Importance of Creativity in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
What would you do if you were a young teenager traveling down the
Mississippi River, not knowing where to sleep that night or find food for
your next meal? That is the dilemma faced by Huckleberry Finn, and Huck
always found a lot of trouble. When most people are in trouble they either
take the easy way out and lie, or they use their creativity and wit. The
protagonist of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, uses more
wit than most fourteen year old kids use in their lifetime. Whenever life
hits Huck with a problem, he always conquers it by using awareness,
cleverness, and insight.
Before Huck starts his adventure down the river, he must fake his
death to "escape" from pap. The first thing Huck did was to make sure that
pap was far away before starting his getaway. At this point, many children
of Huck's age would merely get in a canoe and head down stream, most likely
getting caught the next day. Huckleberry Finn is smarter than that. Huck
wanted to make sure that no one would come down the river looking for him,
except to make his corpse rise. First, he collected all the supplies that
he could find and loaded them into a canoe. After that, he went into the
woods and caught a wild hog. He brought the hog in the Cabin, and
slaughtered it, making sure that it left behind a pool of blood on the hard
packed dirt ground. He disposed of the dead hog by throwing it in the
river to float downstream. Huck also opened a sack of corn and left a
trail leading to a shallow lake nearby. Before leaving the cabin, he
filled another sack with rocks, and made a path toward the river. This was
done to simulate the trail of the robbers dragging their bounty to the
river bank. Huckleberry hoped that pap would think he was killed by a
group of robbers that stole all his possessions. After using these tactics
to avert any search parties, he floated down the river to Jackson Island.
Huck made every attempt to make sure that he could sail down the river in
peace. As Huck had hoped, his plan worked beautifully.
While on Jackson Island, Huck mistakenly met up with a "friend" of
his, Jim. After they settled on the island, Huck wanted to find out what
was happening at the town across the river. Jim knew that Huck needed to a
disguise, and they decided that Huck would dress up as a girl. After
putting on a gown and bonnet, Huck took the canoe across the river, and
found the house of a stranger. Because he had to keep a low profile for a
while, it was important that it was a stranger. As he knocked on the door,
he reminded himself to act like a girl. The lady invited him in. They
talked about Huck's home town, Tom Sawyer's 20,000 dollars, and inevitably,
Huck's murder. The lady soon became suspicious of Huck's femininity. She
finally asked Huck, "What is you real name? Is it Bill, or Tom, or Bob?-or
what is it?"(Twain 59). Huckleberry finally admitted that he was a male
by the name of George Peters. He continued on to weave a tall tale saying
that when looking for the town of Goshen, and had received directions from
a drunken farmer. Instead of telling the lady his name was Huckleberry
Finn and risking the possibility of getting caught with Jim, he extended
his lie. To keep his story realistic, he told the lady that both his
parents had died, and he left because his new guardian treated him poorly.
This was a very good choice because not many strangers will question a
person their parent's death. Huck Left the lady's house with a snack and
the directions to Goshen. Without being overly inquisitive within this
short visit, Huck learned what people thought of his death and possible
trouble happening back on the island.
After Huckleberry and Jim outwit their "friends", the king and the
duke, Huck lost his best friend and possession, Jim. While floating down
stream alone, he spots a young man and asks if he saw any n------ dressed
in a funny manner. The boy replies that he saw a n----- going towards the
Phelp's place. When the boy asks why Huck wants to know where the n-----
was, Huck replied that the n----- threatened to cut out his liver. This
naturally encourages the boy to tell Huck more about Jim's whereabouts and
condition. Huck learned that an old fellow "nailed him", and Jim is just
waiting at the Phelp's farm. Huck starts talking innocently about the
reward. The young boy expressed that he would wait seven years to collect
the 200 dollar bounty. This is another example of Huck's discreet
inquirings. After leaving the boy, he most likely forgot about the
situation because Huck didn't pressure information out of him. He only
asks in a nonchalant manner, therefore acting innocent and polite
Huckleberry learns that he can only trust a few people. When he is
in trouble, he can use his wits to either get out of, or go deeper into
trouble. In Huck's case, he usually goes farther into trouble until he can
escape. Huck also learns that he can get a lot of information out of
people with well worded, yet innocent questions. This is a lesson that
people should learn. When in trouble, we have two choices. We can either
tell the truth, or have fun and try to use wit, cleverness, and a little
bit of luck to save ourselves.Partner sites: French Bulldog, Spanish school in Quito, and Wedding Speeches