The Solitude Ship
The idea of being completely alone either frightens people, or it makes them sit back and take a sigh of relief. It was Henry David Thoreau who said in his book Walden, “Not till we are lost, in other words not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations” (Thoreau 137). Mark Twain, in his book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, plays on this very same idea.When Huck is floating down the river, away from the hectic life of the shore, he is comfortable and has few problems in his life. But everytime he touched down on the beaches of the Mississippi, he would experience the horrors of society and the harsh environments that people create. Mark …show more content…
After the whole feud fiasco with the two families, Huck returns to the ship with Jim and has a moment of great importance in his thoughts. “I was powerful glad to get away from the feuds, and so was Jim to get away from the swamp. We said there warn’t no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.” (Twain 88). This really shows that he felt safe and comfortable on the raft. For a boy who never really had a solid home, he sure felt like he had one there on the water with his friend, but what really is interesting is that his idea of “home” is to not the traditional one. He never settles down and doesn’t have any intention to, as proven through the end of the story where he decides to not stay in a place where he could have family and a house. His idea of “home” was to not have one single one. He says early on to the Widow Douglas, “ All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change, I warn 't particular” (Twain 2). This is said before his adventures really begin, and he sticks to this belief the whole time. Huck never stays anywhere for too long and wants to just keep going, no matter where it takes him as long as the Mississippi is flowing underneath him, because he feels safe and calm in those
The idea of being completely alone either frightens people, or it makes them sit back and take a sigh of relief. It was Henry David Thoreau who said in his book Walden, “Not till we are lost, in other words not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations” (Thoreau 137). Mark Twain, in his book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, plays on this very same idea.When Huck is floating down the river, away from the hectic life of the shore, he is comfortable and has few problems in his life. But everytime he touched down on the beaches of the Mississippi, he would experience the horrors of society and the harsh environments that people create. Mark …show more content…
After the whole feud fiasco with the two families, Huck returns to the ship with Jim and has a moment of great importance in his thoughts. “I was powerful glad to get away from the feuds, and so was Jim to get away from the swamp. We said there warn’t no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.” (Twain 88). This really shows that he felt safe and comfortable on the raft. For a boy who never really had a solid home, he sure felt like he had one there on the water with his friend, but what really is interesting is that his idea of “home” is to not the traditional one. He never settles down and doesn’t have any intention to, as proven through the end of the story where he decides to not stay in a place where he could have family and a house. His idea of “home” was to not have one single one. He says early on to the Widow Douglas, “ All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change, I warn 't particular” (Twain 2). This is said before his adventures really begin, and he sticks to this belief the whole time. Huck never stays anywhere for too long and wants to just keep going, no matter where it takes him as long as the Mississippi is flowing underneath him, because he feels safe and calm in those