The Themes of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

By Matthew Cox


The writer Mark Twain uses his own experiences on the Mississippi River to create works of literature. Perhaps his most famous work is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It is a story about a young boy who helps, Jim, a runaway slave escape to freedom. During their travels, they have many adventures. For example, they meet two con artists known as the Duke and the King. They are dishonest and sell Jim to a farmer. Twain shows the injustice of slavery through this work. Many people in the 1800’s think that slavery is good because African Americans are inferior. Mark also breaks from traditional forms of writing by using the local dialect and not formal language. This helps readers connect to the characters, particularly the protagonist. He vividly describes people, places, and events that happen in the story. The book also has a lot of symbolism. For example, the Mississippi River represents freedom. It is also a device that connects the adventures that Huck encounters. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shows the injustices of slavery.

Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is the pen name of Samuel Clemens. He is born in Florida, Missouri in 1835. At the age of four, Clemens moves with his family to Hannibal, Missouri. The town becomes the setting for Twain’s books. Samuel’s father dies when the boy is 12. Shortly after that, he becomes an apprentice to a printer. Years later, Clemens works as a printer in St. Louis and New York. Later on, he becomes a freelance reporter who earns money by selling articles to newspapers. Clemens moves from town to town. Samuel plans to go to South America in 1857 to make his fortune. However, the writer gets interested with the steamboat and pays the captain $500 to teach him how to pilot the boat. After working as a riverboat pilot for a few years, Clemens heads west with his brother during the Civil War.

During this time, he establishes himself as writer. Most of his stories are funny and about his experiences. This helps him to get a job as a newspaper reporter in 1862. Beginning in the next year, Samuel signs his work as mark Twain. It is a river boat term meaning two fathoms deep. In the late 1860’s, he wrote as a travel correspondent while living in Hawaii. Twain also wrote Innocent Abroad while traveling in Europe in 1867. The writer completes and publishes The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1876. It is very successful and inspires Twain to write a sequel. Twain prints The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1883. This story is more complex and deals with moral issues including slavery.

In 1889, the writer goes bankrupt by investing his money in inventions and bad financial plans. He goes on a worldwide lecture tour and pays off his debts in 1896. While Clemens is on tour, one of his daughters dies. His wife passes away in 1904. Another daughter gets killed in 1909. Mark Twain dies the following year very unhappy.


The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is 43 chapters long and is told in the first person narrative from Huck’s perspective. In the first part, Huck lives with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. He gets kidnapped by his father, an abusive drunk, who wants Finn’s share of Injun Joe’s treasure. Huck escapes, fakes his death, and runs away to Jackson island. There, he meet’s Jim, Miss Watson’s runaway slave. The protagonist travels down the river with Jim during the second section. Huck runs from civilization and Jim flees from slavery. Several different small stories with their own rising action, climax, and conclusion make up the plot of the book. One example of this is Huck staying on Jackson Island. The rising action is meeting Jim. The slave thinking Huck is a ghost is the climax. Jim realizing the Finn is still alive is the conclusion. Both characters decide to float down Mississippi River and cross over to the Ohio River. From there, they will go into free territory. However, they miss the Ohio River’s mouth in a fog and drift too far south. During Jim’s and Huck’s adventures, they encounter the feud between the Grangerford and Shephersons. Later in the story, both characters meet two con artists known as the King and The Duke. After several adventures, the crooks lose their money. They capture and sell Jim to Silas and Sally Phelps. The couple owns a farm and is Tom Sawyer’s relatives. This part ends when the protagonist ends up on the Phelps farm. Huck returns to civilization in the third section. Sally mistakes Huck for Tom, her nephew. Both boys reunite and help Jim escape. Huck pretends to be Tom. Mr. Sawyer pretends to be his brother, Sid. He and Tom free Jim. However, Tom gets shot during the escape.

Huckleberry Finn is both the narrator and protagonist. He tells the story in the past tense as a recent perspective. Twain often times uses Finn’s perspective to relate his own views. For example, he criticizes organized religion at the beginning by describing a raid on the church’s picnic. He shows the injustices of slavery by elevating Jim as a moral and righteous character. Twain also expresses his views on royalty by naming the two con men the King and the Duke. He also denounces the justice system by showing how a judge awards pap custody of Huck.
The writer creates complex characters that are believable. Readers experience their feelings and what they perceive. However, there are times when Twain takes away their character and uses them to convey his views. For example, Huck is literal minded, shrewd, and just. He goes through many character changes. He dresses nicely, goes to church, and learns while living with the Widow Douglas. However, Finn goes back to his uncivilized ways while travelling down the river. The main character shows compassion towards the other characters. For example, he helps Jim escape and rescues the two con men from an angry crowd.

