Parental Roles in Huck Finn: Jim as Huck's Perfect Companion

As defined by the World Book Encyclopedia, family is “The basic unit of social organization in all human societies,” (World Book). A family provides emotional and physical support, and raises children. “Since prehistoric times, families have served as the primary institution responsible for raising children, providing people with food and shelter, and satisfying people’s need for love and support,” (World Book). In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the subject of family is questioned. Huck does not have a consistent parental figure. Using a psychological literary approach to analyze Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and family relationships, one finds that Huck does not work well with either Miss Watson and Aunt Sally, or Pap, Jim is the only appropriate parental figure.

“The term family generally refers to a group of people related to one another by birth, marriage or adoption. In contemporary society, people often apply the word family to any group that feels a sense of kinship,” (World Book). World Book divides families into different types. The first type, the nuclear family, is most common and consists of a father, a mother, and their children. In the second type, a single-parent family, there is a single parent. That parent, (the mother or the father) heads the family alone.

It is in the home that children learn basic social skills. They learn how to talk, and effectively communicate with others. They learn how to get along with other people, and they learn health and safety habits, (World Book). In healthy families emotional expression is allowed and accepted, attention is given, there is consistency, individuality is encouraged, boundaries are respected, children can depend on the parents...

... middle of paper ...

...– but I done it, and I warn’t sorry for it afterwards, neither,” (Twain 102).

Huck feels controlled and restricted with Miss Watson, and later Aunt Sally. So, when Pap first steals him away, Huck is glad to be gone and to have more freedom. But this is not to say that Huck loves Pap. Pap is abusive both physically and verbally. He is also controlling as he keeps Huck shut in the cabin to prevent him from leaving. So, Huck runs away to escape another inappropriate parent. Even at the end of the book when Aunt Sally offers to take Huck in, he says he can’t stand it. The book leaves off there, but it is likely Huck will escape from her as well. Jim is the only person with whom Huck is happy and with whom he can be himself. Comparing all the parental figures in the book and studying family relationships reveals that Jim is the only one Huck truly respects and loves.