Huckleberry Finn Identity Essay

Words: 1703
Pages: 7

Ben Cogar Professor Crooke ENGL101A March 8, 2024.

Navigating the Geography that is Identity: Huck’s Quest for “Home” in “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”.

In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain incorporates complex themes of identity, belonging, and expectations. Throughout the novel, Twain navigates the reader through Huck Finn’s soul-searching journey along the Mississippi River, searching for a home while unintentionally avoiding the pressures of those surrounding him. Though Huck, on his journey, hits different places on the map with every new adventure and likewise has a different view on how he should live and what identity he should adopt, Huck’s journey suggests he experiences all the different places as separate forms of home.
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He has fleeting moments with each group. Whether it is the peacefulness of the Grangerfords, the friendship unknowingly forged in his and Jim’s plans for the gold, Huck’s temporary belonging captured in the few moments he felt like he fit into the family with the Wilks, or the rhythm of life for Huck in the instructions given Huck from the aunts and the friendship agreed upon by Huck and Tom. However, Huck also learns that these were very shallow and weak commitments of the family as they all had traits that brought many immediate dangers to Huck as soon as their friendships had turned aforementioned. Death, in its many forms and representations, shines a light on the way we live, showing us harsh realities, and separating between what is right and what is plainly against morality. Likewise, death plays a leading role in the melodrama that is Huck’s journey, accenting the instability and the battle Huck constantly goes through, differing between the good and the bad. Huck, being exposed to poverty and the lack of fatherly love, learned to be satisfied with whatever was in front of him.