The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

In Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the idea of freedom is very prevalent. In the novel, the protagonist, Huck, and a runaway slave, Jim, travel down the Mississippi river on a raft they found. For them, the river symbolizes freedom while the land symbolizes captivity. This idea is central to the meaning of the whole work because the novel is a display of how people are not free within society.

On land, Huck and Jim were confined and not able to be completely free. Jim, for starters, was a slave. On the land, he had to do whatever the white people told him to. In comparison, Huck was also captive. Although he wasn’t a slave, living with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, Huck was forced to sleep in a bed, go to school, and learn his religion. Once his dad kidnaped him, he would get locked in the old log cabin for many hours, even days sometimes. Soon, Huck was tired of being held captive. He found a raft and escaped down the Mississippi river. Jim also escaped down the Mississippi River, in fear that he was going to be sold into severe conditions of slavery.

Traveling on the Mississippi River, Huck and Jim were finally free from captivity. They were able to live their lives as they wanted without anyone telling them what to do. On the river, Jim was no longer a slave to anyone. He didn’t have to follow any orders. Huck was free from being forced to do work by Miss Watson, and free from his father’s beatings. Huck was also free from social conventions and adults trying to influence his lifestyle. The river and the land were complete opposites to Jim and Huck. The contrast between the land and the river is a representation of how humans are not really free within society.