Huckleberry Finn Themes

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer are considered two novels that other writers based their novels on due to the overarching themes. Two novels that have some of the same themes are Catcher in the Rye and Bastard out of Carolina. Both these novels share the themes of youth, religion, and family with the Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. However, each theme may be portrayed in a different way for each of these four novels. Youth is a theme in all four of the novels. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are both novels about children and their adventures; it is part of the charm of the novels. Catcher in the Rye is about a young man in high school, Holden, who is …show more content…
The Sunday school is a major setting in both The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In Bastard out of Carolina, Bone gets interested in religion for a while and decides she wants to become a gospel singer. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden dislikes religious institutions because of the “phony” people and social barriers. Religion is another theme that each novel portrays in a different way. Religion in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is seen as a tedious practice. Tom and Huck never want to go to Sunday school or church, and when they do they manage to cause trouble. Its all very innocent though, because Tom and Huck have no real reason for disliking church or religion, they just want to play and avoid their responsibilities as children often do. This follows The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’s continuous themes of youth, innocence, and …show more content…
She tries to get the rest of her family interested, but they all have their different reasons for disliking religion or the church. Therefore, Bone decides to go on the search for salvation herself, and visits a total of fourteen churches, but finds that she did not feel as if she was actually being saved. Finally, Anney takes her to get baptized but, after the ceremony she doesn’t feel any different like she had expected to. In Bastard out of Carolina, Bone idealizes religion, possibly hoping that it will help her find herself. But, she not only finds that her family is not supportive of her newfound interest in religion, but that she really does not change after getting baptized. This certainly removes religion from the pedestal she had formerly placed it on. Family is another theme that is explored in each of the hour novels. In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom only family is his aunt and brother, and Huck’s only family is his alcoholic father. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden has a little sister and two brothers, one of which who died, which affects him a lot throughout the novel. Bone ‘s family in Bastard out of Carolina is very close and tends to take care of each other, but her immediate family includes her abusive