Mark Twain does an excellent job creating the characters in The Adventures of Huckleberry. From the Widow to Jim, he captures the essence of the deep south pre-Civil War. I want to focus on Huck. As a narrator, he is very enticing and relatable no matter what your ethnic, social, economic, or familial background is. I think it is his innocence that causes the audience to like him so much. We get to see the world through the eyes of a child who really doesn't consider the evils of the world a major catastrophe.
The scenes with Pap are the most telling of innocence from the start. Here we have a very abusive, violent, and scary situation; but Huck doesn't portray it that way. The scene when Pap goes after Huck with a knife during a drunken stupor is terrifying. But Huck relays the events so nonchalantly that the reader does not focus on the possible fatal outcomes. This is a very clever way for Twain to show the audience how carefree Huck really is. We all at one time have been free-spirited or carefree or have wanted to be; therefore, the audience can relate to Huck. His free spirit allows him to survive, and survival is definitely a theme throughout the book.
When Huck and Jim run into the Duke and King all four are apparently trying to survive. Huck just wants to live his life as he sees fit, Jim wants to live and be reunited with his family, and the Duke and King want money (because money is the key to survival, right?). This encounter shows the audience that even though all four have a different motive, they all are trying to survive. This is another trait Twain uses to help the audience relate to the characters; we all want to survive and will sometimes use methods that are considered unethical.
Huck's positive attitude is a refreshing one considering all that he had to endure. By the end of the novel we are able to see that even though want he ended up with was not what he initially wanted. That is the last strategy Twain uses to show his audience that what we think we want is not what we want at all. Huck thought he would like living in the squalor he did when he was with Pap, he thought he would enjoy traveling down the river, and he thought he would enjoy his freedom from civilization. But in reality, he wanted to be wanted. That's something we all want, even if we don't want to admit it.
Overall, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a fantastic adventure novel that allows readers to travel down the river and be carefree, wreckless, fearful, angry, and satisfied without leaving the comfort of their civilized world. Twain is a classic American author for a reason; he captures the American way of life in one novel through the eyes of a child.
Although i agree with what you say for the most part... I don't completely agree with the statement that Huck is "carefree." Yes it is true that he likes being free and doing what he wants to do when he wants to do it, but that doesn't necessarily make him carefree. He cares very deeply in my opinion for the widow, Jim, and the families he meets upon his journeys. He went to school despite his dislike for it at first to please the widow. And for Jim he tries very hard to get him free even though he goes along with tom's very extravagant plan to please tom. He even stays in the house when he desires to go out that last night because aunt sally asked it of him. In my opinion this isn't a carefree boy.
ReplyDeleteOkay, you make a valid point. I guess I was looking more at the innocence of Huck and his view on life. His journey is a journey of self-discovery. I don't think he is careless, but he is free-spirited to an extent. You are right in the fact that he cares for people who care for him. He is not a mean little boy and he doesn't want to hurt anyone he loves or cares about. So can his child-likeness allow the reader to enjoy the journey but also help Huck grow into the individual he probably will become as an adult and is that a good thing?
ReplyDeleteI agree with where you say that Huck is carefree, because, he is! He starts off a child, and goes through all these overbearing predicimetns, and even though by the end of the novel he has grown, he is still carefree and free spirited.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Huck about how he needed to survive as well as Jim, The duke, and the dauphin. I believe that all of them wanted to survive for different things , but they did have the common goal to survive another day. You also said that the book captures the essence of the deep post Civil War South, but when I read it, the time period seemed to be Pre-Civil War. I also did research that it takes place in 1845, 20 years before the Civil War. It also mentioned runaway slaves which doesn't make sense becasue slaves were freed after the Civil War. Could you please clear that up for me because it was just confusing to me?
ReplyDeleteYou are right, I did mean to state pre-Civil War. I don't know where my head was. The book doesn't make sense if it were post-Civil War era. I think I have had post-war on the brain due to another book I have been reading "The Path to the Spiders' Nests" by Italian author Italo Calvino which was published in 1947 while there is still some German occupation in Italy. But, I digress. You are right, it is pre and not post-Civil War.
