Theme Of Freedom In Huck Finn

The novel Mark Twain’s novel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” gives a very compelling argument as to whether the people in his time are really living the American dream that was promised and individuality. In the novel, readers learn about a boy who refuses to follow the norms of society and chooses his own individual views instead of clinging on the rest of civilization. As he goes on his path to the Mississippi river with a runaway slave named Jim, he blindly makes decisions that to him, seem to be right and are indeed viewed as being more morally correct than other people. With that, the most consequential and important theme that is being conveyed in the story plot is freedom which comes in forms varying between the two characters.

Starting at the beginning of the story, Huck has altercations with Miss Watson about how he should act so with the civilized environment. Miss Watson raises Huck and tries in many occasions to nag him out of doing unconventional things. “The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me... I got into my old rags and my sugar hogshead again, and was free and satisfied"(Twain, 2). In this quote, it is shown that Huck would not be civilize by Widow Douglas regardless of his upbringing. There seems to be a solid attempt by some of the characters to get Huck to conform to the certain standards or to meet traits of a normal person. Though he was raised in a lavage childhood, similar to Tom Sawyer, he still lacks the basic groundwork for his life that way. Huck thinks of his dilemma in this quote: He depicts his satisfaction and freedom on the raft when he states, "Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don 't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft" (Twain 128). This probably could have been the outcome of his previous experiences with his cruel father. The readers actually see the corruption of society and puts them in a position where they must side with Huck on the custody issue against his Paps. Pap becomes a symbol of the antagonistic community that Huck must fight away from. Huck once again proves his individuality when plotting to

Upon overhearing that Miss Watson was planning on selling him to a new owner in New Orlans, Jim runs away from what was a content lifestyle. Jim provides friendship and in some way mentoring to Huck as he escapes his master and goes along with Huck in hopes of permanently getting out of his shackle of slavery and live peacefully with his wife and kids. Huck describes his reactions; “"Jim said it made him all over trembly and feverish to be so close to freedom" (Twain 97). He is sometimes given the chance to make his own decisions, but in certain conditions, he experienced misfortune from his choices. Being a slave capitalist and sold through the livestock, Jim possesses some unique knowledge of the country’s stock market. However, he ends up losing what little amounts of cash he earned when his so-called bank goes bankrupt. He portrays his disappointment; ”I owns myself, en I 's wuth eight hund 'd dollars. I wisht I had de money, I wouldn ' want no mo” (Twain 73). In another event that shows Jim’s rise from slave like actions are when Huck and Tom are playing a joke on him while he is sleeping. They silently put his hat in a tree so Jim would wake believing that "witches bewitched him and put him in a trance, and rode him all over the State, and then set him under the trees