyone is like his dad or the people he meet before.