Huckleberry Finn is a book by Mark Twain, published in 1884. Huckleberry Finn has been known to have many themes, such as racism and freedom. Huckleberry Finn’s major theme is hope, giving Huckleberry Finn an overall tone of optimism. Huck lives with his father who does not care about him at all and with a widow who wants Huckleberry Finn to be more civilized, and Huckleberry Finn just wants freedom. Huckleberry Finn’s main dream is freedom and Huck does not want to grow up and follow the rules of society, but rather do whatever he wants.
The biggest example of Huckleberry Finn wanting freedom is when Huckleberry Finn runs away from home on a raft down the Mississippi River early in the book towards the beginning of chapter one, “You don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that ain’t no matter. ” (Chpt 1 pg 4) Huckleberry Finn is telling us that we will never understand who he was until we read this book, Huckleberry Finn. Huckleberry Finn is telling the narrator about his life before he met up with Jim on the raft.
Huckleberry Finn does not want to grow-up and follow the rules of society because Huckleberry Finn wants to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants to do it. Huckleberry Finn tells us this when Huckleberry Finn says “All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change, I warn’t particular. ” (Chpt 1 pg 5) Huck’s main goal for wanting freedom is so that he can be free and run away from home and live outside of society without having anyone look over his shoulder or tell him what do.
The only thing Huckleberry Finn wants to do is what he wants when Huckleberry Finn wants to do it. Huckleberry Finn tells us this when Huckleberry Finn says “It warn’t no use to send Jim to the field now; if they was going to fight it out, they’d fight it out on the raft, because she was in the way. ” (Chpt 12 pg 148) Huckleberry Finn is telling us that Jim could have just fought them on the raft instead of sending him away so that Huckleberry Finn can stay safe even though Jim wanted Huckleberry Finn to leave too.
The biggest thing Huckleberry Finn dreams for is freedom so Huckleberry Finn can be his own independent person without having to follow the rules of society. Huckleberry Finn tells us this when Huckleberry Finn says, “All I wanted was a change, I wasn’t particular. ” (Chpt 1 pg 5) Huckleberry Finn is telling us that all he wants is something different to happen instead of always having someone tell him what to do.
Huckleberry Finn wants nothing more than his own freedom so Huckleberry Finn can be free and not have to follow the rules of society. Huck cares about Jim throughout most of Huckleberry Finn because Huckleberry Finn starts off by running away from home with Jim on the raft down the Mississippi River just after Huckleberry Finn has explained how life was for Huck at his house and Huckleberry Finn said that he wanted freedom.
Huckleberry Finn just wants to be by himself and Huckleberry Finn does not want society telling him what to do all the time so Huckleberry Finn decides to go with Jim on his raft down the Mississippi River, Huck’s way of showing us how much Huckleberry Finn cares about Jim is when Huckleberry Finn says “I clumb up the shed and crept into my window just before day was breaking. (Chpt 1 pg 11) What Huckleberry Finn is really saying is that Huck came home after escaping from his abusive father at night as not to get caught as a runaway. Huck is putting Jim’s safety over his own because if Huck got caught Huckleberry Finn would get in a lot of trouble so Huckleberry Finn comes back at night when Huckleberry Finn thinks no one can see him.
Huckleberry Finn sees the Phelps family as the perfect way to escape out into society and Huckleberry Finn just wants to be without any responsibilities and with this Huckleberry Finn sees it as the perfect opportunity to be able to do whatever Huckleberry Finn wants whenever Huckleberry Finn wants because Huckleberry Finn will not have anyone telling him what to do. The reason why Huck sees this Phelps family is because they are rich, important people in town who Huck believes he will never see again after leaving on his own free will.
The boys are starving when they come across the shipwreck. When Huck returns home, he is sickened by the family’s gluttonous behavior at dinner. The theme of class, both in terms of aristocracy and classism in general, is shown to have an effect on many characters in Huckleberry Finn. Huck often has to choose between being accepted by Jim or being accepted by society. This theme is something that occurs over and over again in Huckleberry Finn.
Huckleberry Finn is also a novel about the process of growing up. Huck begins his journey against society when he decides to escape with Jim, but Huckleberry Finn is ultimately a story in which Huck learns how to become part of society and embrace its values. One theme that Huckleberry Finn has many examples of is classism. Classism is shown in Huckleberry Finn when Huck faces difficult decisions on whether or not to turn in the escaped slave, Jim.
The conflict between honor and dishonor is another theme that Huckleberry Finn deals with in many parts of the book. There are also many recurring symbols throughout Huckleberry Finn . One example of this is rafts. Huckleberry Finn struggles between being accepted in society or by Jim. At the end of Huckleberry Finn, Huck chooses to be with Jim rather than society. Huckleberry Finn is also a novel about the process of growing up.