What Is Freedom?

Freedom is something that everyone wants.. According to the Macmillan dictionary freedom is "the independence of thought, choice, or action". But that is very vague; freedom is different to everyone. In his book, Huckleberry Finn, it is obvious that Mark Twain had an opinion on freedom and what it is. Jim, a black slave, and Huck, the white child who helps free Jim, have pretty much the same views of freedom. The difference is that Huck has gotten it, and Jim is trying to find it. To Jim, freedom is more physical: freedom from slavery and the possibility of being sold; to Huck freedom is more of the freedom of authority figures telling him what to do and how to live; to me, freedom is a little bit of both.
Freedom is something Jim has never known. The only things that he has that are his that nobody has access to are his thoughts; everything else in his life is controlled by other (white) people. To Jim, freedom would be just being able to make choices for himself, being able to do what he wants when he wants without worry. "Ole missus-dat's Miss Watson-she pecks on me all de time, en treats me pooty rough, but she alwuz said she wouldn' sell me down to Orleans...en I hear ol missus tell de widder she gwyne to sell me down to Orleans...she could git eight hund'd dollars for me, en it 'uz sich a big stack o' money she couldn' resis'" (43). It is apparent not only can he not make his own decision where to live or what to do; Jim has to worry about the decisions the other people make for him.
In Huck's mind freedom is something a little different. To Huck freedom is more of a freedom from authority figures. It is not having people tell him what to do and what not to do. It is not having people tell him what is right and what is wrong. "Then Miss Watson took me to the closet and prayed, but nothing came of it. She told me to pray everyday, and whatever I asked for, I'd get. But it warn't so" (12). To him, freedom is more freedom from conformity and