ReplyDeletei have to say huck finn isn't so carefree it felt more of a non shalont persona i think most things don't faze him but he does strive to live a free life. He still has a very childish touch to him as you said innocence which is giving into a form of maturity by the end of the book
ReplyDeleteI don't believe in what you are saying about Huck not being terrified by his father and fearing the worst. I believe he is petrified by pap, this is shown because Huck never stands up to pap, but pretending it isn't as bad as it really is, as that is the only way for Huck to stay loyal to his father. He probably feels like he has to be obedient to his father, because in both his worlds-his father's lawless one, and the civilized, churched one- honor your father and mother is drummed in. He probably thinks since both teach it, it must be true. Since he feels obligated to endure his father's abuse, he tries to make the best of it.
ReplyDeleteI was confused about the post civil war thing but thank you for clearing that up. Huck is carefree, but above that he is smart. When he wants to be carefree he thinks in a clever way, like when he fakes his own death. A normal person would've just ran forever. So i think a better way to describe him is smart, because without his wits he would be dead.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I would label Huck as "smart". He is a very passive, and somewhat naive character. I doubt whether or not he realized the consequences of faking his own death, like that Pap would never go looking for him. I will admit, though, that Huck definitely has some style. All the detail he put into his plan made it so believable. If I was in that situation, I doubt I'd remember that much, let alone even make a plan like that. I guess by hanging out with Tom Sawyer so long, a little of his flair for adventures rubbed off on Huck.
ReplyDeleteOk well when you said Huck is carefree, it reminds me of the saying "ignorance is bliss." Sure, Huck does care about people who care about him, so he isn't completely careless. He is just very young, and he doesn't view events that we view as "terrifying" or "bad" the way we would. Because he is young, he cares about what he knows is right, for instance when he saved Jim from being caught in the boat even when they were fighting. I really like when you stated that everyone wants to be wanted, even if we don't admit it. I think that is a major theme that is developed throughout the book and helps to develop what kind of characters Huck and Jim really are.
ReplyDelete-Always,
Brandd. :)
Do you think there is a difference between being careless and carefree? And if so, what is it and what is Huck?
ReplyDeleteI think Huck's carefreeness brings out carelessness at times in the novel. An example is in the beginning of the book when he and Tom are sneaking out of the house. The two almost got caught by Jim because they were being careless and making to much noise. I think that when Huck and Jim were trying to survive Huck couldn't be as carefree as he wanted, so as a result he wasn't as careless.
ReplyDeleteI think Huck is a very laid back kid. The way that Twain writes the book he makes it seem to the point where someone could mistake it as careless. Huck gets careless when he is around Tom though,because Tom is careless.
ReplyDeleteI think that Huck is carefree but I think most of that comes from him being a kid, and being like every other kid his age. Although he is care free, he also is able to take on alot of responsibilites that other kids don't have, one of those being, making sure a man doesn't get caught and put back in slavery. As Kylee said, I'm sure any kid would get more careless around kids their own age, but either way, I think Huck is more of a mature kid, than a careless one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ms. Jesik when she suggests that Huck just wants to be wanted. I also agree with Kayla S. when she says Huck is mature. His maturity is apparent when it comes to the situation involving Jim and slavery. Even though Huck shows to be a typical kid in the beginning, he shows growth when he deals with the situation involving Jim, the Duke, and the King. I somewhat disagree with Brandd because instead of describing Huck with the term, "ignorance is bliss", I would describe him as naive.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Huck relays the event where his father comes at him with the knife a bit nonchalantly, but I do not believe Huck is carefree. Carefree is where somebody does not care about anything at all, not even if something or somebody is scary or terrifying. I believe Huck is terrified of his father. When Huck sees his father's footprints in the snow, he runs as fast as he can to Judge Thatcher's house. Mark Twain portrays Huck as going there just because he does not want Pap to get his money. I believe Huck also goes there because he is terrified his father could get him at any moment, so Huck runs to an adult that he feels safe with, Judge Thatcher. This is just what I think, though.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you that a theme in the novel is survival. Most of the characters are trying just to survive through the day to see what the next day brings. I must ask the same question you put on my blog seeming that you and I are in the same boat about themes. "A theme does not just consist of one word; a theme is a general statement about human experience. With that being said, how can you turn the word 'survival' into a theme?"
