In the first half of this book, all that really happens is that Huck and Jim are on a raft going up the Mississippi River. They meet all sorts of people during their trip, all of whom are symbolic to society back then. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) tried to show how society changed the people and the way they acted. Everybody on shore was greedy for money and could never get enough of it. Let's take pap for instance. He drinks and drinks and drinks and never stops and then he goes after Huck for Huck's money (page 26). Then Huck meets up with 3 people on a boat. One of them, a man named Jim Turner was about to be murdered by the two other greedy men because Turner always got more than his share of the money (page 81-83). At the end of the second half, the so-called duke and king find a wanted poster for Jim (page 175). They've already devised a plan, and if they turn him in, then they are also greedy because the reward for Jim was $200 and that was a lot of money back then. You can still get a lot for $200 even nowadays. I don't believe all these people were born mean and greedy. Society made them that way, and Huck wanted to deviate away from that. That's why he's on this raft. When Jim and Huck are on the river, there's no one to tell them what to do. They can be lazy, undisciplined, and relaxed. Huck is his own boss and does whatever he feels like doing. The river represents freedom for both Jim and Huck. While on shore, they have to follow rules, there are obstacles to conquer, and they have to deal with many people. The shore represents restrictions and it's almost jail-like, where neither of them can be themselves. The reason they are traveling up the Mississippi River is to find a place on shore that's like being on the river. For Jim that place is up north where slaves are essentially free. Huck hasn't found that place yet, and doesn't know where it is. I don't know if he will ever find that place.
I think Huck might even go back to St. Petersburg because he seems to have unfinished business with Tom Sawyer. In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer they became good friends, and I don't think Huck can leave that friendship. Huck and Tom are on the same boat so to speak. Neither of them likes the molds that society creates and that's why they are so "wild" and "different" compared to everyone else. They want to be themselves, not whom the society wants them to be. It was the same situation with Holden and Bilbo. They both defied against society and came out a better person (hobbit). Huck will probably do the same thing. On the front cover of my book there's a quote by Ernest Hemingway stating "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn." Could this be what Hemingway is referring to? In the southern society, Jim is a runaway slave and Huck is breaking the law by helping him. Whether or not Jim reaches freedom is up to Huck. Huck can turn him in and do what society says is right, or Huck can bring Jim to freedom and do what he knows in his heart is right. I strongly believe Jim will reach freedom even though Huck had that moment of doubt (page 125-126). Huck knows what's right and that's the way he's going to go.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 2
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