Huckelburry Finn

Huckleberry Finn's Journey Through Life

The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn takes the readers through many different twists and turns as well as emotions. A stunning tale about a young boy who is looking to over come his father and make it on his own. Here, I set out on a task to find the hero's journey as expressed throughout this story.

The story begins off with the main character, Huck, planning to break out of his ordinary world. Huck is living with the Widow Douglas upon the disappearance of his father. His father, whom most have presumed to be dead, is a character that comes in later in the story and leaves the readers with a feeling of disgust. When the story takes a turn and the readers realize Huck's father is indeed alive, we are given the chance to meet him. " I used to be scared of him all the time, he tanned me so much"(20). His Father has come back into town upon learning that Huck has come into a great deal of money. A series of events lead to Huck's father, Pap, kidnapping Huck and taking him far away from the Widow Douglas to a place where no one could find them.

Huck shows himself to be a smart boy using his "Tom Sawyer like skills" to runaway from his father and that's where his call to adventure begins. Recognizing Pap's patterns, Huck waits for the proper time when his father leaves to get to the busy work in planning his own escape. When Huck finishes up his clever plan he realizes Pap is on his way back to the cabin in which they stayed. He gets in his canoe and heads to Jackson island. From there he watches the next day as the people in the town come and look for his missing carcass.

After a few days Huck begins to explore the island and to his surprise he finds Jim, one of Miss Watson's slaves. Jim has escaped and is on the same island as he is! Immediately, strings begin to tug on his heart as he battles with his conscience. He has to decide whether or not to turn Jim in! After all, he was sure happy to see Jim. This is where the refusal of the call comes into place. Huck, someone who's always seen Jim as a slave now sees that Jim, like everyone else is a real person with feelings. He can't take him back to Miss Watson without turning himself in as well.

Jim and Huck\\\\\\\'s friendship begins to blossom as Jim turns into Huck's mentor. "Jim said if we had the canoe hid in a good place, and all the traps in the cavern, we could rush there if anybody was to come to the island, and they would never find us without dogs"(43). Throughout these next few chapters, Huck sees more and more that Jim is a person and has feelings just like a white man does.

The crossing of the threshold comes about in a funny way. Huck has gone into town dressed poorly as a young girl. Once he reaches the town, he ends up in Illinois and knocks on the door of a woman's house. She told him all about the rumors of Huck and

his disappearance, not knowing that she was actually having the conversation with Huck himself. She then tells him how most people are blaming Jim for Huck's death and disappearance. Upon learning this, Huck flees the house and goes immediately back to warn Jim. " Get up and hump yourself, Jim! There ain't a minute to lose.

They're after us!" (54)

The true tests are now ahead of Huck and Jim. They soon meet they're enemies the Duke and King. Two con-artists that Huck wishes they never met. All four men end up getting themselves head over heals in trouble. Upon their schemes and evil plans, the King and Duke end up getting what they deserve. "They both got powerful mellow, but I noticed the king didn't get mellow enough to forget to remember to not deny about hiding the money-bag again. That made me feel easy and satisfied" (165).

The approach as well as the supreme ordeal falls at the hands of the Phelps family. The King, being mad about his money loss, has sold Jim to the Phelps family to get a few dollars. Huck goes to the Phelps family and pretends to be Tom Sawyer. When Tom comes, Huck quickly reaches him before he can get to the Phelps\\\\\\\' and ruin his plan. Tom, thinking he sees a ghost, is afraid of Huck. Huck explains everything that's been going on and Tom agrees to be a part of his plan. " Well I go all holts then, like I was shot. It was the most astonishing speech I ever heard-and I'm bound to say Tom Sawyer fell, considerable,