Huckleberry Finn

Many fictional books, and even non-fictional books constantly are centered around a character having to choose between two things. More often than not, the character in their attempt to find the correct answer/right way to go, is faced with a decision. As is the case for Huckleberry Finn. Typically, the characters choices are somewhere in between the lines of a choice that will benefit them and their crowd of friends which is not necessarily right or correct, versus a choice that will benefit one person, the underdog, the one no one will stick up for and in the short term the character will not benefit positively from this choice.

Huckleberry Finn has an abusive father and he is placed under the care of Widow Douglas and Mrs. Watson, two unbearably dull people. Huck Finn is smart, although not civilized or accustomed to being a proper gentleman, he is smart. He fakes his own death and proceeds to the Mississippi River. He runs into Mrs. Watson’s slave Jim, and the two embark on an adventure down the Mississippi River to Illinois. During this time, Jim describes to Huckleberry his life and his past. They come to a common understanding and during a trip to town, Huck Finn dresses as a girl, and discovers that there is a $300 reward for Jim’s capture, due to the belief that he killed Huckleberry. Huck warns Jim of the danger and they continue down the River.

Huck Finn has to think fast, does he turn Jim in and admit he isn’t really dead? After a series of events leading up to Jim’s capture and being sold to Tom Sawyers aunt and uncle, Huck realizes he needs to help Jim and needs to help him become a free man. Huck manages to take Jim back with the help of Tom Sawyer and in the process reveals he is not dead quite obviously. He also makes sure that people know Jim genuinely is a good, kind person and he just wants to be free. Huck Finn’s viewpoint of Jim changes in a completely different way. The first chapter in the book is a juxtaposition with the end of the book, Tom sneaks Huck out past Jim and in the end Tom and Huck are the ones sneaking Jim out from his new owners.

Against all odds, Huck befriends an African-American and learns that everyone just wants to be free. In the book, he questions his past beliefs and what was drilled into his mind as a child, he reconsiders his thoughts about Jim and how he is a slave. The book goes through many transitions and is completely different than how it started in the beginning, Jim is the common ignorant black slave, and Huck Finn is a rebellious young boy. Huck realizes that Jim is "white underneath" and understands that not everything you are taught is factual.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has a powerful message with the line, "All right then, I'll go to hell" for Jim and for him to become a free man. The reader really senses a strong connection come to be throughout the novel between Jim and Huck, and it adds to the emotion of the story. Identity is a strong aspect of this novel, and it displays a good tie between a young boy with conflicting emotions and confused about his identity, and the message of the story. The story was written after the Civil War when black rights were extremely limited and the stereotype about African Americans was that they were the slaves, always have been and always will be. Mark Twain is an exceptional writer and I'm sure changed many decisions about Black Codes and blacks in general. Even published in 1884, it still is relevant to differing identity changes in modern time.