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Contrasting places are often used in literature to represent opposed forces or ideas which are central to the meaning of the work. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel which tells the story of a boy named Huckleberry Finn and his journey down the Mississippi River. Author Mark Twain contrasts the river and the shore in order to get across to his readers the idea that society tends to conform people while nature lets them be free and true to themselves. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the river becomes Huck s home, and the shore is the place he avoids.
The river can represent either a god or a sanctuary. Like a god, the river guides Huck on his journey. It pulls Huck downstream where he meets new people such as the scheming duke and king and the Grangers on family, and also reunites him with old friends, such as Jim, the runaway slave. The river can also represent a sanctuary to Huck as well. It is a place for him to run to, to escape the life he doesn t want. It is a safe haven from his father who wants nothing but his son s money.
The reason Huck turns to the river in the first place is to escape from his drunken abusive father. Huck finds much more happiness on the river than with his father or at the Widow s home, where he is supposed to be living. On the river, Huck is free to go wherever he pleases and to be whoever he wants to be. He doesn t have to look for adventure, adventure finds him quite easily. The shore, on the other hand, represents civilization and persecution, which is what Jim and Huck want to avoid. On the shore Huck is forced to be someone he isn t by attending school, wearing fancy clothes, and practicing good manners.
He isn t free to live the kind of life he wants to live, which is unburdened and spontaneous. Jim wants to avoid society because, since he is a slave, he believes that the Widow is going to sell him, when in all actuality, she wants to set him free. Jim does not want to be subservient or be looked down upon anymore because of the color of his skin. He only wants to be happy and reunited with his family. Considering what the river and the shore represent, its easy to understand why the course of this novel follows the river.
By contrasting the river and the shore, Mark Twain shows that society places a restraint on the individual and attempts to force them to conform to its standards, while nature tends to bring out the individuality in people without placing any restraints upon them. Understanding what the river and shore represent and how they relate to the characters can give the readers a greater understanding of the novel in its entirety.
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Research essay sample on Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
