Identity In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

Our individual identity is greatly constructed by how others perceive us. Huck idols his best friend Tom, and believes that he's living a utopian lifestyle where everything is figured out. Huck struggles with self identification and wants to model Tom’s lifestyle and to mold it into his own identity. Early in the novel it's very clear that Huck is determined to follow Tom’s actions when he joins the robber gang. Tom says, "Now, we'll start this band of robbers and call it Tom Sawyer's Gang. Everybody that wants to join has got to take an oath, and write his name in blood." Huck is more than willing to join his group in order to live a Tom Sawyer lifestyle like no matter the ends he has to meet. At any rate, hanging around the same person or group frequently will soon rub off on the type of person …show more content…
Tom Sawyer is quite the recluse but his advanced wits and street smarts can’t be ignored. Huck embodies Tom’s wits especially in the situation of faking his death in order to remove himself from society. "I did wish Tom sawyer was there; I knowed he would take an interest in this kind of business, and throw in the fancy touches. Nobody could spread himself”. Even in Huck’s tense time of escape the thought of having Tom with him is still present in his mind. No man shares the same DNA as another which makes everyone quite different. The concept of no man is the same isn't completely grasped by Huck as he truly yearns to be Tom Sawyer. Huck’s journey will open new doors in his life and allow him to break away from Tom and become a man of his