Examples Of Hungsroman In Huckleberry Finn

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain tells the story of Huckleberry Finn, a young boy used to living on his own and having a good time. Huck lives with the Widow Douglas after coming into six thousand dollars after an adventure with Tom Sawyer. At the Widow Douglas’s he learns about getting “civilized.” Huck’s father is an abusive drunk, and he wants Huck’s newfound money. Pap Finn kidnaps Huck and takes him up the Mississippi River in order to get Huck’s money. Huck fakes his death to get away from his father and heads up the Mississippi to a place called Jackson’s Island, where he meets Jim, a runaway slave who used to belong to the Widow Douglas. And so the adventure begins. Bildungsroman is a type of storytelling in which
a character makes an evident mental, social, moral, or physical change that is evident throughout the story (“Bildungsroman”). “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain should be interpreted as Bildungsroman because Huck goes through mental, moral and social changes when confronted with issues like identity, following society’s rules even if they’re wrong, exhibiting moral change by developing emotional attachment in relationships, and taking a stance on freeing slaves. Huckleberry Finn has lived his life settling in one place or another, never staying still for a long amount of time. Huck went from living on the street to living with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson and going to school and learning the Bible. When he’s living with the widow and Miss Watson, he says, “At first I hated the school, but by-and-by I got so I could stand it… So the longer I went to school the easier it got. I was getting sort of used to the widow’s ways, too, and they warn’t so raspy on me,” (Twain 225). Huck goes from living on the street to getting an education, and although he claims to like the way he used to live better, he’s getting used to his new lifestyle, and so Huck is showing the ability to adapt. Huck Finn also thinks about what would Tom Sawyer do in just about every situation he is in. When Huck sees the sinking boat, he convinces Jim to go and look through the cabins by saying, “Do you reckon Tom Sawyer would ever go by this thing?... He’d call it an adventure… I wish Tom Sawyer was here,” (Twain 257). Even in tense situations, Huck thinks of what Tom would do instead of what he would do himself, and lets Tom’s mindset guide his actions. But, ultimately, Huck is his own person and continues to live life the way he wants to, which he proves when he goes to live on his own to chase adventures at the end of the story. Each new generation in each century prioritize their beliefs and change their morals to fit certain standards society holds certain individuals to.
This can create moral conflict in individuals that choose to not subscribe to a certain moral doctrine of the times. In Huckleberry Finn’s time, the standard society set was that it was right to own slaves, that they were nothing more than property and wouldn’t be able to handle living on their own. No matter if a person thought it was wrong or right, it was the law of the land. In “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” Jim tells Huck that he ran away. After Jim tells Huck not to tell, Huck responds with this, “I said I wouldn’t, and I’ll stick to it… People would call me a low down Ab’litionist and despise me for keeping mum – but don’t make no difference,” (Twain 242). In the time period Huck was living in, this was a dangerous secret to keep. This was the time period where the Fugitive Slave Act was enacted, where “authorities in the North were required to assist southern slave catchers and return runaway slaves to their owners,” (Goldfield 374). However, this shows that Huck is willing to keep Jim’s secret safe for now, even if he does not want to free slaves as a whole. Nevertheless, Huck is faced with the opportunity to turn Jim in back to Miss Watson. Huck gets out a piece of paper and writes the location of Jim. But, after much thought, Huck decides instead to not send the letter. He decides that he would go to hell rather
than turn Jim in (Twain 347). Despite what Huck has been told about slaves, and despite the slave culture he’s grown up in, he decides to go against turning in a slave. This shows tremendous character change on Huck’s part because at the beginning of the novel he is so hesitant to supporting Jim and struggles internally about the issue, and finally understands that what society says to do is not always right. Maturity comes when we form relationships with new people and those around us. At the beginning of the story, Huck doesn’t have a strong relationship with all of his friends. He is friends with them, but he is not dependent on them while on the Mississippi. Huck meets with them to form an imaginary band of robbers where they have imaginary adventures (Twain 220). Huck and Jim are bound to form some type of bond being together on one raft, floating down the Mississippi River all by themselves. Jim, being a black man in slavery, is completely dependent on the white mercy and protection Huck can offer him. Jim says this to Huck on the raft, “I’s a free man, en I couldn’t ever ben free ef it hadn’ ben for Huck; Huck done it. Jim won’t ever forgit you, Huck; you’s de bes’ fren Jim’s ever had…” (Twain 270). Away from society, Huck can depend on Jim, and Jim can depend on Huck. Part of the reason Huck is so sympathetic toward Jim’s particular situation is because they have formed an emotional bond living together on the Mississippi. According to Goldman, because Huck has escaped from society corrupt by slavery that Huck demonstrates a moral change, and that this change is brought on by having a relationship with Jim (Goldman 3). Goldman describes Huck being motivated morally to break away from what society is telling him to do, all because he has formed a friendship with Jim after spending so much time together on the Mississippi.
` Slavery was a system set up in order to exploit black people in labor for white people. They were owned and traded like pieces of property. White people treated black people with disgusting racism. Growing up in a society like this, it is hard to escape the taints of slave culture. At the beginning of Jim and Huck’s adventure, Huck does not want to be associated with abolitionists (Twain 242). Throughout the story, Huck stays pretty convinced that slavery is the right thing in society because he never expresses a desire to free all slaves, and has difficulty deciding if he will help Jim. According to Goldman, “…It might be claimed that he [Huck] fails to be motivated by his moral judgment of wrongness because he implicitly recognizes that it is an error. But… he does not doubt his judgment, instead fully buying into the corrupt attitude toward slaves of his society as reflecting what morality requires,” (4). Huck has been taught from a young age that slavery is the way of life for everyone, and that it is the right way of life. This is what makes it so important that Huck decides to help free Jim at the end of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Huck has been taught that slavery is right, yet he helps free Jim, a slave. This is one of the biggest character changes in the story because Huck has fundamentally changed his thinking about his way of life, even if it only applies to one slave. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is a bildungsroman because Huck Finn makes significant character changes throughout the story.
Huck begins the story as one person, and ends it as a completely different person with new thoughts. Huck is faced with different issues like finding his identity, whether or not he should follow society’s rules, even if they’re wrong, exhibiting moral change by developing emotional attachment in relationships, and taking a stance on freeing slaves. Huck doesn’t completely change his mind on freeing slaves, but makes an exception for his friend, Jim. Huckleberry Finn changes his mind and changes his character throughout this story due to new experiences and meeting new
people.