The Mississippi River holds great sentimental value for many in the South; sometimes it is said to be the life of the South. However, in Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the Mississippi River serves as more than an important landmark; it is the setting for a wild adventure for two troubled young men, Huck and Jim. Rivers can be seen as mysterious pathways to new beginnings, chances for people to escape their current situations while changing their perspective on life. In the book, Twain takes this role of the river further by showing how Huck and Jim use it to liberate themselves from different forms of injustice. Thus, Twain uses the Mississippi River as a transit way to diversity and freedom that takes people to new
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Huck presum es he will have a better life once he gets away from his father. “I run off, I’d go down the river about fifty mile and camp in one place for good, and not have such a rough time tramping on foot”(Twain, 55). Here, Huck expresses his feelings about fleeing down the Mississippi. His intentions are to relocate and start a new life, living on his own, and escape the “rough tramping on foot” which represents the inner struggles that he experiences and home and which he desires to find relief from.
Huck gets to Jackson Island, where he meets one of his acquaintances Jim, a runaway slave. At one point a significant event occurs on the Mississippi River itself. Huck and Jim leave Jackson Island on a raft and sail down the Mississippi as they often did to experience freedom from the problems of the South. However, this time, they encounter a shipwreck where they experience another life changing event. “I begun to think how dreadful it was, even for murderers, to be in such a fix. I says to myself, there ain’t no telling but I might come to be a murderer myself…” (Twain, 88). Huck learns that sometimes running away allows people to acquire a different viewpoint on life. Here Twain allows the reader to see a sign that Huck is still uneasy about his life and is coming to an awareness that his inward struggles are following him wherever he goes. He sees that his anger is not going away even though he is sailing freely down the river, which he expects to provide liberation from such
Huck presum es he will have a better life once he gets away from his father. “I run off, I’d go down the river about fifty mile and camp in one place for good, and not have such a rough time tramping on foot”(Twain, 55). Here, Huck expresses his feelings about fleeing down the Mississippi. His intentions are to relocate and start a new life, living on his own, and escape the “rough tramping on foot” which represents the inner struggles that he experiences and home and which he desires to find relief from.
Huck gets to Jackson Island, where he meets one of his acquaintances Jim, a runaway slave. At one point a significant event occurs on the Mississippi River itself. Huck and Jim leave Jackson Island on a raft and sail down the Mississippi as they often did to experience freedom from the problems of the South. However, this time, they encounter a shipwreck where they experience another life changing event. “I begun to think how dreadful it was, even for murderers, to be in such a fix. I says to myself, there ain’t no telling but I might come to be a murderer myself…” (Twain, 88). Huck learns that sometimes running away allows people to acquire a different viewpoint on life. Here Twain allows the reader to see a sign that Huck is still uneasy about his life and is coming to an awareness that his inward struggles are following him wherever he goes. He sees that his anger is not going away even though he is sailing freely down the river, which he expects to provide liberation from such