Freedoms In Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn

Huck Finn Essay Throughout Mark Twain’s novel, Huckleberry Finn, Twain shows several different kinds of freedoms that the two main characters, Jim and Huck, wish to achieve. Huck, a young adolescent, wishes for freedom from many different things. He struggles with conforming to society 's standards, escaping bad parenting, and the freedom to be his own person. His companion, Jim, is a runaway slave who yearns more than anything to be free from the institution of slavery. These two set out together on a quest to attain their freedom. In the beginning of the novel, we learn about how Huck has been living with the respectable Widow Douglas, who is a proper woman. She and her sister, Miss Watson have taken on the task of attempting to civilize

When Huck asks Jim why he has runaway from the Widow, he explains how he had overheard Miss Watson debating on whether or not to sell him and separate him from his family. Now that he is a runaway his only wish is to be free from slavery and it’s icey chains. While the two of them are traveling down the river they feel a sense of freedom. The nature surrounding them helps them achieve the freedom that they were seeking not only physically, but mentally also. They are unbothered and able to do as they please on the raft which would not be possible if they were traveling by land. As their relationship strenghthens Huck sees Jim as less of a slave and more of a human being. This humanizes Jim and takes away his title of “slave” in many ways by showing that he and Huck were not much different. In conclusion, I blieve that Twain intended to point out that freedom is not something that can be defined by a whole. Freedom is whatever each person makes for themselves. Jim’s freedom was not the same as Huck’s. Freedom is also something that can be scary and lonely, which is seen when Huck is finally able to attain freedom on the island. The duo’s time spent out in the natural world gives them the feeling of freedom even though it brings a sense of danger also. I believe that Twain is saying that freedom is something that we all want, but when we get it, it is not the thing we had hoped it