Huckleberry Finn Theme Analysis

In Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Huck and Jim’s adventures express multiple sub-themes to the major theme a journey to freedom. This novel is based in 1830’s and 1840’s America, where slavery is still a big issue. Huckleberry Finn is living with a widow who is trying to civilize him, all is well until his father, who he calls Pap, comes into town and is abusive to Huck because he is learning to read and write. Pap perceives this as Huck thinking he is better than him. Pap kidnaps Huck and takes him to his old beat up cabin in the woods and they live there for a while. Huck fakes his own death to escape, he then finds his most unexpected ally in his escape, a runaway slave named Jim. Jim and Huck hope to find and reunite Jim with his family and become free. They meet a lot of interesting characters and eventually meet up with Tom Sawyer. They become captured and Tom is injured. Tom awakes and hears Jim is being beaten and then Tom finally explains that Jim is free because his owner died two months in advance and in her will she set him free. One of the sub plots is honesty, there is a lot of dishonesty in this story. Another is Identity, Huck and Jim change identities multiple times in the story. The last sub theme is, the way society views itself as superior to all others. …show more content…
Most of the problems wouldn’t have even existed if a character was truthful. The characters go on this tense journey and it is all for nothing when Tom reveals “Old Miss Watson died two months ago…” (page 275). If He had been honest they wouldn’t have been in the dangerous situations they were. Alternatively dishonesty has helped the characters more than honesty. In fact lying in this story seems to be more positive than negative. Especially in the situation where Huck was working with the prince and the duke. When Jim had become a “Sick Arab harmless when not out of his head” (155). This is them lying about their