Preview

A Heros Journey in Huck Finn

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1062 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Heros Journey in Huck Finn
In his book, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell sets forth his theory that there is a monomyth which underlies all folk tales, myths, legends, and even dreams. Reflected in the tales of all cultures, including Chinese, Hindu, American Indian, Irish, and Eskimo, this monomyth takes the form of a physical journey which the protagonist (or hero) must undergo in order to get to a new emotional, spiritual, and psychological place. The monomyth is a guide which integrates all of the forces of life and provides a map for living. Joseph Campbell describes a hero's journey as a cycle where the person is a hero from birth. This holds true for the character of Huck Finn because he fits the description of a hero in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. There are different parts of the hero's journey that can be applied to Huck, such as the first stage which is known as the innocent world of childhood. A stage further on in the journey is the initiation while the last stage is known as the freedom to live. All three of the stages can be used to describe a specific time in Huck's life. The innocent world of childhood is a starting point for many heroes. This is the time span in a hero's life prior to the unexpected adventure he is to embark on. Huck's childhood consisted of childish games with his best friend Tom Sawyer. Huck's days were filled with games of pretend that were supposed to be actual adventures. However, many of the adventures were figments of Tom Sawyer's imagination. This is important to know since Tom's description of an adventure is something that is not real and everything Tom reads contributes to the adventures him and Huck have. Huck's adventures, though, are ones that are unforeseen and probably are the more 'real' ones in the book. Huck's schooling with the widow and Miss Watson are another element of his innocent childhood. Huck experiences what he calls the civilized life. He is fed, wears clean clothes, and is well taken care of. For a boy

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Huck finn's character has changed throughout the book in major ways. From the beginning Huck Finn has always been an outcast and is the son of the town drunk , he allows his friends to influence him and he never realized that slaves deserve to be treated like humans. Over time Huck Finn learns valuable lessons and his character changes. Well make a band of robbers can call it Tom Sawyer's gang(17). In the beginning Huck Finn was a very mischievous boy, but he didn't know any better because he'd grown up thinking that his actions were okay because he'd had a father who was the worst character in the book. The band of robbers shows how Huck Finn's character was in the beginning. We dropped the things we stole(71). In the beginning Huck believes…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, societies boundaries and expectations are pushed to their limits not only by the actions of the main character, Huck, but in Twain’s controversial writing style. Though the book is often claimed to be offensive, it was actually a parody of the times. Mark Twain was ridiculing the racist tendencies of mid-1800s society and their views of the poor/lower classes. Through reading “Huck Finn” it is apparent Twain is challenging the reader to rethink society’s…

    • 86 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Huck is on a hero 's quest of self-identification, and in the process, resisting the beliefs of his society. A mythic quest is what a hero is embarked upon in order to be humbled. In being so, the hero understands, have sympathy and empathy toward his fellow man. The mythic quest is divided into three main categories, the departure, initiation and the return of the hero. Within each of these stages, there are steps which the hero undergoes in order to change the hero from the person he is to the person he needs to be. To understand any particular part of the hero 's quest, the entire quest must be discussed. Usually the hero is afraid to take part of the journey, refusing the call. A supernatural aid or sign is then necessary to be given to the hero, in order to make him realize that he has to embark on the journey. The crossing of the first threshold is when the hero metaphorically dies and is reborn as a new person or individual. The hero is then transported to his her destination, the belly of the whale.…

    • 1473 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mark Twain’s The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn is an American masterpiece. Contrary to The Algerine Captive Mark Twain‘s satire and irony is emphasized through the style and the use of the American “vernacular” dialect for the first time as well as the use of the African-American dialect. Therefore Huckleberry Finn remains the work that elevates this onetime rustic humorist into the ranks of literary genius. It is considered by Satirist Dick Gregory once said that Twain “was so far ahead of his time that he shouldn’t even be talked about on the same day as other people Huckleberry Finn is considered as the first American Novel and aimed at forging an American identity independent from the European one. The Novel, hence, satirize the paradoxical issues of slavery and the hypocrisy of the society as well as the deep intuitions of America.…

    • 1160 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The dictionary says that a hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. This definition couldn’t possibly describe Fredrick Douglas, Jim, and Huckleberry Finn any better. While of course, these three are certainly not the first that come to mind when thinking of heroes, they all completely fit the bill. Douglas is a hero because of his journey out of slavery and because of his moral development, and how his story affected nations. While Huck and Jim go through a similar journey by escaping from the slavery of society, and through their moral developments, they started difficult, but important, conversations about race and prejudice at the time. However, as they compare, they are all…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "There are many humorous things in the world: among them the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages."(mark twain) Twain uses this passage to highlight the differences between social levels. Using the reactions of Jim and Huck towards each other's actions, Twain effectively stretches the lines between white and black.…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Huck Finn

