Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Huck and a runaway slave, Jim, try to get to Ohio via the river on a raft. The river’s symbolism changes throughout the book as Huck develops morally, from a symbol of slavery and oppression, to a symbol of freedom and equality. For example, in chapter fifteen Jim says, “Now ain’ dat so, Boss- ain’t it so?” This quote reveals that Jim believes that Huck is better than him, by referring to Huck as his boss. Here, the river symbolizes the oppression that
Twain and Shakespeare use symbolism as a technique to criticize society. The mississippi river represents for Huck and Jim freedom and possibility. The river is taking Huck out of child abuse and taking Jim out of slavery. Huck feels confined by both society which figuratively kept him imprisoned by its restrictive rules and by Pap who lock him up. The river is the only route they can take if they want to be free both in that present moment and in their respective futures. Huck said “So in two seconds
3-4 Literary Devices (and the effect on the novel): Symbolism Twain incorporates numerous symbols throughout the novel in order to allow for its meaning to be taken into consideration within the context of the novel. The river and the shore are the two symbols that Twain consistently refers back to in order to convey the ideologies of freedom and corruption that underlie their meanings. The shore represents civilization and all of the problematic people who live in it which is why Jim and Huck
evident in Mark Twain's, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn based on the ongoing adventure of a young boy and slave who are on a journey to find personal freedom. Mark Twain saturates the novel with various examples of superstition to demonstrate the difference among those in the Christian society, display the nonsense ways of civilization, and emphasize how crucial the rules of society are. Superstition