Huckleberry Finn Family Analysis

Superior Essays
Without a real family how could one person experience the same things that a family would? Within the novel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, Huck Finn never had a traditional family. A traditional family is often considered a mother, father, their children, and maybe a pet. Huck’s family tree however was Widow Douglas, Miss Watson, Jim, and himself. None of those three other people in the house were related to Huck, so they wouldn’t be considered his family. His real family was rarely present in this novel. There was no mother in the picture, his father was an alcoholic that was never around, and he had no siblings. Huck however has a group of friends, people that he lived with, and people he has met along on his adventures …show more content…
The source, “Huck’s Ironic Circle” by Michael T. Hoffman, explains what Huck and friends would do for one another. The boys however act differently together than they would separately. Huck for example lets Tom have control of plans they make, since it’s the one thing he loves to do. In the article it states, “Tom 's scheme for setting Jim free is the conventional literary medievalism of his time,and when Huck introduces his more efficient and simple ideas for getting Jim out, Tom accuses him of not wanting to do things "regular." Although Huck is occasionally out of patience with Tom, the worst he has to say is that Tom is "full of principle." He accepts the fact that his own ideas, though better, do not have the requisite style that only someone "brung up to it" can have” (Page 5). Huck knows that his ideas would be safer and easier to follow through but he goes with Tom’s plans since they make Tom happy and that’s all he wants to do. Another example of this is in chapter two, Huck thinks to himself, “I didn’t want him to try. I said Jim might wake up and come. But Tom wanted to resk it; so we slid in there and got three candles, and Tom laid five cents on the table for pay,” (Chapter 2, Page 5). Huck knew that Jim could wake up and completely foil the plan that Tom had come up with but Tom was so excited and too invested to stop now. Since Huck would do anything for Tom, Tom realizes he would do the same for Huck anyday. For example Tom agreed to help Jim escape from his aunt and uncle’s house. When Huck hears this news he thinks, “Well, I let go all holts then, like I was shot. It was the most astonishing speech I ever heard- and I’m bound to say Tom Sawyer fell considerable in my estimation. Only I couldn’t believe it. Tom Sawyer a nigger-stealer!” (Chapter 33, Page 203). Even though helping a slave escape goes against all of Tom’s morals since Huck asked he would

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