Narrative Use in Twain's Huck Finn

Narrative Style of Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn The entire structure of the novel is one of frustrated attempt to escape from restrictions only to find the refuge susceptible to invasion and destruction. Huckleberry Finn himself is the most American of heroes: he is the boy-man in a male world.. And solitary -- alone even among others. (Solomon, 175).

While the vast majority of critical analysis conducted on Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn focuses on the symbolic significance of the river within the overall narrative; few scholars have suggested that Huck himself may have been constructed in such a way as to evoke the emergence of America and the realization of its national identity.

A youth filled with the spirit of rebellion, yearning to live free from the dominion of an arbitrary authority, self-sufficient and reliant on his own intelligence to guide him, Huckleberry Finn embodies the ideals of the fledging American nation. Critics have long sought the perceived moral of Twain's classic, but have seldom explored the possibility that Huckleberry Finn may indeed be an authorial expression of admiration for the principles from which his country was born.

Clearly, the narrative structure of the novel is patterned after the historical circumstances of America's birth, with Huck's flight from the oppressive stewardship of Miss Watson coinciding with the United States' rebellion against the administration of the crown, and so on. What is not as apparent is the extent to which Twain intended his Huck to serve as a realization of the qualities on which the American nation was founded.

I intend to show that this correlation between character and country was, in fact, Twain's primary aspiration in penning his masterpiece. Huckleberry Finn's irrepressible nature, his indomitable spirit and overwhelming desire to live according to terms of his own, are the same qualities which defined America in the wake of revolution. The various constraints imposed upon him by the refined Miss Watson and the stodgy Widow Douglas become simply too much to bear for Huck, who is consumed by a yearning to be free.

The notion that his venerable benefactors would "take me for (their) son, and & #8230; sivilize me (4)," calls to mind the British monarchy's insistence that their surrogates in America retain their Old World civilities. Stifled by this imposed authority, Huck repeatedly asserts that he "couldn't stand it no longer (4)," implying that, just as the original colonists initially tried to cope with the domineering British crown, he was cooperative in the beginning. He is aware, however, of a vague longing for something more significant than the blind obedience demanded by his elders.

Although he struggles to define the restlessness stirring within him, he is certain that "all (he) wanted was to go somewheres; all (he) wanted was a change (5)." The Huck which twain introduces his readers to is on the precipice of a fundamental decision. Like America before him, Huck must choose between the unsatisfying security of authority and the uncertain contentment of liberty. Following the dissatisfaction and frustration which typified the confinement of Miss Watson and Widow Douglas, Huck is forced to realize that freedom comes at a high cost.

The reappearance of Pap, with his cruelty and violence, in Huck's life coincides with England's armed response to the insurrection of the American colonies. While Watson and Douglas represented the paternalistic component of royal rule, exhorting Huck to behave correctly, Pap is the embodiment of a monarchy's truest expression of power. Regarding his son as his inferior, Pap demands his due tribute, saying "that's why I come.

You git me that money tomorrow-I want it (28)." Pap's willingness to exploit and abuse his son is a parallel to the British monarchy's crippling taxation policies. When Huck refuses to comply he is beaten mercilessly by Pap, just as the colonies were invaded after declaring their independence. His proclivity for wielding a rod of hickory to command respect is an extension of the crown's continual readiness to exert control through the use of a standing army.

Whether by cowhide or by musket, the authority of Pap and the British monarchy is.