Ms. Pikop
Honors English Period 5
11, December 2007
“Life on the Mississippi” In the novel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain, the main character Huck Finn is, for a majority of the novel, traveling along the Mississippi River. Huck and his caretaker’s slave Jim traveled down the river by raft, facing many hardships and problems along the great river including; heavy fog, getting lost and missing their intended paths, dangerous steam boats, and sleazy con men. But, seeing as it is a fictional novel, these hardships may not all be correct. And so this essay will evaluate the validity of the statements and obstacles seen on the Mississippi River as seen in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” Life on the Mississippi River for Huck and Jim was definitely not as easy as it could be with Huck’s need for adventure and excitement. Just as the time when Huck and Jim stumbled upon a wrecked steamboat while sailing along the river on a stormy night. Jim paid no mind to the half sunken boat, yet Huck was mesmerized by it’s adventurous aspects. He begged and begged Jim to come explore the boat with him, “I couldn’t rest easy till I could see the ferry-boat start (pg. 97).” until he finally gave in, despite the danger. But when they boarding the vessel, they find that Jim’s suspicion of danger was correct, they were not the only passengers on the sunken boat. There were three criminal river gamblers, about to kill a victim, and would have killed Jim and Huck also if they had spotted them, but luckily they escaped in time. In the pre Civil War era, which is the time that, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” took place, river gamblers were not uncommon, especially around the Mississippi River.
Work’s Cited
“Mississippi River”. Mississippi River. 4 Dec, 2007 http://42explore2.com/missriv.htm “Mississippi(river)”. MSN Encarta. Microsoft Corporation. 3 Dec. 2007
“River Days”. Old Man River: Life Along the Mississippi River. 3 Dec. 2007
Cited: “Mississippi River”. Mississippi River. 4 Dec, 2007 http://42explore2.com/missriv.htm “Mississippi(river)”. MSN Encarta. Microsoft Corporation. 3 Dec. 2007 “River Days”. Old Man River: Life Along the Mississippi River. 3 Dec. 2007
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain follows the story of a young white boy, Huckleberry Finn, as he travels down the Mississippi River. Twain uses the experiences of Huck as he travels down the river to comment on society. His opinions of many topics are given by satirizing other characters or events. An element this satire that twain uses is the depiction of the characters in a humorous manner. Throughout the novel the use of this satire is clear and express Twain’s opinions on American culture in the antebellum period. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an effective piece of satire on American culture during the 1800s. Twain satirizes feuding, Pseudo-intellectualism and Greed in his story.…
- 1094 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
Andrew Escamilla Mr. Sjoerdsma AP English P.4 9/4/13 Satire in Huckleberry Finn During the mid-1800’s there was many “imperfections” in the world, and Samuel Clemens better known as Mark Twain decided to write a book to ridicule some problems concerning religion, greed, civilization, romantic literature, and Melodramatic art. Huckleberry Finn goes on a very complex and intense journey which helps him build a perspective on life as opposed to the ones dictated by those older than him. Throughout Huck encounters situations with problems that mimic actual problems in Twain’s world. Twain makes them look extremely pointless and senseless.…
- 983 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Twain shows Jim’s experiences of suffering for Huck in this novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to demonstrate Jim’s humanity even as a slave. During this time period, African Americans were regarded as property in accordance with text in the Old Testament. In this novel, the equality was only apparent on the Mississippi river. The river represents equality wherein Huck and Jim treat each other as equals. It is not until they reach land that they are bound by societal norms that limit their interactions. Even then, Jim and Huck still have a caring relationship, with Twain’s use of the novel as his medium showing his contempt for society.…
- 664 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is often considered the greatest American novel ever written. In writing Huck Finn Twain explores many different themes. Among the themes he chooses to expand on are the Mississippi River, the intellectual versus moral education of Huck, the hypocrisy of civilized society, childhood, lies and cons, superstitions, the value of money, religion, and racism and slavery. This paper will explore the theme of racism and slavery. Racism and slavery is shown throughout the novel by being expressed through different characters opinions, and the moral of what is right and wrong in Huck’s time era. In this novel Huck has to make the hardest decision of his life based on the theme of racism and slavery.…
- 852 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Themes and Motifs: The theme of Bibliography: Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Classic Reissue. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003.…
- 717 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The journey taken by two people down a river, is rarely thought of as anything more than just an adventure. However, Mark Twain uses his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, to explore and poke fun of many problems facing American society. Huck, the main character, is considered an uneducated boy who is constantly under pressure to conform to the civilized aspects of society. Jim, who accompanies Huck, is a runaway slave seeking freedom from the world that has denied it to him for so long. In his novel, Twain uses satire to demonstrate many of civilizations problems. In the beginning of the story, Huck sneaks away from his home to play with Tom Sawyer and his friends. The boys start a gang and decide that one of the things they will do is kidnap people, and hold them for ransom. The boys quickly discover that they cannot ransom anyone because they don't know what ransom means. Tom has a theory as to the meaning of the word, But per'aps if we keep them till they're ransomed, it means that we keep them till they're dead.(12) Without any doubts, all of the boys agree with this meaning of the word. In this segment of the novel, Twain uses satire to demonstrate that even though something may be truly wrong, if civilization or society adopts it to be true, then it is believed to be true. Twain may be specifically using the issue of slavery as his target, in this instance of satire. During the time period in which The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written, religion was as much a part of civilization, as was an education. Religion is one of the key victims of Twain's satire throughout the novel. This satire is no more apparent then when Huck's guardian, the Widow Douglas, preaches to him about Moses. Huck didn't think very much of her lecture; Here she was a-bothering about Moses, which was no kin to her, and no use to anybody, being gone, you see...(3) Twain uses Huck to exhibit his objection to the blind faith that civilized society places towards religion.…
