Huck Finn and the connection with the river
Huck Finn and the connection with the riverThe book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain, could easily have been titled The River of Adventure, or Voyage Down The River, because the river plays many roles throughout much of the story. The river is not just a method of travel; the river provides the two main characters a means of escape. Their voyage is a quest for freedom; not only for Jim, but also for Huckleberry. Huck struggles with the thought that societal beliefs has had an impact on his life . His close friendship with Jim, a slave, is Huck’s way of breaking away from those traditional societal beliefs. It is just one of the many steps Huck takes in his attempt to break away from all of society. During the voyage
down the river, Huck must deal with actions, words and emotions that challenge him to a self-analysis that he is not aware of until the end of the novel.
The river separates Huck and Jim from society, but it does not completely remove them from what he and Jim are actually trying to escape from. Huck is always aware that the separation from himself and society is not complete, and his acceptance of this fact becomes part of the maturing process that he goes through during the voyage. The river does allow Huck some measure of freedom in the beginning of his trip. But as soon as he and Jim accidently meet, they find themselves being twisted and turned down stairways of inevitability, as if fate had a firm grip on both of them. Their limited liberty compels them to go out of their way to avoid others. Thus, they are forced to travel the river only at night and to hide during the day. This is not the freedom Huck had envisioned when he first set off on his great voyage. Huck has to constantly think of lies to tell nearby boatmen or anyone else they might run into on the river. During the trip, Huckleberry runs into a woman and has to make up a story of his identity. “Sarah Mary Williams. Sarah’s my first name. Some calls me Sarah, some calls me Mary.” (65)
Another role the river plays is its peacefulness. It gives Huck the feeling that he is free of the society he is trying to escape. Huck mentions one particular time, when he and Jim watched the sunrise, that there was ‘not a sound, anywheres — perfectly still — just like the whole world was asleep.’ Huck likes these quiet moments, which could lastdays at a time. At one point, Huck says, “Two or three days and nights went by; I reckon I might say they swum by, they slid along so quiet and smooth and lovely”(96). On Jim and Huck’s first set-out on the raft, where they leave
Jackson’s Island behind, Huck remarks, “It was kind of solemn, drifting down the big still river, laying on our backs looking up at the stars, and we didn’t ever feel like talking loud, and it warn’t often that we laughed, only a little kind of a low chuckle”(55). Huck enjoys the fact that he is cut off from society and occasionally does not recognize he’s still a part of it at times. Huck thinks about himself and Jim, “Sometimes they’d have that whole river all to themselves for the longest time”(97). He becomes so entangled in the listlessness that he forgets that they have to constantly be on the look-out for dangers approaching. Even as the river provides peace, freedom, and escape, it seems constantly aroused during their journey. For Huck and Jim, the river is where the two find their ultimate release from society and in fact,from themselves.
The river is also a mother. She becomes Huck’s guide. He never really has a mother, with the exception, perhaps, of the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, who took him in to “civilize him”. Huck has never experienced the closeness that families share. He understands that having a drunk for a father is not the best image to look up to. And, because Huck resisted becoming “civilized”, he is able to think for himself, and he soon becomes entangled in the idea of being on his own, away from civilization and carrying his own load. The mother produces a son who is a reflection of herself;understanding, caressing; listening and giving. And yet, the son is uneasy with the way he is turning out. When Huckleberry accidently became separated from Jim when they were on the raft together, Jim’s reaction was nothing that
Huck invisioned he would feel or even say. The statement Jim said to Huck, made Huck a little uneasy with himself. He was feeling things he has never felt before: Remorse. During the trip down the river, Huck and Jim find themselves in a situation that forces Huck to feel things he never thought he would ever feel. Jim confesses he was heartbroken to find Huckleberry nowhere in sight, and after Huck played a dirty trick and lied to Jim, saying it was all just a dream, he felt bad. “It made me feel so mean I could almost kiss his foot to get him to take it back.”(93-94)
The river is guiding Huck along the way; watching out for him and caressing him. The river is loving him, just like a mother does. The river is teaching him the lessons that a mother must teach her children. During Huck’s great adventure down the river, the river becomes his teacher. And in the end, Huck learns not only about the river, he learns about himself. He finds those qualities in himself that allow him to be more comfortable with the society he is trying to escape from. As he matures through his adventure, he does come face-to-face with himself. As the means of his escape, the river gave him his freedom from society. It separated him from society, yet pulled and pushed him back to an understanding of society. The peacefulness of the river gave Huck time to reflect on his life and to confront himself so he could see himself clearly, with no societal interferences. And the river cared for him like a son, gently guiding him to the final realization that he does belong.