Huckleberry Finn River Quotes

Kevin Pawlak
Professor Keck
LCS 366
March 3, 2017
Floating away from Past Troubles Throughout the novel, Twain depicts a rather grim and savagery set of events that occur on land. In contrast, life on the river is much more calm and peaceful. There is a lot of imagery and depiction that contrasts land and river in this novel. Both characters, Jim and Huck feel confined to society when they are on land and experience their own problems such as slavery and child abuse respectively. When they decide to set out to Ohio, they hope to find peace and a new life. They find the river to be soothing, peaceful, and overall free to do what they wish without facing their past hardships. One quote from Huck that proves the above statements about the river
Huck and Jim’s time ion the raft can relate to the river and its sense of freedom. The raft is hard to control and thus flows aimlessly down the river allowing Huck and Jim to get to know each other on a more personal level. The raft in itself could be seen as some sort of forbidden ground that allow Huck and Jim to become more close. “We said there warn’t no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t. You might feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.” (Twain, 176) This quote really brings the symbolism of equality between Jim and Huck to life. The raft is a safe haven for Jim and Huck to be equals, because the raft removes them from the social norms and restraints they had grown accustomed to. This quote also really gives us a different perspective on Huck’s view of the current societal norms he came from. His ideal world does not include these restraints, and much like the raft he floats wherever he pleases without having to answer to
This is due to the fact that all of the horrible things that occur in the novel happen on land. Huck and Jim witness treacherous acts like burglaries, murders, and other acts of violence. Huck can relate to a lot of the sufferings that occur on land judging from this quote, “stead of taking to the woods when I run off, I’d go down the river about fifty mile and camp in one place for good, and not have such a rough time tramping on foot.” (Twain, 124) This also hints that Huck prefers to hang out around the river, and away from the constraints and abuse he endures while on the land. It really is no surprise he chooses to run down to where the river is. As noted above, Huck does not have the best life while he is on land and he views the river as a sort of safe haven for himself. Twain may have done this due to the fact that land has society that creates evil, while true peacefulness and calmness can really only be found in nature. Huck did eventually find a sort of divine self during his experience on the river, further hinting at the fact of what Twain was trying to create with his sense of