America has long been defined by its flowing emerald pastures and dramatic mountain ranges. Nature has been continuously represented as a means to find personal liberty and often in American literature references to such cultural keystones are made. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, is arguably the most influential and defining national novel, and it’s protagonist, Huck, identifies his freedom and individuality in the rich American nature in which he feels exempt from societal standards. This young man defies the social constructs of religion, slavery, and consequently the entirety of civilization as he escapes from home and joins forces with a slave named Jim in their joint pursuit of freedom. Another American classic, The Death of a Salesman
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Huck Finn, plagued by his father 's abuse and Miss Watson’s fervent religious preaching, begins to resent societal conventions at an early age. In a time of religious revivalism, he is conditioned to think that the ultimate goal of living is to reach heaven, and to achieve that goal he must fear God, practice his manners, and do what is expected of him. The underlying message instilled in Huck is that religion coincides with civilization and therefore civilization leads to Heaven. Despite Miss Watson’s militant scoldings and tales of Hell, Huck eventually admits that he wishes he could be there, and confides in the reader, “All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change, I warn’t particular. She said it was …show more content…
Huck can’t see a Sunday school; all he sees is a great expanse of nature, and the river that ‘looked miles and miles across’. This is what he’s been lacking, and his inability to identify that missing piece of himself is gone, he is now complete. Unlike Jim, Huck has little to no worries on the Mississippi River, and he is also able to set his own morals and boundaries that guide his life. Despite Huck’s past tribulations with religion, once he is immersed in nature he is able to discover his own personal sense of spirituality without fears of being reprimanded and without the stifling effect of
Huck Finn, plagued by his father 's abuse and Miss Watson’s fervent religious preaching, begins to resent societal conventions at an early age. In a time of religious revivalism, he is conditioned to think that the ultimate goal of living is to reach heaven, and to achieve that goal he must fear God, practice his manners, and do what is expected of him. The underlying message instilled in Huck is that religion coincides with civilization and therefore civilization leads to Heaven. Despite Miss Watson’s militant scoldings and tales of Hell, Huck eventually admits that he wishes he could be there, and confides in the reader, “All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change, I warn’t particular. She said it was …show more content…
Huck can’t see a Sunday school; all he sees is a great expanse of nature, and the river that ‘looked miles and miles across’. This is what he’s been lacking, and his inability to identify that missing piece of himself is gone, he is now complete. Unlike Jim, Huck has little to no worries on the Mississippi River, and he is also able to set his own morals and boundaries that guide his life. Despite Huck’s past tribulations with religion, once he is immersed in nature he is able to discover his own personal sense of spirituality without fears of being reprimanded and without the stifling effect of