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The themeHucks Freedom Freedom The theme of freedom surfaces frequently in the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Throughout the book, the most obvious controversy about freedom is Jim s situation. This type of freedom though important, is not the type I will discussing. The freedom I am analyzing is Huck s freedom from several different subjects.
Huck had to gain both physical and emotional freedom. Often times the physical freedom came before full emotional freedom could. Huckleberry Finn is a young boy around the age of 13. He is adventurous and outgoing. Because of his childhood rearing, he is a very self-sufficient and independent boy. The book begins with Huckleberry Finn living at the home of the Widow Douglas.
Though Huck becomes accustomed to her way of living, he is not happy. He feels her attempts to sivilize him are constraining. She put me in new clothes again, and I couldn t do nothing but sweat and sweat, and feel all cramped up (Twain 2). Not only must Huck wear uncomfortable clothes but he must also attend school and learn her Christian ways.
School is a new part of life for Huck. As a child, his dad was a drunk and his mother was deceased. Because of this, he never had to attend school. In fact later on in the book, his father demands that he quit school. Huck rejects the idea of organized religion and a majority of the Widow s teachings. Although the Widow had good intentions in trying to convert Huck into society s norm, she was actually driving him away.
He eventually ran away from the widow but soon returns. Although Huck did return, he still feels lonely and empty. it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways (Twain 1). Shortly after this, his father comes back into Huck s life. His father Pap, has been abusive both physically and emotionally all of Huck s life. When he returns to Hookersville and finds Huck in school, he demands that Huck must quit.
While is Huck s bedroom, Pap sees an award Huck received for learning his school lessons. A loving father would have been proud of Huck s accomplishments. Pap however, is not. After seeing the award he looks at Huck and says, I ll give you something better- I ll give you a cow hide. (page 20) This is just one example of intimidation his father uses on Huck.
Pap is not only abusive in that sense, but also greedy and self-centered. Earlier in Huck s life, Huck came into a great deal of money. This is the only reason Pap returns. Somehow he hears about Huck s fortune and demands Huck give him the money. I ve been in town two days, and I hain t heard about it away down the river, too. That s why I come.
You get me that money tomorrow- I want it. (page 20) Pap s jealousy of Huck leads him to kidnap Huck a short time later. He feels that Huck is trying to be better than him. His goal is to uncivilized Huck. Huck is taken to a lonely cabin in the Missouri woods. Here Pap imprisons him and uses Huck for his own gain. Emotional freedom was not the hardest freedom to gain from Pap.
Growing up Huck was beaten, cussed out and imprisoned. This made it easier for Huck to cut any ties that he might have had for Pap. In that sense Huck has been an orphan all his life, not ever knowing love. Huck had gained physical freedom once from Pap and now must again. He does not like Pap s greed, drunkenness, abuse or the fact that Pap is trying to change him. A short time after being kidnapped by Pap, Huck decides he must once again escape the restraints of his father.
I thought it all over, and I reckoned I would walk off with the gun and some lines, and take to the woods when I run away (Twain 26). He carries out a plan in which he escapes the cabin by faking his own death. Huck is once again free. He soon meets up with Jim who was Miss Watson s slave. Miss Watson was the sister of the Widow Douglas and well-known by Huck.
Jim had also runaway from the restraints he had endured all his life. The two decide to go down the Mississippi River in hopes for a better life. Together they build a raft and make their way down the river. During this time, Huck and Jim began to form a bond.
Huck must now fight for another kind of freedom. Freedom from societies views on slavery. Before he became friends with Jim, Huck shared society s views on race. He believed that slaves were property not free souls.
As the story progresses, Huck learns that Jim is a real person that deserves to be free. This proves to be trouble for Huck because there are laws concerning the aiding of a runaway slave. If Huck were caught, he may have been hung or imprisoned simply for helping a slave escape. He can t ignore society as he did with the Widow Douglas or runaway from it like he did with Pap. He must form his own opinions about it and be strong enough to fight.
Huck s guilt, because of what society has taught him is right or wrong, often causes him problems. At one point Jim has every intention of turning Jim in the authorities. He set out with every intention on giving Jim up, but when he was faced with the decision he couldn t bring himself to do it. After this happened, he said to himself, I know very well I had done wrong [by not turning Jim in]s pose you d a done right and give Jim up, would you felt better then what you do now? No says I, I d feel bad (Twain 91). This is a perfect example of the struggle Huck went through.
He feels that he done wrong by society but right be his heart. Throughout the story, Huck s heart continues to grow and move him while his prejudice and societal restraints diminished. He had found freedom from societies teachings in what he knew was right. From the beginning to the end of the book, Huck struggles and overcomes many obstacles to gain physical and emotional freedom. This established freedom as a major theme of the book. Huck finds freedom from the Widow Douglas, Pap and society.
He does all this by following his heart. However, the story ends with Huck saying, Aunt Sally she s going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can t stand it. I been there before (Twain 294). This last statement proves that the struggle for freedom is never-ending. One must be strong and do what they feel is the right thing. 324
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Research essay sample on Physical And Emotional Huckleberry Finn
