A Analytical Dive into the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

In Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn there are numerous amounts of literary analysis. However, motifs and themes are the biggest and most important ones used throughout the entirety of the story. The way Mark Twain uses them in the book really help you get a grasp on what he is trying to portray while also helping you get a better understanding of the characters hes using the motifs with and the themes he is also trying to portray through them.

Motifs are prevalent through the storys entirety. One of the biggest examples though is Childhood. Its no secret that Huckleberry Finn is a young boy in the book so this motif shouldnt come as that big of a surprise. In a sense I feel like Twain portrayed Huck the way he did because he knew some children would idolize the way Hucks childhood was but also helped recreate it for those of use that are older. For instance according to Jennifer Formichelli (who did a scholarly review on the subject of childhood in Huckleberry Finn) states in Huck Finn alone Twain succeeded at something better than reminding adults of childhood, by actually creating the experience, the thing itself. (Formichelli). I mean he would play hokey, smoke and was basically supervision free. Huck even says in the book Whenever I got uncommon tired I played hookey, and the hiding I got next day done me good and cheered me up. (Citation). As a child we all wanted to do what we wanted without parent supervision and just be free to do what we want when we want, like being able to skip school when were tired. Yet, we are able to experience it through Huck within the novel. Although he doesnt get that much of a book education Huck gets a good moral education due to the childhood motif. This is because he is innocent and open-minded enough to embrace new ideas and overlook/overcome the typical prejudices that might typically occur within a young white child during that time period while helping out Jim play a big part as well. Also Hucks childhood innocence makes the books big themes of racism and slavery seem not as heavy due to the innocence of perception and views that is associated with childhood.

The childhood motif feeds into the theme of Maturation. Thus, being because we get to see Huck go from his childhood state to maturing into adult as the story develops and as he makes his way down the Mississippi River with Jim. Hucks Maturation is the most notable through his relationship with Jim. Jims thoughtful personality and behavior is what drive Huck to grow the most as a person and really gives him an ideal father like figure for the first time in his life. In the book Huck even states Well, he was right; he was most always right; he had an uncommon level head for a nigger (citation). This just shows how highly Huck held Jim. Even though Jim was black he still valued his opinion and did even really question it just assumed he was generally right. Which I believe shows Huck maturing, because despite society frowning upon being friends with or even associated in a formal manner with a slave/African American. Huck goes on to not even care even though he didnt much to begin with anyways, but it truly shows Huck maturation because, it shows that he doesnt care what society thinks he hold Jim and his opinions and views in high regard and hes going to keep it that way regardless of what society thinks.

As expected due to the time period the book is set in racism and slavery is a huge theme throughout the book. Since it also set in the south that plays a big part as well. In the South during this time period an African Americans life didnt really hold much value within the eyes of society. The n-word is thrown around frequently threw out the story in order to show just how racist those times were. All though Twain took some heat for it Twain had to use the word because it is historically accurate. The word had wide currency in the South in Twain's time, and other regions (Sloane). Which I feel like he had to do if Im being honest. All though its a nasty word it really portrays the racial tension and separation of the time. Another big thing is that the book it self pretty much revolves around racism and slavery because Huck is helping Jim who is a slave escape and that is viewed as a very big social no-no at the time due to how embed into society racism was at the time. Therefore, setting up Huck to be a heroic figure because he know its socially unacceptable/suicide at the time to help out a slave in escaping but he frankly doesnt care because he likes Jim as a person and he is his friend.

Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a story that really engages you and makes you feel as if your part of the story. It does this through its uses of literary elements weather its through motifs, themes, etc. Twain will find a way to get you hooked. Twain uses these motifs and themes to draw on Hucks development as a character but also to point out the flaws in society as well.

Cite this page