Slavery in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - 1193 Words

Freedom to do what one pleases has been an essential part of American life since the start of the colonies. Every war in the history of America revolves around some variation of freedom. One war that has lasted the duration of America’s existence includes black people’s fight for their freedom: from the Civil War to Civil Rights. During the first half of civilization in America, slaves were kept in physical captivity, which inhibited their freedom. For the remaining half, slaves were segregated and looked down upon, hindering their mental freedom. Throughout Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, two captives take a journey in order to free themselves, one for mental freedom, and the other, physical. The first, Huck, is a young†¦show more content†¦Huck says, â€Å"and found a man laying there asleep -- and, by jings, it was my old Jim! I waked him up, and I reckoned it was going to be a grand surprise to him to see me again, but it warnt†(123). This quote explains how surprised Huck is to be reconnected with Jim, but Jim does not feel the same way. Although Jim is overly glad to see Huck, Huck is expecting Jim to be equally surprised. Huck had forgotten about Jim for the time being that he was in society, which goes to show the racial barriers between whites and blacks in the South. If Huck had cared about Jim’s safety and was worried about their friendship, then he would not have left him alone on the raft for weeks at a time with a large chance of getting captured by a runaway slave hunter or even dying of starvation. This instance relates to Williams’ quote because if Huck was intending to overcome racial barriers and become best friends with Jim, than he would not have risked Jim’s safety and left him stranded. Huck and Jim can be compared to the caged birds in the quote because they are both concerned with their own goals and befriend each other because of this similarity, although they s till long for their individual freedoms. Huck and Jim sure did accept each other during their course on the raft, but if this were Huck’s main goal, he would have made sure of Jim’s safety. Jim’s main goal is to reach freedom rather than befriending Huck, and this is evident through his secrecy toward Huck aboutShow MoreRelatedEssay on Slavery in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn541 Words   |  3 PagesSlavery in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn In the Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, written by Samuel Clemens, a young boy by the name of Huck gets into various situations while trying to discover himself and just have fun. To keep the novel unified the author uses the recurrent motifs of slavery, violence, and caring. Slavery has held good men like Jim captive in society. 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