Both Jim and Tom Sawyer are important characters in the plot. He is a generous, middle-aged slave who looks after Huck like a father. His appearance is not good because he does not own a lot of good clothes. Jim helps the protagonist grow and see slaves a real people. Tom is about Huck’s age and is very playful. However, he is not very realistic and does things for the sake of fun. Sawyer is not practical and acts irresponsibly. He tells lies and gets into trouble. Tom serves as an unrealistic counterbalance to Huck’s practical sense during Jim’s rescue at the Phelps farm. However, Sawyer lives in society and does not want to leave. Finn is an outcast

Mark Twain sets the story on the Mississippi River. Besides working as a setting, the river serves as both a timeline and organizing element. The writer knows the area well and sets the mood of freedom with outdoor locations. Civilized places including the Widow Douglas’s house, St. Louis, and the Phelps farm give a cramped feel. This represents Huck’s longing for freedom. The setting for the river also emphasizes various themes in the adventure. For example, it is an escape from the organized society; it separates Huck and Jim from civilization. As the story progresses, Finn grows and matures. He is naïve about right or wrong because Pap shows him how to steal at the beginning. However, such an innocent outlook helps him to realize the evils of involuntary servitude. Twain uses this perspective to make his point that society’s attitude about slavery is wrong. Huck does many things that go against society in the 1800’s. This includes helping a slave to escape. Finn also realizes that African Americans are people too.

The setting also creates images as the reader gleans through the passages. For example, readers get a sense of the Mississippi flowing wild and free. This signifies the life Huck wants to live. Also, it is tranquil and calm. Underneath the images are symbols. Besides symbolizing freedom or the desire to escape, the river also shows changing time. Jim represents all the slaves in the South. Readers see the injustices of slavery and racism through him. Also, we can view the inaccuracy of Southern attitudes towards race and social class; skin color is a way of discriminating. The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson symbolize civilization and organized society. Although they were kind to Huck, he disapproves of their “proper” ways and escapes.

Clemens’s writing style is basic and tells the story with a boyish feel. This s ironic, because the simple writing mode tells complicated observations on society through an adolescent’s experiences. The diction is typical for a Southern boy in the 1800’s. It is very informal and makes vivid descriptions seem funny. Generally, the writer does not follow the rules of grammar in telling the story. He uses broken sentences and fragments to write the lines. Sometimes, the characters string phrases together and ramble. However, this is how many people in real life speak. Twain does not use flowery or formal language. He pays attention to regional accents and ways that different people speak. Twain uses both informal language and irony to give the story a humorous and laid back mood. Besides using innovative ways of writing, Clemmons also uses irony to make the story seem funny. Much of it comes from Huck’s youth and inexperience. For example, the main character says with verbal irony that Tom starts a “gang of robbers” that Huck could join if he goes back to the widow and becomes respectable. With dramatic irony, Huck thinks that a drunk horseman at the circus in an acrobat; readers know that the rider is drunk, but Huck thinks it is part of the show.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shows the injustices of slavery. Author Mark Twain uses his own familiarity of the Mississippi River to write stories. Literary critics say that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is his best work, if not the greatest American novel. The story revolves around a young boy and Jim an escaped slave. They have various adventures while making it to freedom. For example, they meet two con artists who later betray Huck and Jim. They kidnap and sell him to a farm owner. Twain uses the story to show how wrong slavery is. Many people in the 1800’s believe that African Americans are inferior and need to be slaves. The book is revolutionary because Mark breaks from the traditional style of formal language. He uses the local vernacular instead. This help readers identify with the main characters, including Huck Finn. Twain uses colorful description of the setting and characters to develop the plot. He also uses symbolism to make his point. For example the Mississippi River shows freedom and escape.

Works Cited

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” Summary Central. 2008. 20 March 2008. http://summarycentral.tripod.com/theadventuresofhuckleberryfinn.htm