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Heart plays an important role in everyday life, but for most, mind powers over heart. In a corrupted society it’s hard for a young voice to stand out over all the rest, but for Huck, his one voice was heard. Huck puts his heart before his mind when it comes to making decisions and essentially, it is the foundation of Huck and Jim’s relationship. Huckleberry Finn shows that a pure heart can overcome a deformed conscience when the individual goes against society’s beliefs and allows his conscience to reform over time. “A discriminating irreverence the creator and the protector of human liberty” (Twain).…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Physical Journeys throughout the book Huckleberry Finn suggest that it is also an inner Journey. Marc Twain uses a range of techniques that he establishes throughout the novel Huckleberry Finn to point out that this is also an Inner journey.…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    outstanding works that have achieved national acclaim and international recognition. Many of these works have achieved have come to be celebrated as masterpieces in American literature and influential in the shaping of our nation. Since its publication in 1884, Mark Twain 's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has risen to such a status and has been added to the curriculum of most schools. Unlike any other novel of its time, Mark Twain wrote an organic, realistic story drawn from his own personal struggles with being "sivilized" into the proper manners of society. He employed several literary techniques and methods to insure that his novel would be considered a classic. Three significant aspects of Mark Twain 's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn include the use of the vernacular, the use of satire, and the depiction of pastoral life in the South.…

    • 1087 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    1. PG 5 Mark Twain was notorious for stretching the truth, such truth stretching is hyperbole.…

    • 1267 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Huck Finn

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Many famous authors and historians consider Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to be a great American novel, noting Twain’s influence on the American society through satire. Throughout the characters’ journey, Twain observes the flaws he sees in societal norms, which are especially pronounced in two of his main characters, Huck and Miss Watson. Throughout Huck’s adventures with Jim, a runaway slave, Twain utilizes irony to highlight the idiotic stereotypes and narrow mindsets of the American people. Mark Twain uses satire and ridicule to expose the shortcomings in human nature and condemn slavery.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn displays many journeys taken by some of the characters in the novel. Some of the journeys include the journey of freedom, taken by Jim, the journey of maturity, taken by Tom Sawyer, and the journey of acceptance, taken by Huck. Although all of these journeys are relatable to my life, I feel as if I relate to the journey of acceptance the most. The journey of acceptance is a lifelong journey for most of us. Many parts of this journey include yourself and others. When a person searches for acceptance, they search for it within themselves and with others. The person wants others to accept them, while being happy with who they are inside. Most of the time, this is not possible because other people are never completely happy with others, unless the person is perfect, which is not possible. Thus, when one feels as if they have imperfections that others do not believe are the “norm”, they feel unhappy with themselves leading to not having acceptance towards themselves. I think that Huck Finn broke this by not taking others thoughts into consideration when it came to his own self acceptance. Although all of the people he was around felt that being “sivilized” was a good thing and necessary for life, Huck broke away from this and did not even care that everybody at that time looked down on being uncivilized. He did what made him happy, which was being uncivilized and living life to the fullest, which lead to self acceptance. Huck's journey to acceptance was unlike others because of the time it took him. For Huck, I believe that his journey was not a lifelong journey like others most likely will be. My journey of acceptance is still in session. My parents have always wanted me to do a profession where I make a lot of money, whether I be happy or not. I have started to resent those pushes from my parents because I do not want to be a big corporate attorney or a highly paid doctor. Those jobs do not seem like a good…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Joseph Campbell's monomyth, or the hero's journey, is a basic pattern that its proponents argue is found in many narratives from around the world. This widely distributed pattern was described by Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949).[1] An enthusiast of novelist James Joyce, Campbell borrowed the term monomyth from Joyce's Finnegans Wake.[2]…

    • 4439 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Adventures of Hucklberry Finn, at first glance one would expect a lively sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but this is not the case. Huck Finn is not a boy's tale, filled with childish games and pranks. It ventures into thoughts and ideas unimaginable for the time it was written. Huckleberry Finn, the main protagonist, embarks on a journey down the Mississippi River along with a runaway slave named Jim. The Mississippi is a symbol of freedom and protection for Huck and Jim and consequently, their journey down into the deep south helps change the way Huck views society and everything he thought was normal. In The Adventures of Hucklberry Finn Mark Twain compares through Huck's adventures, life on the river to life on the shore.…

    • 191 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    heroj

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Joseph Campbell's monomyth, or the hero's journey, is a basic pattern that its proponents argue is found in many narratives from around the world. This widely distributed pattern was described by Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949).[1] Campbell, an enthusiast of novelist James Joyce, borrowed the term monomyth from Joyce's Finnegans Wake.[2]…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays