Huck Finn Essay

William Capistrano
Mr. Giknis
English 11
12/08/13

In the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Jim and Huck would not have been able to build their friendship on shore, without the insulating presence of the
Mississippi River. This is seen through Huck’s prank on Jim, Jim looking out for Huck, and
Huck’s guilty conscious. As of a result of this, Mark Twain successfully depicts how two distant personalities come together to form one unique friendship.
Huck's mindset towards Jim shifts from him believing that Jim is just property and an uneducated slave, to realizing that Jim is an amazing friend. Huck was born and raised in a community that degraded the humanity of slaves; and had a father that never taught him good morals. The pranks that Huck pulls on Jim reflect Huck’s attitude of the way he was brought up as a person. After the scene where Huck and Jim get separated in the fog, Huck believes that Jim isn’t smart enough to believe that the incident never happened, and that Jim just imagined everything. Jim then finds evidence proving that the separation did happen, and is disappointed by Huck’s actions. Huck then says, “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger... and i wouldn’t done that one if i’d a knowed it would make, him feel that way” (Twain 89). Jim shows that a slave like himself has feelings and Huck’s attitude shifts to becoming a compassionate person. The more Huck tries to figure out himself, the closer he gets to understanding Jim.

Another scene is when they come across a house on a raft and go inside to search if they can collect any materials to help them on their journey. “It’s a dead man. Yes, indeedy; naked, too. He’s ben shot in de back. I reck’n he’s ben dead two er three days. Come in, Huck, but doan’ look at his face—it’s too gashly” (Twain 53). Jim shows that he truly cares about Huck and does not want to expose him to seeing a dead body. Jim does not want Huck to witness something this tragic, so he inspects the body and the surroundings for himself before instructing
Huck what to do and what to look out for. They start developing a stronger connection from the way they talk to one another, and the way they’re concerned for each other.
When Huck’s guilty conscious becomes stronger, he decides to writes a note to Miss
Watson informing her where Jim is. He believes that helping out a runaway slave was a sin, from what he had learn in school. Huck was almost done with the note when he realized what he was doing was morally wrong. He recognizes that Jim has grown too close to him, and remembers how Jim cared for him. He said “’All right, then, I’ll go to hell‘­ and tore it up” (Twain 217).
This depicts that Huck has developed morally and mentally. He knows that helping Jim is the right thing to do, and that society is unjust in having slaves.
Throughout the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain shows the friendship that developed between Huck and Jim through the Mississippi River. Huck questions the teachings that society has taught him, and the journey down the river answered the questions for him along with the experiences he had with Jim. Huck realizes that Jim isn’t what society assumes he and other slaves are, instead he sees that Jim is a human as well and not just some type of property. If it wasn’t for the presence of the Mississippi River, Jim and Huck would not

have been able to build a strong friendship with each other.