Hf, An Analytical Essay

Mark Twain"s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel



about a young boy"s coming of age in the Missouri of the mid-1800"s.   The



main character, Huckleberry Finn, spends much time in the novel floating



down the Mississippi River on a raft with a runaway slave named Jim.



Before he does so, however, Huck spends some time in the fictional town of



St. Petersburg where a number of people attempt to influence him.



            Before the novel begins, Huck Finn has led a life of absolute



freedom.   His drunken and often missing father has never paid much



attention to him; his mother is dead and so, when the novel begins, Huck is



not used to following any rules.   The book"s opening finds Huck living with



the Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson.   Both women are fairly old



and are really somewhat incapable of raising a rebellious boy like Huck



Finn.   Nevertheless, they attempt to make Huck into what they believe will



be a better boy.   Specifically, they attempt, as Huck says, to "sivilize"



him.   This process includes making Huck go to school, teaching him various



religious facts, and making him act in a way that the women find socially



acceptable.   Huck, who has never had to follow many rules in his life,



finds the demands the women place upon him constraining and the life with



them lonely.   As a result, soon after he first moves in with them, he runs



away.   He soon comes back, but, even though he becomes somewhat comfortable



with his new life as the months go by, Huck never really enjoys the life of



manners, religion, and education that the Widow and her sister impose upon



him.



            Huck believes he will find some freedom with Tom Sawyer.   Tom



is a boy of Huck"s age who promises Huck and other boys of the town a life



of adventure.   Huck is eager to join Tom Sawyer"s Gang because he feels



that doing so will allow him to escape the somewhat boring life he leads



with the Widow...