The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Throughout life people grow up in many ways. It is the life experiences people deal with that help them mature and develop. The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, develops themes with his motifs. In the novel Huck starts as an uneducated young boy with no mother and an abusive drunk father. Huck decided to fake his death and run to keep himself safe, along the way he meets Jim, a run away slave from the town he lived in previously, and has to make the decision whether or not to help him escape. Considering the time, this was a monumental moral decision that this young boy has to make. Huck has to grow up a lot in a short amount of time due to the situations that he goes through. The motifs childhood, lies, and cons develop the theme of maturation and development in Huck throughout the story.

The motif of childhood helps develop the theme of maturation in Huck. Huck had an abusive father as a child. He has to deal with a drunken father who cannot take care of himself never mind a child. Unfortunately, this made Huck realize that he has to grow up to be able to support himself. Huck describes his father and says, “His hair was long and tangled and greasy, and hung down, and you could see his shining through like he was behind vines.”( 28). Huck describing the way his father looks like he has not bathed in weeks and cannot take care of him. Huck faked his own death which matured him. He had to plan and make sure every detail was perfect. He had to realize that the world is not perfect and that he had to mature and made sure that everything is perfect. Huck's taking in a freed slave made him mature. It made his childhood short, due to the fact that he had to make such a heavy moral decision. He had to do what h...

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...how he has grown throughout the story.

The theme of development and maturation is developed through Huck by the motifs Childhood, lies, and cons. Huck’s childhood is anything but normal, he is forced to grow up and mature very quickly due to the situations he is put through. Lies mature Huck because he has to lie to save himself and Jim from their old lives. Meeting the King and the Duke also helped Huck grow up and mature because of his experiences he learned from them. Huck has to grow up in many ways and during the novel. Huck experiences many things with Jim that help him grow up and change. He matures so much throughout the entire story. Maturing is a natural thing, everyone does it. The more situations that a person is put through the more mature they become.

Works Cited

Twain, Mark. Adventure of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Penguin Group, 1985. Print.