The Character of Huck in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Character of Huck in the Adventures of Huckleberry FinnMark Twain's classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is always be regarded as one of the greatest books of American literature and civilization. Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway claimed in Green Hills of Africa (1935), that "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since."The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which was first published in 1885, is a sequel to Mark Twain's another fiction The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Its theme is how to set the slaves free and how to come true one’s dreams. This is a social problem, so this novel influences American literature in American history, it can be said a revolution. The style of the book is quite simple. It is a local book which is written in the colloquial style, but it touches upon the human situation in a general, indeed universal way, humanitarianism ultimately triumphs.It tells a story which took place in the U.S.A. before the Civil War, along the Mississippi River, a boy named Huckleberry Finn who fled from his drunkard father, and encountered Jim on the island he hid. Jim was one of Miss Watson’ slaves, and he was also running away from her. So Huck and Jim teamed up , floated on a raft down the Mississippi River together. The adventure started. During the course of their perilous and tough journey, Huck and Jim met difficulty, adventure, danger, and a group of people with various characters. And In the winding and adventurous journey, Huck and Jim built up a permanent friendship that broke down the barrier between the White and Black.In this novel, Huck is a motherless and homeless boy without education, sleeping in barrels, eating scraps and dressed in rags. He comes from the very lowest level of society. His father is a drunkard and treats Huck very bad. Huck don’t like civilized ways because he think they are personally restrictive and hard. After all, Huck is only a child, the world seems new to him. Everything he encounters is a crash for thought. Because of his background, however, he does more than just apply the rules that he has been taught—he creates his own rules. To some degree, it can be said that he is treacherous.But Huck is also a good and noble boy. All of his virtues come from his kind heart and his sense of humanity. On the way of floating in Mississippi river, Huck tries his best to help Jim and changes his prejudice about Black people. He concerns about the drunk man in the circus. He shows sympathy for the nieces of Peter Wilks and saves money for them. His sympathy even goes to those who are totally unworthy of his attention such as the stranded robbers and the king and the duke.Besides, Huck is smart, and has a sharp eye for details. Although he is uneducated and doesn’t always understand everything he sees, or its significance, nature teacheshim a lot of things. Moreover, this quality helps him to avoid dangers and overcome difficulties during the travel.There were three important themes in this novel. One theme was “the pursuit of freedom”. Huck wanted to escape from the “civilized” society while Jim wanted to escape from the oppression and bondage of slavery they. They were both seeking their own freedom. The other theme was “growing”. Huck grew up and became mature from this journey. The journey was a voyage of growth in reality and morality, and a course of learning. On the personal and social level, he acquired knowledge and became a pers on of sound heart, and with democratic ideals. Jim’s growing means his progress of the idea and thought of himself. His pursuit was becoming the real human being. The third theme was the “racism and slavery”. It sets out the dissatisfaction of slavery. Mar k Twain’s impressive presentation of Negro slaves, such as Jim in the novel. Jim represents all that is good in man and Twain’s sympathy for the slaves and hatred towards the slave-society conventions are fully expressed in this novel. From them, readers could think more about life.Now, we come to a rather saddening fact. It may be reminded that back in the 1870’s, the slave law had not been abolished yet. In the range of the southern states, black people were still in slavery, waiting to be freed. Any slave who wanted to escape knew that it was impossible and a no-can-do. Mark Twain implies his disapproval of slavery gently, especially when Jim was caught as a runaway slave. Only until President Abraham Lincoln won the civil war, the slaves were finally free humans, with the right to vote, and freely lived in “a country where all men are created equal”.There is no doubt that Mark Twain is one of the most celebrated persons in American literature. And his novel---- the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is also one of the best books in American literature. It influences American literature and history for a long time. If one wants to learn American history and literature, he or she should finish this novel.。