~ From Reading The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain
Introduction
I was surprised to see ” The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” on the banned list. I thought this book was for children, which was incorrect. Although I had considered reading it in the past, I had never picked it up until now. I decided to read it for this project, and I found it to be deep and complex.
I wanted to read it in the original English as much as possible, so I picked up a Kindle version of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: the Original 1884 Unabridged and Complete Edition.” Let me tell you that this book was challenging to read as English is the second language.
Twain was known for realism and naturalism. The entire book was written from Huck’s first point of view, and so was the level of English. The dialogue was written just about how people talked during the period. There were moments when I had to read some passages multiple times to grasp their meaning, and sometimes, I even needed help from my husband to decipher them. Twain made sure we would sense the departure from the romanticism of the earlier literary era, embracing a more realistic portrayal of life along the Mississippi.
After reading the book for the first time, Jim and Huck. I felt unsettled. I was a little upset at Tom Sawyer at the End for making the rescue mission one of his adventure games. I also noticed its well-constructed plot, and the depth of the character development impressed me. The more I read and analyzed the book, the more I realized how complex and deep this book was.
Twain’s portrayal of a deeply flawed “civilized” society filled with hypocrisy and cruelty could be considered controversial. To make it worse, the frequent use of the derogatory word did not help.
This novel is not just a story of the adventure of a boy. Instead, it reflects the social issues of its time, which Twain felt strongly against. While I was reading the book, I could imagine the historical and local color of the 19th-century southern United States. I thought it would be important to delve deeper into it to prove why it has become a cornerstone of American literature. In this post, I would like to write my thoughts on why I consider this book a legend by analyzing the character, symbolism, and what I learned from reading this book.
Plot Summary
Huckleberry Finn was not as happy because the Widow Douglas felt sorry for him for getting abandoned by his alcoholic and abusive father. The Widow was strict with Huckleberry about getting civilized. She sent him to school to get him some education. One day, his father, who had been missing for a while, suddenly appeared and demanded that he quit his education and his $6,000. Judge Thatcher kept the fund safe until Huckleberry was a bit older. One day, his father was drunk, enraged, and became violent to the point he almost killed Huck. Huck had enough of his nonsense. He decided to escape down the river on a raft after faking his own death.
Huck started living on Jackson Island, near the river, where he met Jim, who belonged to Miss Watson. Miss Watson is a sister of the Widow Douglas, so Huck knows Jim. Jim fled Miss Watson after learning her plan to sell him for $800. So, Huck and Jim decided to travel down the Mississippi River to the free state. However, they lost their way due to a thick fog. Huck was hearing a whisper from River – Huck contemplated whether he should do the right thing to turn Jim In. Huck tricks Jim into thinking that the separation is a dream, making Jim confused with reality. When Jim realizes the truth and is upset, Jim’s emotional reaction makes Huck feel bad—Huck’s apology to Jim.
Shortly after the fog incident, a steamboat hit their raft, and Huck and Jim were separated again. Huck was rescued by the Grangerfords, who had a deadly feud with the Shepherdsons. Huck witnessed the tragic outcome that resulted in deaths when the Grangerford girl eloped with the Sheperdson’s boy. Huck managed to escape the fight and found Jim, who was hiding nearby. They started their trip again.
Huck and Jim met two con artists who addressed themselves as “the duke and the king.” Although Huck knew there were frauds, he kept silent and offered to travel with Huck and Jim. The Duke and King ran a series of scams on the shoes. They found out about the death of a man named Peter Wilks. Wilk’s family sent a letter to Wilk’s brother in England to claim his estates. The con men decided to steal the inheritance by impersonating Wilk’s brothers. Huck felt wrong about Wilk’s family, so Huck exposed their lie. Eventually, their family and townspeople found out their lie. The Duke and King were horrible con artists. Huck worried they would subsequently betray them one day. So, Huck took Jim and decided to leave without those con artists. Unfortunately, the escape was unsuccessful. Soon, the Duke and King not only catch up with Jim and Huck.
The Duke and King did not get Wilk’s inheritance, so they were upset and broke. Like Huck worried, they sold the raft and Jim to a local farmer. Huck was starting to question his moral conscience, so he decided to free Jim from being enslaved, even if that meant he would go to hell. Later, Huck finds out that Silas Phelps is the person who bought Jim to get the reward. Huck also discovered that the Duke and King had to pay for their crime with death.
When Huck visits the Phelps, he meets Aunt Sally, who happens to be expecting Tom Sawyer. Since Sally mistook Huck for her nephew, Huck impersonated Tom. He had spent time with Tom in the past, so it was easy to imitate him. Tom eventually arrives at his aunt’s family. Tom thought it would be exciting, so they let Huck impersonate Tom.
Meanwhile, they are plotting to free Jim from the Phelps. Tom insists on a dramatic rescue mission, just like the stories he read in the past. Then, Tom finally agrees with the more straightforward way to escape: digging a hole. They manage to free Jim with their plan, but Tom is wounded. Huck calls a doctor in the town, but Jim stays with Tom as he is deadly injured from the gunshot. The doctor treats Tom but tells them to turn Jim in. Now, Jim is captured again.
After Tom recovered from the injury, he finally revealed that Miss Watson died, and she freed Jim in her will all this time. Tom knew that Jim was free already, but he had to withhold the truth from them to have some fun from the rescue. Jim also confessed to Huck that he saw his father’s corpse near the floating house before he met Huck. Huck also found out his $6,000 is still safe with the judge. Huck now worried that Aunt Sally would take him like the Widow did to civilize him. He didn’t want any more guardians, so he headed west to do whatever he wanted.
