Huck Finn

In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim face restriction when they are on land, while life alone on the raft opens them up to adventure. Living in society, Huck proves to be intractable when the constraints of society conflict with his rebellious character. He complains, “The Widow Douglas, she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time…Miss Watson would say, ‘Don’t put your feet up there, Huckleberry,’ and ‘don’t scrunch up like that, Huckleberry—set up straight’” (1188). Huck readily ignores these commands and views the house as an obstruction that imprisons his character. He feels out of place following the standards of society that define his life for him. Life on the raft poses new adventures for Huck, which allows him to see things at face value and experience life on his own. When Huck and Jim approach a shipwreck, Huck questions, “Do you reckon Tom Sawyer would ever go by this thing? Not for pie, he wouldn’t. He’d call it an adventure—that’s what he’d call it; and he’d land on that wreck if it was his last act” (1228). Boarding the wreck, Huck carries the same mentality he claims Tom Sawyer has. Dropping on his hands and knees and hearing mysterious voices, Huck refuses to back down. He lands on the ship as if it is his last act, open to danger and new exploits. In the wild, Huck lives for enjoyment and learns to accept the consequences. One learns the necessities of life through adventures, not by reading a book at school.
In Huck Finn, Huck and Jim witness feuds among civilized people on land, while they are able to experience safety alone on the raft. After living for a time with the Grangerfords on land, Huck sees tensions build up with the Shepherdson family for no apparent reason, but simply because generations before them had promoted hatred. Family members fear for their lives, children carry guns to church, and relationships are explicitly not allowed between the...