Huck Finn as the Personification of the Struggle against the Physical and Spiritual Bondage - Essay Example

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain once again refers to the image of America's past, to the days of his childhood, which so vividly were described by him in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. However, compared with the Tom Sawyer the theme of the past now receives another sound. In this book, the central place belongs to the image of Huck Finn, who is the narrator of the story. In turn, the image of Tom Sawyer plays a secondary role. Compared with the first book, the reader can see another, matured Huck Finn. His life is different from the life of Tom Sawyer. The main difference is that the hero of this book needs to solve very important problems related to human values such as freedom, the right of choice, respect for human dignity, etc. Mark Twain particularly appreciates his hero’s humanity towards other people. This humanity is manifested in relation to the Negro Jim Huck. Huck does not immediately understand the horror and injustice of slavery. Brought up in the specific conditions of legalized slavery, he needs time to overcome racial prejudices. Using the image of the main hero having such qualities as humanity and courage, the writer protests against not only physical but also spiritual slavery and bondage as ideologies that cannot be justified by any arguments. Even a homeless vagabond, deprived of parental love is able to express a humanistic appeal of Mark Twain to fight against slavery and bondage of any kind as anti-human phenomenon. The summary of the plot is as follows. As a result of problems with his father, who always drinks Huckleberry “Huck” Finn decides to fake his own death and flee to Jackson's Island. On the island, he accidentally meets a runaway slave Jim and decides to help him get in the northern states where slavery is prohibited. Their journey is accompanied by all sorts of adventures. The heroes meet crooks who are trying to deceive them and sell Jim. However, each time Huckleberry Finn comes to help his friend. Later, Tom Sawyer joins the main characters and takes part in their further adventures. As a result, the characters learn that before her death the slave’s owner Miss Watson gave him freedom. Throughout the text, the main importance belongs to the character of Huck, who always wants to have not only physical but also spiritual freedom. As it was mentioned above, “slavery and racism run throughout the course of the text” (Sonar). Twain makes it clear that Huck is a product of the slaveholding America. Similar to other white people, the boy demonstrates various stereotypes about Jim. This phrase allows one to check the power of the influence of racial prejudices on his consciousness and thinking: “And then think of ME! It would get all around that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom; and if I was ever to see anybody from that town again I’d be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame” (Twain). However, over time the reader can observe the transformation of the hero’s consciousness. This transformation allows one to see the obvious advantages of the boy in comparison to most other people (Quirk). In fact, Huck's mind is free from romantic clichés, and his nature is formed by reality. He has no external ostentatious virtues, but he has all the essential qualities. Nature gave him a brave and faithful heart rejecting the brazen force. The boy’s heart is open to all people suffering from humiliation. Huck has a sense of inner independence, forcing him to flee from the pleasure and comfort that offers him the Widow Douglas, into a menacing world. His love of freedom is a rejection of hypocrisy, philistine prosperity and institutionalized lies. Compared to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the character of Huck has a new important quality that is civil courage. From the first chapters of the book, Twain makes Huck an active participant in social conflict. He is the protector and concealer of the runaway slave. Moreover, saving Jim from the slavers, he risks losing his own freedom. Nevertheless, Twain emphasizes that the need for the struggle for Jim’s freedom characterizes him as well as his hatred of everything that hampers him. Huck’s struggle for social justice gives his rebelliousness a deep social sense. The character of Huck is given in development, and this development is clearly motivated. Huck has grown in the South, where slavery puts its stamp on the thinking of any white. It takes him much effort to wade through the thicket of slaveholding prejudices in his own mind. In this moment, a person finally wins a southerner in his soul and Huck finally decides to stay loyal to Jim. Twain does not separate the hero from the environment that has nurtured him, and at the same time, he shows the boy in a constant state of the struggle against the prejudices of the environment. Dialectical contradiction that underlies the hero’s image makes it particularly lively and dynamic and gives it a psychological authenticity. Image of the overflowing Mississippi River not only combines the action, but also emphasizes the pettiness and the senselessness of human passions and ambitions: pictures replace one another, and the river continues to slowly roll its waters through the boundless expanses of America. The river defines Huck’s state of mind. It takes away his anxiety and gives him peace and wisdom. The image of the great river embodies the freedom, which is the main purpose of the heroes. It gives eternal and timeless value to their desire. The inner spring of the book, driving the plot, is the flight of Jim and Huck from slave states and their journey on a raft on the river in search of freedom. This allows Twain to broaden the scope of the narrative and to deploy a broad picture of American reality. The story reveals a much darker side of life, rather than the occasional dramas in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: indifference and sadism of poor whites, fraud by the traffickers, the senseless hatred of wealthy landowners, etc. All this leads to fear, which is represented not only by the superstitious fear of the impressionable teenager or the black Jim. It is a real and justified fear of the endless confusing chain of robberies, beatings, drownings and homicides. Each bend in the road and each bend of the river opens the danger of violent death. This cruel world revels itself for the protagonists: a homeless orphan boy and a runaway Negro Jim who, relying solely on loyalty to each other try not to become victims of violent people. Twain told the story of slavery and freedom, death and rebirth (to escape from his father, Huck cleverly faked his death) which is not only concrete but also symbolic. This novel is not only about the legalized slavery of black Americans, but also about the lack of freedom of the white man, enslaved by social conventions and prejudices of the environment. This story is not only about the "revival" of the hero after his apparent death, but also about the actual birth of his personality, which gained emotional breadth. Huck and Jim's desire for freedom is the eternal human impulse to spiritual liberation. “The plight for liberty is what unites the two boys and unites the plot” (“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Concept Analysis”). In this regard, the image of the river has been used purposefully by Twain. It emphasizes the inner liberation of the hero on the background of his desire for freedom. To sum up, the personal qualities of Huck Finn allow Mark Twain to convey his main idea, namely the idea that no one has the right to deprive a man of his not only physical but also spiritual freedom. The boy does not know the parental love and care. He has a father, but he does not see a drop of kindness and attention from his father. Moreover, he always suffers from his brutality and callousness. Nevertheless, such an unhappy life allows the boy to become a completely different person. Twain shows Huck’s inner transformation in the establishment of his humanistic character. Like other Americans living in the slave system, the boy is under the influence of racial prejudices that are the basis of racial discrimination. It takes him a lot of time to realize the inferiority and absolute stupidity of this ideology. Huck’s adventures with a runaway slave Jim enable him to change his attitude to this issue and to show his best human qualities. The image of the boy represents the fight against spiritual and physical bondage caused by social prejudices and racial discrimination. The author shows that even a teenager can rebel against the brutality of the social system. The main factor is the inner strength and understanding that every person has the right to spiritual and physical freedom, regardless of his/her skin color. Works Cited Quirk, Tom. “The Flawed Greatness of Huckleberry Finn.” University of Missouri. 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. Sonar, Mudita. “Analysis - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Academia.edu. n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Concept Analysis.” Novelinks. 2010. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. Read More