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Novel analysis of the adventures of huckleberry finn
Discuss the use of the river as a symbol in huckleberry finn
Novel analysis of the adventures of huckleberry finn
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In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain establishes the symbolism of the Mississippi River to represent the freedom of escaping the past. When Huck is on the river he makes choices on how he believes he should live. He has escaped his civilized life the widow provided, and the uncivilized life his abusive father led. It is only on the river, away from land that he “feel[s] mighty free” and safe from his past (113). Away from civilization, the freedom to make choices individually is gained rather than being forced into decisions made by others. Furthermore, Huck’s ultimate decision revolving freedom lies in the verdict of whether to free Jim. By thinking about the “trip down the river” Huck resolves that there was nothing Jim had done
Throughout Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck learns a variety of life lessons and improves as a person. Huck goes through a maturing process much different than most, he betters a conscience and begins to feel for humanity versus society. His trip down the river can be seen as a passage into manhood, where his character changes as he can relate with the river and nature.
Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the greatest American novels ever written. The story is about Huck, a young boy who is coming of age and is escaping from his drunken father. Along the way he stumbles across Miss Watson's slave, Jim, who has run away because he overhead that he would be sold. Throughout the story, Huck is faced with the moral dilemma of whether or not to turn Jim in. Mark Twain has purposely placed these two polar opposites together in order to make a satire of the society's institution of slavery. Along the journey, Twain implies his values through Huck on slavery, the two-facedness of society, and represents ideas with the Mississippi River.
To some this story might seem like a tragedy, but to Christians this is a beautiful story. Although young Harry dies at the end, he is accepted into the kingdom of God, which is far superior to anything on Earth. A non-religious family raises him and the first taste of Christianity he gets makes him want to pursue God. In Flannery O’Conner’s short story, The River, the allure of Gods grace and the repelling of sinful ways are shown heavily through Harry.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain is about the great adventures that Huck finn has with his slave Jim on the Missouri River. The story tells not only about the adventures Huck has, but more of a deeper understanding of the society he lives in. Twain had Huck born into a low class society of white people; his father was a drunken bum and his mother was dead. He was adopted by the widow Douglas who tried to teach him morals, ethics, and manners that she thought fit in a civilized society. Huck never cared for these values and ran away to be free of them. During Huck’s adventure with Jim he unknowingly realized that he didn't agree with society’s values and could have his own assumptions and moral values. Twain uses this realization to show how the civilized and morally correct social values that was introduced to Huck was now the civilized and morally contradicting values.
In, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, author, Mark Twain contrasts what life is like on the uncivilized shore compared to the peaceful life on the river. Huckleberry Finn is a character that rejects society's behaviors and values because he does not want to be "civilized" like everyone wants him to be. Huck is someone with a mind of his own and someone who does what he pleases. Since Huck is someone who rejects society, he eventually ends up running away and traveling up the Mississippi River with a slave name Jim. The two runaways find peace on the river and they also find that they do not have to deal with the cruel society on shore. In this respect, what qualities make the river and society on shore so different from one another and how does Twain establish these contrasts? Huck and Jim are two individuals seeking freedom from the uncivilized people on the shore and during their journey together they find freedom on the raft floating up the Mississippi River.
Mark Twain creatively invents many settings throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; each setting effects the characters in different ways. One of the many motifs throughout the novel is the idea of freedom versus slavery. Through various incidents, lifestyles, and character developments taking place on land and water, Mark Twain is able to create two opposing worlds; i.e. one of freedom verses one of enslavement. Twain determines the characters' situations in life in accordance with each location and surroundings. Huck and Jim are constantly moving between these two worlds. For the most part, both are presented with the luxuries of freedom and serenity while on the river, which ends up changing both of their characters for the only as more of person, but a reliable friend. The reader gets a sense of Jim's kindness when he is willing to stand watch all night so Huck can get some extra rest.
In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, Huck lives in two different settings. One of the settings is on land with the widow and with his father and the other is on the river with Jim. There are many differences of living on land as opposed to living on the Mississippi River. On land, Huck has more rules to live by and he has to watch himself so as not to upset the widow or his father. On the river, Huck didn't have to worry about anything except people finding Jim. He also had to worry about the king and the duke for a while. Even thought there are many differences of the two living styles, there are also some similarities.