- 602 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Racism and Slavery in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn Throughout Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, racism and slavery are two major thematic concepts pulsing through the novel. Through incidents, comments made by the characters, and statements by the narrator, Twain enables the readers to observe the attitudes of the people concerning discrimination and involuntary servitude before the Emancipation Proclamation. Not only does his use of language and comments help the reader better comprehend the social attitudes of the time period, it also enlightens the audience of Twain’s attitude towards slavery and racism. Twain is known for voicing his opinions and observations through characters, and in this novel it is no different. The audience is able to get a clear insight on Twain’s opinion that slavery is a hypocrisy. In Huckleberry Finn, the author is able to develop the major themes of racism and slavery through the plan to help Jim escape, his comparison of Pap and Jim, Huck’s internal conflict whether to hide Jim’s identity, and Pap’s argument about blacks enabling the audience to infer Twain opposed the institution of slavery in such societies whom viewed themselves as advanced.…
- 1991 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
An Analytical Essay on Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain This essay will analyze the themes of religion, slavery, and democracy in the book Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. By exploring these themes that lie behind the book's veneer, we can see how Twain had an objective when he wrote this book. That is, he hoped to achieve a wide symbolic scope. By unveiling the themes that are present in the book, we can see what Twain stood for and why he wrote this novel in the period he lived in.…
- 905 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Unifying Elements In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain uses many symbolic elements to hold the book together, as well as to keep it flowing. One main element he constantly uses to unify the story is the river, and the events that occur while on the river, while contrasting the events that happen on land. The events that happen on the river are portrayed as calm and worry free, while once Huck and his companions set foot on shore, all hell breaks loose.…
- 389 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 5 Feb. 2011.…
- 1097 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
In �The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn�, the Mississippi River plays several roles and holds a prominent theme throughout much of the story as a whole. Huckleberry Finn and Jim are without a doubt the happiest and most a peace when floating down the river on their raft. However, the river has a much deeper meaning than just a compilation of water. It almost goes to an extent of having its own personality and character traits. The river offers a place for the two characters, Huck and Jim, to escape from everybody and even everything in society and leaves them with a feeling of ease. In the middle section of Huckleberry Finn, the river takes on more of a concrete meaning and will be discussed more so in the paragraphs that follows.…
- 1067 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Twain sets several chapters of the story on the river, which symbolizes the pair's constant struggle for the escape from the South. Jim is quite literally being pulled toward the oppression of slavery, while Huck is being drawn to the oppression of his father. Twain uses this constant tension to emphasize and criticize the deep extent to which the culture of the South is ingrained with oppression; it is inescapable. Jim and Huck attain a false sense of freedom by letting "[the raft] float wherever the current wanted her to" (240). While the two are relaxing and enjoying their "freedom," their actual progress toward liberty is being slowed. Even when they are most relaxed, "[lighting] the pipes and [dangling] their legs" (240) the omnipresent culture of the South is delaying their achievement of liberation from southern culture altogether. Their sense of progress is obscured by the freedom of the river, and Twain further characterizes this obscurity with the introduction of the…
- 918 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
At times when I grow bored about living in Louisiana, the state’s remarkable culture, food, and geography soothes my adventurous desires to relocate. While a lack of activities to engage in is frequent when living in “the bowl,” going on a boat ride on a beautiful day eliminates my state of idleness. One might infer that water is just water if he sees it all the time because it is always there. When I visualize water, I think of my late grandmother who loved Louisiana’s bodies of water.…
- 682 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Mark Twain wrote “Life On the Mississippi”, which gives a vast trove of details about where he used to live, in a small town of Hannibal, Missouri. In this literature he talks about a wide variety of key aspects, but what stands out the most was the town. He takes us through the town describing it as boring and dull. He reminisces about how beautiful the Mississippi river was; it was right next to the town. He also describes the people who lived there, like the notorious town drunk. He dives deeper into the story and enlightens us about a mother pig and her piglets roaming the town,…
- 663 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
As morning cascades into afternoon, the sun sets high in the sky, filling the valley with warm summer air. The day is perfect for spending at the American River. I grab a towel and my suit and decide which part of the river I will enjoy today. I choose a spot near Watt Avenue and make my way to it. Relaxation floods my body as I soak up the rays of the sun; I listen to the gentle splash of the flowing water, the City’s lullaby singing me to sleep. I wake before the afternoon is gone and decide to see what’s going on at my favorite early evening hangout.…
- 590 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays