The Mississippi River as a Symbol An important factor throughout the book of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is the Mississippi River. In the book, the Mississippi River represents a sense of freedom and independence for Huckleberry Finn and Jim. Huckleberry Finn and Jim were very different before and after they took the trip on the raft down the river. The differences may be how they were treated before and after by other people, or the difference in what The Mississippi River meant to them. When Widow Douglas adopted Huckleberry Finn , she tried to “sivilize” him. In other words, she wanted to try and raise him to following social rules and traditions. However, Huck didn't feel right this way and didn't want anything
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Although, when he met Huckleberry Finn things changed. When Jim met Huck their similar longing for freedom bonded them quickly and they turned out being incredibly loyal to each other in many situations. Jim made it known how much he trusted Huck when he said, “People will call me a low down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum—but that don’t make no difference. I ain’t agoing to tell, and I ain’t agoing back there anyways” (Twain, Mark, Hamlin 8). Wheeler …show more content…
In Jim's case, his feeling of freedom is in more of a legal sense because Jim is an escaped slave who had been sold by the rogues. Unlike Huck, Jim had be enslaved all of his life so when he got on the raft the freedom he felt was unbelievable for him. This feeling was described in the story in this quote, “Jim said it made him all over trembly and feverish to be so close to freedom. Well, I can tell you it made me all over trembly and feverish, too, to hear him, because I begun to get it through my head that he was most free—and who was to blame for it? Why, me” (Twain, Mark, Hamlin 16). Huck and Jim stumble into one another on Jackson's Island after Huck escapes from Pap and after Jim escapes from his owner Miss Watson. However, Jim is at first reticent about his escape, because he's afraid that Huck will turn him in. In this quote Huck responds by saying, “People will call me a low down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum—but that don’t make no difference. I ain’t agoing to tell, and I ain’t agoing back there
Although, when he met Huckleberry Finn things changed. When Jim met Huck their similar longing for freedom bonded them quickly and they turned out being incredibly loyal to each other in many situations. Jim made it known how much he trusted Huck when he said, “People will call me a low down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum—but that don’t make no difference. I ain’t agoing to tell, and I ain’t agoing back there anyways” (Twain, Mark, Hamlin 8). Wheeler …show more content…
In Jim's case, his feeling of freedom is in more of a legal sense because Jim is an escaped slave who had been sold by the rogues. Unlike Huck, Jim had be enslaved all of his life so when he got on the raft the freedom he felt was unbelievable for him. This feeling was described in the story in this quote, “Jim said it made him all over trembly and feverish to be so close to freedom. Well, I can tell you it made me all over trembly and feverish, too, to hear him, because I begun to get it through my head that he was most free—and who was to blame for it? Why, me” (Twain, Mark, Hamlin 16). Huck and Jim stumble into one another on Jackson's Island after Huck escapes from Pap and after Jim escapes from his owner Miss Watson. However, Jim is at first reticent about his escape, because he's afraid that Huck will turn him in. In this quote Huck responds by saying, “People will call me a low down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum—but that don’t make no difference. I ain’t agoing to tell, and I ain’t agoing back there