Huck Finn Essay

Huckleberry Finn Spiritual/Emotional Journey

By: Vlad Babichenko

In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck goes through much emotional advancement and gets more mature. He gains more knowledge and his opinions and views begin to alter. Throughout the novel, Huck goes through many events that display his journey towards his true identity. In result, Huck became more of an adult thanks to his extraordinary journey.

The first event that occurred which changed Huck was when they were around the Walter Scott. Huck knew that there was a trapped prisoner left there to die. He knew that the prisoner would sink unless something was done. Therefore, he told the ferryman watchman to go to the ship to rescue him. Huck used the excuse that his parents were trapped on it. Doing that, Huck felt like he was doing the right thing. He thought that he would have made Widow Douglas proud. For this event, I used the Chinese symbol of compassion. The reason that I used it was because the prisoner was a robber who is morally bad, but yet, Huck saw him as a helpless man, and sent the watchman to rescue him. That is how this event was connected to Huck's development.

The second event that led Huck his to his true identity of self was on their journey to find Cairo on the Ohio River. Huck and Jim get separated; Huck being on the canoe, and Jim being on the raft. Eventually, they get reunited, and Huck finds Jim sleeping on the raft. Both of them were feeling lonely and worried while they were separated, especially Jim. Instead of being glad that they had been reunited, Huck makes up a lie to say that Jim dreamed "the separation." Jim believes him at first but then sees all of the rubble and dirt on the raft. Jim gets mad at Huck because he was really worried about him, and to Huck it is only fun and games. Eventually, Huck apologizes to Jim, a major step to maturity. I used the Chinese symbol for lies to symbolize the lie that Huck made up to Jim, to explain this event.

The third event that contributed to Huck's development was in the Wilks' hometown. At that point, the Duck and the Dauphin had already stolen the $6000, which belonged to the Wilks brothers, and sold of the Wilk's estates. By doing that, they separated the slave family, which made the Wilks' nieces upset. At that point, Huck, finding newfound maturity, decided to step up. Huck, feeling sorry for the saddened Mary-Jane, told her the truth about everything. He told her how the Duke and Dauphin were frauds, and how they were shortly going to be exposed. He said that in a few weeks, the slave family would be reunited, which mad Mary-Jane happy. He tells her to go see a friend, in order to let himself and Jim to get away safely. Before leaving, he sends her a note stating where the $6000 is. This event really showed that Jim was good at heart and knew how to do the right thing. The symbol that I used for this event was bravery. The reason that I used this is because he was brave enough to confront