The Civil Rights Movement is usually seen as a social movement primarily throughout the Southern states during the 1950’s and throughout the 1960’s. However, the movement is taught by giving specific points, events, places, and people. The Civil Rights Movement in some regions such as the Mississippi Delta is not credited enough in history. The movement found crucial support inside of the Mississippi Delta due to its population being predominately African American. The Mississippi Delta played a key role not only in the movement, but in its development from encompassing Civil Rights activist, movements, tragic events, and more.
In the novel, Huck's main goal is to get away from a terrible, abusive drunk of a father. Without the access of the Mississippi, Huck might not have ever escaped his father, and his father could have easily killed Huck. For Jim, who's goal was not only freedom, but to see his family again, the river was a free way to reach the free states. With Huck's fortune he could have bought a train ticket or paid another way to get to Cairo, but it was important for him to make his journey with Jim. In that time a black runaway slave could not have ridden on a train or even walked on land in the light of day without being caught in a matter of minutes.
The Mississippi River is one of the most important aspects of the novel. The Mississippi most importantly symbolizes freedom. To Jim, the river is almost literally his ticket to freedom. He plans to follow the river to the free state of Illinois. Even though this plan does not work out, the river becomes the only place he is free, and feels like a real person with Huck. They do not worry about getting caught on the river because they travel at night, when most people were in bed. Huck describes this scene in this quote:
In the book The Things They Carried, the author Tim O’Brien uses conflict and symbolism to show the central idea that sometimes people can fail to be brave enough. O’Brien shows this central idea throughout the whole book and especially during the chapter “The Lives of the Dead”.
The Rainy River is a watercourse between Minnesota and Canada which tested O’Brien’s bravery to either enlist in or flee the Vietnam War. O’Brien states that the “The Rainy River… separated one life from another.” He also states that, “...Canadian waters, across... dotted line between two different worlds.” When he was in the river, he sees “hallucination” of his family and friends which reminded him of “ the embarrassment” he felt for running away. The Rainy River symbolized the rebirth of O’Brien into a new world. He also uses symbolism to portray the old man like a god. Tim O’Brien states that Elroy Berdahl “saved his life”. Tim was lost emotionally when he arrived at Canada. Elroy guided him and “offered exactly what(he) needed”. “He was there at a critical time.” Elroy knew O’Brien situation and wanted to help him make the right choice. On the 7th day, Elroy “guided(him) across the river” and “...must’ve planned it.” That day, the necessity of making a choice once and for all becomes clear to O’Brien.
Within the film, Mystic River, there are many symbols and themes; a major symbol is only half of Dave’s name written in the cement symbolizing that Dave is only half present and that he lost his innocence. Dave is shown as being withdrawn, awkward and shy, which is due to Dave being half present and his lost of youth. The theme of unspoken secrets is present throughout the film. Both the symbol and the theme help to drive the movie forward. Dave has unspoken secrets about what happened to him as a child, but also the night he killed a man.
The short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, keeps you at the edge of your seat with its interesting story plot. Bierce uses symbolism, a form of literary technique, to bring deeper meaning to the short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Bierce also uses allusion, another form of literary technique, in the short story to keep the reader interested. The gray eyes mentioned in the story are a very important element included to symbolize the gray line within Farquhar’s mind because he has become lost. Ambrose Bierce uses literary techniques and foreshadowing to ultimately shock you with a tragic ending.
When Huck is offshore, it almost seems like the river is some sort of Eden away from the sinfulness back on land. It is almost as if Huck is free and he realizes that saying, “Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t. You feel might free and easy and comfortable on a raft”. (Twain, 47) Huck and Jim were able to overcome the racial differences and become friends and acquaint with one another because, on the river, there is no question of race, religion or etc… it’s pure nature untamed by man and free of its judgement, it could be seen that way at least through Huck’s eyes. This helps form the novel, seeing as Huck was able to overcome the racial differences between Jim and himself, and have a form of a stable father figure. After some shocking episodes onshore, Huck and Jim are able to escape back to the river. Both Huck and Jim are, even though it is for a brief period, truly free. As long as they are on the river. As soon as they set foot back on shore the laws of man are forced back on them. After looking at a quote from Huck, “These liars warn’t no kings nor dukes, at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds” (Twain, 85) a reader can infer that this is Huck’s view of being on land. It’s filled with unnecessary rules and