Personal Experiences and Adventures

¶ … Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" By Mark Twain

Renowned author, Mark Twain, was brought up in the then-slave state of Missouri. His writings reflect his exposure to the barbaric institution known as slavery, in his formative years. The novelist decided upon becoming a driver of a steamboat during one voyage to the city of New Orleans. Naturally, a large part of the author's writings is set on the Mississippi River. Much of Twain's life was spent journeying across the nation, and numerous books of his deal with his very own personal experiences and adventures. Twain's most popular novels are the 1876 publication "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and the 1885 work, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (a sequel to the former book, and counted as a work belonging to the "Great American Novel" genre) (Wilson).

Summary of the Novel

Huckleberry Finn kicks off where its prequel ends. Huck and Tom each become owners of a large sum of money (six-thousand dollars, precisely), out of the treasure discovered by them. This money proves to be the root of several problems encountered by Huck in the future. Widow Douglas and Miss Watson wish for Huck to be clean, well-clothed, well-fed, and educated. He should prove to Pap that religion and education are making him "civilized." However, the lure of money drives his Pap to kidnap as well as abuse him, and try to get his hands on all of the money to pay for his alcohol. Huck flees to a river-island named Jackson's Island. It is here that he encounters the slave of Miss Watson, Jim, who will apparently be sold south and is, thus, fleeing out of fear of separation from his loved ones. As the two runaways paddle their way to freedom across the Mississippi River, Huckleberry mulls over the widely accepted, universal notions of wrong and right and opts for aligning himself with freedom, love, friendship, and kindness. In all their adventures featuring killers, wrecked boats, accidents, heavy fog, and slave hunters, Jim and Huck are subject to violence, hardship, cruelty, and trickery (Shlensky).

The Symbolism and Function of Water in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Water is universally employed as a symbol with various interpretations. It is a basis for life, a hub of revival, and a medium for cleansing. It can also play the function of a means of death; here, water falls, to some extent, in the category of regeneration or revival. Thus, water's symbolic qualities extend across eras and cultures, symbolizing life, death, purification, or transition. A river, specifically, represents human existence, with its curved passage through feelings, goals, and desires (Chidester).

Wilson claims that the Mississippi River, which features as the main background for much action in the novel, is a 'sublime', 'muscular', and 'dangerous' water body which is representative of absolute freedom. Here, Huck is most relaxed and contented. The river functions as the means by which Jim and Huck escape to America's Free states. The water body is accommodating, physically fluid and liberal, akin to Jim and Huck's imaginatively free empathetic deeds performed for others and in the two characters' practical adaptability to all situations they come across. But this absolute freedom is accompanied by danger and unpredictability, best personified by the storms at sea which pose a persistent threat to the two boys' lives. In solitude, when he is free from all immediate outside influences, Huck starts feeling increasingly lonely and self-destructive (this is comparable to the river's destructive characteristic). Consequently, the river becomes an embodiment of the benefits and perils of freedom that have to be navigated with care for one to lead a good and cheerful life.

Chidester elucidates that a very major role is played by the river in Huck's story; it goes beyond mere portrayal, and the river actually becomes a character. Twain's personal experiences on the river, together with his ingenuity, give birth to his character, 'Mississippi'. The river binds individual episodes on land into one coherent whole. It gives shape and credibility to the tale. The two boys weather the southbound river, making an escape peppered with continuous difficulties. The river also serves as a sort of deity, guiding the two or even, at times, confusing them with mist, thus, leading the two to one another or tearing them apart. It manipulates the boys, often kindly, thus behaving similar to Roman and Greek deities. This way, the Mississippi follows in the ageless literary tradition of an expedition on water, defying cultural, temporal, and geographical boundaries.