Motif of the Quest of Adventures of Huckleberry
A motif represents the dominant idea in any artistic material. The novel Adventures of Huckleberry brings out the motif of slavery. This is demonstrated by the novel’s setting at a time when slavery was legal before, just the Civil War. The motif is also shown through varied characters as most of the novel characters are either white slaveholders like the Phelps family, Miss Watson and the Granger ford family or are characters who indirectly profit from slavery, like the king and duke who turn in Jim - the runaway slave- to Phelpses for a reward of money. Meanwhile, as the slaveholders are benefiting from slavery, the slaves themselves are facing exploitation and oppression as well as mental and physical abuse. The white slaveholders defend their exploitation and oppression of black slaves through stereotyping blacks as mentally inferior to the whites. Initially, Huck buys into the stereotype of slavery and reprimands himself for letting Jim run away instead of turning him in. However, it is after knowing and befriending Jim that he realizes that both of them are alike and capable of hurting and loving.
Physical journey and Symbolic Implications
A physical journey entails travelling from one area to another by sea, land or space. A physical journey is normally accompanied by an inner development and growth due to the decisions and experiences made during the journey. The journey concepts have been brought out by this novel through Huck and Jim, who embark on the quests for freedom. Huck wants to be freed from civilization while Jim seeks to be freed from slavery. They travel through the river of Mississippi on a journey that symbolizes their desire for security and liberation. The novel depicts them saying that being in the middle of Mississippi makes them feel free and safe again. Therefore, their journey down the river brings them to the growth, learning and discovery of who they really are. One also finds that as their journey down the river continues, Huck’s opinion concerning Jim changes. This is demonstrated where Huck almost turns Jim to the slave catchers as he felt like he should not help him. He eventually comes to recognize that Jim, who is black in an equal being to white men. This physical journey symbolizes Huck’s growth into moral maturity.
Destination
The destination that Jim and Huck intend to land is the Northern free territory. However, when navigating the Mississippi, the river carries them south since they are unable to navigate upwards due to forces beyond their control. In the end Jim gets to head to wherever his family is while Huck heads west to search for freedom from civilization. This means that the characters eventually end up where they want to be because Jim becomes a free man who focuses on returning to his family while Huck becomes free from his abusive father who could otherwise be stealing all his money. Therefore, the importance of these characters reaching their destination is so as it sets them free. They end up free from a constant chase, an escape lifestyle and societal customs.
Lessons from the Journey
The characters hope to learn personal freedom, independence and friendship from their journey. In the novel, Huck seems to be aware of the social constraints surrounding him, but is also struck by the thought that he may be doing the wrong thing by turning Jim in. What holds him back is the friendship that he has with Jim has as he believes it to be honest and true from his heart. As for the Mississippi river, it reflects on the hope for freedom as a Hack and Jim ride in its current. It also depicts the constant struggle of individuality since it keeps on flowing despite the individuality between Hack and Jim. The relevance of this lesson to each point of work is that the Mississippi river gets to drive the plot of the novel since without it the story would not exist and neither would the inevitable obstacles. Meanwhile, Jim and Huck bring out the hypocrisy of civilized society as a Hack’s father faces no consequences for beating and berating his son yet Jim whom the society acts against turns out to be an honest, caring and listening friend.
Significance of Narrative Structure in Relation to the Theme
The narrative has a chronological structure of three sections. However, it is not divided into the rising action, then climax action and lastly conclusion, because it has several adventures with all three. It therefore makes it difficult to name a single climax point, hence making the book adventurous. Rising action is demonstrated where Pap beats Huck and Huck decides to escape through falsifying his own demise and fleeing to Jackson Island. It is on the Island where he meets Jim, who is the runaway slave of Miss Watson and the two travel down the river where they experience several adventures. The narrative then climaxes during their travel down Mississippi, where they miss their turnoff into River Ohio. From there they encounter more adventure in the family feud between the Shepherdson’s and Granger ford’s as well as with the con artists called King and Duke. It is towards the end of the book that Huck heads to a new territory since he dislikes the civilized society. Therefore, the theme of adventure runs all across the novel.
Consistency and Perspective Change
It is important that Jim’s character remains constant while Huck’s perspective changes because the narrative is viewed from Huck’s perspective. Everything that Huck’s encounters provides an occasion for thought because his background requires him to apply rules beyond that which he has been taught. Moreover, Huck is initially used as the representative of the common person, hence is framed with all key issues of social attitudes and rebellions. Meanwhile, Jim’s character remains fairly constant as he manifests the slavery taking place in the Southern States of America. Moreover, Jim relies on the mercy of every character in the novel, hence has to be realistic about his situation as he needs to accomplish his goals without offending those that would turn him in.
Purpose of Structure of the Adventures of Huckleberry Fin
Twain wrote the novel and structured it in a manner that nails Huck’s social background, personality and education level. He convincingly tells a story through the perspective of a boy of thirteen years. Moreover, the novel structure enables Huck to meet a variety of people, hence making the novel consist of a particular number of chapters. His encounter with people from small American cities and villages along the Mississippi river, enables each chapter to tell a different situation while still logically building the remaining part of the story. The structure therefore involves having a story within another story, hence depicting the whole American society and its variety. Additionally, the novel structure tricks the readers into examining the heavy societal issues through the perspective of a naïve young boy.
Work Cited
LitCharts LLC. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Themes. 2016. 16 April 2016.
Baetzhold, Howard G. "Samuel Longhorn Clemens." In Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography: Realism, Naturalism, and Local Color (1988): 68 - 83.
Godin, Katherine. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Plot Summary and Characters. 2016. 16 April 2016.
GradeSaver. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Themes. 2016. 16 April 2016.