(No sarcasm intended...just a question for your response).
I believe that Huck is balanced wonderfully between "carefree"/"naive" and "smart"/"mature". Twain presents Huck's reactions to some situations, and Huck has a "carefree" attitude. But in others, like where he carefully plans out his "murder" it shows Huck's intelligence and ability to think maturly. I suppose that's one of the reason's he's such an interesting character, because he balances these 2 characteristics very well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of what you said, but I agree with Raquel. Just because he doesn't think things are scary and terrifying like most will, does not mean that Huck is carefree. I feel that he wasn't scared because he was used to the way his dad treated him and he knew that he could outrun his dad if he ever tried to hurt him. But, I think Huck had other fears. He would worry about Jim being caught and tried his best to keep Jim protected. To me, this showed that he did have worries and responsibilities like any other person.
ReplyDelete-Angie
I put your post to thought.. And i began to think over the novel and i agree with what you said about how Huck knew what he wanted but in the end that wasn't what he initially wanted. Nobody knows what they really want and no one can say how the end is going to end up being like. Like how Huck thought he would just take a trip down the river with Jim and go to the north... But by the end Toms family took him in and he now is being taken care of and Jim is legally a free man. :]
ReplyDeleteI also want to argue that money isn't the key to survival. It can be the skill to survive; money can be used to survive but if u don't know what to spend it on what's the use of it, right? If you got stuck in the forest there's not a store close by so how would you live until help came? Huck and Jim didn't have money to start there journey off they had the knowledge to survive in the wilderness, the skill to survive. If the Duke and the King were put in the same situation they wouldn't last long because they didn't know how to hunt, fish, or find/make shelter. I believe that the Duke and King can't survive without money and civilization...
Nice call, Jared. To turn survival into a theme I would have to say:
ReplyDeleteIn Huckleberry Finn the theme survival of the fittest applies but so does survival of the smartest or most clever. One must have brains and braun, both emotionally and physically, in order to survive and be sucessful.
Is that a little better?
Sorry I am late I was out of a computer for a while. I should have told you. I would like to ask a question though. Do you think Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn was the more dominate character in there planning to free Jim. I noticed that there were different things said in a lot in other peoples posts. I also wanted to comment on your part on Huck attitude. I might have a different view point being a child, but I have to say that I don't think his attitude was positive. Many times his attitude was not expressed even. He was happy a lot but many things such as his friend getting killed and the raft passing Cario, not escaping the King and Duck and even having Jim, and many other things put him down most of the time. Well The next book is coming along... I guess... Thanks!!
ReplyDelete-Alex Cool Beans:)
Oh goodness! I just realized I had read your blog but didn't comment. Anyway, I definately agree with the statement you made saying that the violence and such are not shown through the word choice and voice of Huck. Why do you think Twain, the way he does, shows how carefree Huck is? For instance, why doesn't he just show it with something less "fatal," like with a young boy's argument or something? This is also relating to one of your first comments on this pist; After reading QUEL's comment, are you looking more at Huck as a whole, and maybe not focusing as much on his innocence? I also agree with your statement that states that this novel leades readers to be fearful and wreckless; not too many novels have these two elements included in them.
ReplyDeleteYour post has very valid points but as most people have said, I think Huck was extremely afraid of his father. You can tell he had a dark feeling consume him when he saw the shoe print of his father. However because of the kind of character Twain made Huck, he was able to overcome his fear. That might be why you thought his fear was limited.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that Huck was carefree but was also just acting carefree. I think he acted carefree to compensate for all the bad happening in his life. He let large things blow over when in reality he was in pain but acted as though everything was fine. I also believe that Huck was a caring person that really wanted to enjoy life but was very limited and this adventure showed him what life can be.
ReplyDeleteMy comment got deleted!! I'm not sure what's been happening with my commenting but I was looking through everything today and I noticed that I musn't of been posting them right and now my comment above says it was deleted?? But I think I tried to say before mainly, if you hadnt read it, is that Huck is who he is because of alot of what he's gone through with his drunken father.
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