How Does Huck Finn End

The ending of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is known to leave the readers unsatisfied and confused. Many have questioned why the protagonist of the novel, Huck, regressed into the character he was before his journey to free Jim, a slave. During this expedition, Huck grows into the person he would be without the influence of a racist society. After this journey ends, however, Huck’s character immediately recedes and begins to act out past habits as Tom, his friend, returns to help Huck with a perilous and “adventurous” scheme to determinately free Jim. After their adventure, Tom reveals that Jim was, in fact, free all along. These disheartening regressions in character development and plot are the reasons why the ending of the novel is
No one scolds Tom for the poor treatment of Jim, not even Huck. This is because technically, Jim is free, but not everyone will always view him as such. Twain uses this as a reminder that racism can and does still exist, even if we are all technically equal. Tom is so caught up in his own agenda and achievements that he forgets to recognize his mistreatment of others. He has grown up and learned to only look out for himself. And whether you are Tom, who is selfish, or Huck, who is too afraid to speak out, we can all relate to this imperfect reality in one way or another. These are the reasons that the ending of Huckleberry Finn is said to be so unsatisfying. But the point of the ending was not to satisfy, it was to tell the truth. Huck does not act as a hero in this novel, he acts as a thirteen year old boy who is just trying to find his place, like everyone else. This sparks controversy because we, as people, struggle to accept ourselves for how we truly are. We are not always heroes, we do not always do the right thing for the right reasons, and we do not always act upon our thoughts without fearing the judgement of