Historical Context Analysis
This book was originally published in 1884, when the style of writing shifted to Realism and Naturalism, emphasizing ordinary people’s lives, environment, and social issues rather than imaginary or dramatized versions of people. Mark Twain and Kate Chopin from “The Awakening” are known U.S. authors around this time period. Twain and Chopin are also known for regionalism when they write about the places they lived or knew. For example, Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri. I found books around this period enjoyable as I feel the local colors of the book: Twain for Missouri and Chopin for Louisiana.
The book was actually set in the pre-Civil War period. According to Digital History (n.d.), America had two groups of immigrants: the descendants of 17th-century Puritans and the others of the gentry from England. The social norms were different between the North and the South. Eventually, the division will turn into civil wars. The southern states in the United States were wealthy because of the Plantations, where many enslaved people worked. In 1860, the southern states were richer than any European countries besides England. The plantations that owned over 50 enslaved people were rare; however, one-third of the white families still owned enslaved people. The majority of white southern families either had or expected to own enslaved people (para. 1 – Para. 10).
These enslaved people had no rights and were treated as commodities. Understanding the social norms in the Southern States is important to understanding this book so that you can understand why Huck thought and behaved the way he did in the books.
Characters Analysis
Evolving Character Relationships and Contrast with Tom Sawyer
What I found most interesting in this novel is that the evolving relationship between Huck and Jim. As the relationship evolves, Huck’s morality gradually evolves. At the beginning of the journey, Huck’s morals are shaped by the social norms of the southern state. Huck helps Jim go to the free state with the raft, but he looks down on him. Huck did mean to trick Jim a few times. Once, Huck ties the dead snake to Jim, knowing Jim is scared to touch the dead snake’s skin.
During their separation from Fog, Huck considered turning Jim in because he thought that might be right. During fog, Huck still sees the right thing—turning Jim in. Huck denies his temptation to turn Jim in this time; he still tricks Jim by making him believe the entire separation was Jim’s dream. Since Jim is upset with Huck’s plank, Tom feels terrible, so he apologizes by acknowledging Jim’s humanity and dignity. However, in the later chapter, he disagrees with the social norms of slavery. When the duke and king sold Jim, he declared, “All right, then. I’ll go to hell.” Huck is eager to sacrifice himself for Jim if that will free Jim from slavery.
Comparison with Tom Sawyer
The effect of introducing Tom Sawyer at the beginning and the book’s finale was also interesting to me. Tom and Huck are naughty, as you may read from Twain’s other books. They spend a lot of time together but have a big difference. Tom Sawyer comes from a more privileged background, while Huck comes from a house with a drunken and violent father. Huck had had enough of nonsense, and he feared that his father would kill him if he kept living with him. That alone made a huge difference between the two, but the experience Huck gained from the trip impacted his growth immensely.
During the trip, he spends considerable time with Jim on the raft, where he starts to see Jim as an equal. He observed deception, violence, and oppression every time they got off to the shore. Facing and nearly being killed in the family feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons, the greed and deception of the Duke and King. Huck observed the greed, hypocrisy, and racism – the flaws of the pre-Civil War South. Those events stripped off Huck’s innocence. The introduction of Tom in the later book made the stark contrasts between the two. He understands the consequences of releasing Jim but is willing to sacrifice himself to get Jim’s freedom. For Tom, Jim’s rescue mission is a pretend adventure.
The Symbolic Significance of The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn
I want to discuss two symbolisms that stood out a lot for me: the raft and the shore. Huck’s adventure starts with the raft. The raft was the medium he could run away from his life with his father. Huck eventually met Jim on Jackson Island and helped Jim to get to the free state by raft. The life on the raft is simple and peaceful. Huck’s perception of the raft evolves throughout his trip. Unlike on the shore, Jim and Huck are equal. The raft is where both Jim and Huck see freedom from the social norm’s physical and mental restrictions. Gradually, Huck starts to see the raft as moral independence. On the other hand, the shore is where Huck observes greed, deception, violence, and oppression. I even feel Twain’s sarcasm of the hypocrisy of the society-civilized yet perpetuates inhumanity and justice.
Tom Sawyer’s appearance in the later chapter emphasizes the simple life on the raft. Huck and Tom Sawyer are plotting a rescue mission for Jim in the novel’s final part. Tom created this overly complicated mission by adding unnecessary details. Tom, unlike Huck, reads books such as Don Quixote, and the adventure must be romantic and dramatic. I cannot stop feeling that Twain’s trying to tell us that we may make things needlessly overcomplicated.
My Interpretation of Twain’s Intent
The first time I read it, I thought his intention was to criticize Slavery in the South. The second time I read this book, I also felt his profound message that “civilized” people can be inhumane and injustice. He is mocking the hypocrisy of civilized people. Someone like the widow Douglas or Miss Watson are supposed to be civilized, yet they have enslaved people. We can learn essential concepts like humanity from a simple life on a raft. Society, in general, overcomplicated things unnecessarily. The same thing is true for writing novels. A story should be simpler and straightforward – criticizing romanticism in literature. Most importantly, it is because the majority think it is correct, but that does not necessarily mean it is right. Thus, you must pause and reflect.
This book is considered one of the top 100 banned books due to the frequent use of derogatory words. The book tries to express the social issues of the time with the intention of telling how horrible it was-even many people thought it was okay. Moral is often shaped by the authority of society more than we think, and the book made me rethink how cowardly I am not to speak up about something I feel is wrong. I could not write down everything I noticed while analyzing the book, so I picked up a few pointers for this blog. I hope I have articulated why I consider this book well.
Reference
Digital History. (n.d.). [Digital History]. The Old South: Images and Realities. Retrieved September 24, 2024, from https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?psid=3557&smtID=2