Huckleberry and Jim
Huckleberry and JimMark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a novel that speaks to the truth of American society in the 19th century. Through the adventures of a white pubescent boy and a runaway slave Mark Twain manages to illustrate and satirize human behavior and values for that time period. However, while Twain uses this novel to make bold statements about humanity in the negative sense there are the less brash more subtle tones that are just as brilliant and special to the novel. Huckleberry Finn, a cocky and spunky southerner, and Jim, a lovable runaway slave develop a symbiotic relationship that speaks volumes about the basic human need for love and affection. Although Twain has created two characters that are different in age, color, and status, Huck and Jim’s lives become intertwined as they ride down the Mississippi River. Their problems and desires merge into one and the differences that were once so prominent and almost blinding melt and join together and it is impossible to pinpoint where one life begins and the other ends. This merging is seen through the similarities in what both Huck and Jim are running from and more importantly running to. Both go through a similar transition through out the course of the book; running from their situations, searching for their destiny, and ultimately finding freedom.
From the beginning of the book it is apparent that both Jim and Huck come from extremely hard lives where society dictates their lives. Huck appears to be harassed by an overbearing aunt and an abusive father. He is forced to either conform to a model “Puritan” lifestyle of proper dress, speech and schooling or his father kidnaps him and exposes him to the life of a scoundrel. Jim has other issues with which to contend. He is a slave at risk of being sold down the River and being torn from his wife and children. Like Huck, Jim also must face the pressures and mentality of society. He has to cope with the ideals and roles that people have placed him in solely based on his color. From their two separate stories it is evident that both seem to lack respect or acceptance from those that dictate right and wrong, proper and improper, in society. And for this reason they both want to run away.
In Huck’s situation he is running from many different aspects of his life, his father being one of the most significant. When he first describes his father, Huck draws the pictures of this gross, disgusting man, using words like, “tangled, greasy, hung down, white to make a body sick, white to make a body’s flesh crawl” (pg. 19) What is interesting about Huck’s description is the lack of emotion behind the words, there is no emotional energy attached. Huck decides to run away masking his escape as an adventure, a game when in reality it is...
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