Huckleberry Finn's Freedom

"But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilise me and I can't stand it. I been there before," said Huck, a poor thirteen year old boy who's journey for freedom and the Great American Dream turned out to be nothing less than a great, unsuccessful adventure. Therefore, Twain is able to portray the idea of manifest destiny and the ultimate American Dream for freedom to be just a faÐ*ade. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain is the essential and profound journey and failings of two powerful characters who are seeking what any American desires, freedom.

As the novel unfolds, Twain shows the reader how Huck is completely out of his element in the Widow Douglas' house, "the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn't stand it no longer I lit out. I got into my old rags and my sugar-hogshead again, and was free and satisfied." Huck is a wild spirit who only wants to be left alone to rummage in the woods and be comfortable, "We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft." Weary of his old life filled with rules and punishment, Huck contemplates ways to continue living with the same freedom he felt on the raft. However, when Huck and Jim pass their opportunity, Twain is clearly showing how even with the ideals of freedom and the Great American Dream, Huck will always be constrained to fit society's ideas.

Thus, as Aunt Sally's intentions for Huck continue to center around the upbringing that society thinks every boy should have Huck comes to realize that he can provide a much better lifestyle for himself than society can, he will always wish for a world not yet 'sivilised.' If only the Great American Dream were real.