Huck Finn Freedom :: essays papers

Huck Finn Freedom It is no surprise that a book that elegantly combines American History, culture, and moral dilemmas along with controversial issues has become a classic novel. This novel’s effects were felt from coast to coast and its presence shaped the nation as no other has ever done. Therefore, it remains no surprise that what many people regard as the first truly American novel, set in the 1840s and written after the American Civil War, should have at its heart the issue that divided the nation, slavery. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn illustrates a slave’s escape from freedom and a boy’s escape from society’s standards, a plot in which the entire theme of freedom and bondage occurs. Twain utilizes freedom as a main theme in this novel in order to illustrate the constant struggle to escape psychological and social imprisonment. Huck’s initiation into adulthood seems to show his inner struggle with the problem of being free from the grips of society. Huck is stuck in a world that he does not respond to. While in captivation, Huckleberry is not the person who he wants to be. He cannot seem to escape the grips of society. As points out, â€Å"Jim can say as soon as he escapes from Ms. Watson, ‘I owns myself,’ while Huck is still ‘owned’ by the official values supervised by his conscience. Huck is not only imprisoned by society but by the grips of his own mind. Due to the abusive relations of his father, Huck is imprisoned by the idea of survival. A healthy person, as demonstrated by noted psychologist Abraham Maslow, is able to meet self-actualization needs. However, Huck Finn on the table of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is stuck at safety needs. Because of his father’s attitude towards him, Huck needs to take care of his safety needs until he is able to fe el secure. When he finally feels secure, he will move from safety needs to love and belongingness needs. However, in order to fulfill these safety needs, Huck must escape from society but, â€Å"he is a fugitive from society who cannot be alone†(219 ). Clearly, Huck is trapped between existing as a prisoner to society or as a prisoner to his own lonesomeness. â€Å"In lighting out, Huck preserves his independence but also commits himself once more to isolation†.