Huckleberry Finn: Blog Post 5 (Coming-of-Age)

This post harbors the conclusion to Huckleberry Finn's adventure as well as his growth process, also known as "Coming-of-Age" or "bildungsroman".
Before I address my theme, I must say "Chapter the Last" was quite confusing. I had to triple-check each piece of dialogue to see exactly who was speaking (Tom? Sid? Huck?...Aunt Sally? Aunt Polly?<-- are those two the same person...? Maybe...maybe not). The names kept going back and forth and I might have mixed them up. So...if I quote the wrong person, you know why.

The biggest instance of Coming-of-Age (because why save the best for last when you could just have the best, period?) would be when TomSidHuck tries to convince Aunt Sally that Jim deserves to be free (and technically already is): "They hain't no right to shut him up! Shove!    and don't you lose a minute! Turn him loose! he hain't no slave; he's free as any cretur that walks this earth!" (Twain, 319).

I believe this ending event represents the epitome of HUCK'S (I really hope it was Huck who said the above quote) maturation. He states that there is no right to confine Jim and that he was as free as anyone else. This statement disregards the racial prejudice against Jim; Huck overcame those differences long ago and is now brave enough to express his view of Jim to others. And it is widely known that racial prejudice is a stubborn one, so congratulations to Huck Finn for seeing past it. So, Pap and Miss Watson died, Jim was set free for the second time, and Huck and Tom were able to return to their adventurous lives. #HappyEnding

All in all, Huckleberry Finn was able to steadily become more mature throughout the novel and see Jim as an equal (race seemed to be the main issue in the plot). Round of applause for Huckleberry Finn.
                                 

                                               

As for Aunt Sally....

Huckleberry Finn: Blog Post 4 (Coming-of-Age)

“What was the use to tell Jim these warn’t real kings and dukes? It wouldn’t a done no good; and besides, it was just as I said; you couldn’t tell them from the real kind,” (Twain, 180). This quote holds so much meaning, it is unreal. So far, nothing, in my opinion, could represent Coming-of-Age more than Huck’s thoughts in that passage. If he had chosen to enlighten Jim and tell him the truth about the two, it would only serve to bring him down or cause him to become spiteful towards them. And, in a way, Huck could be telling the truth. As a second reason for not telling Jim, he states that “you couldn’t tell them from the real kind”. He is addressing masked corruption by saying this. The “king” and the “duke” are technically just as corrupt as real kings and dukes, only using different methods. In a way, it’s similar to sinning. One could kill a man, rob a bank, or sleep with many women, but, in the end, it’s all the same. They’re all bad, so what’s the point of trying to differentiate the circumstances? And the fact that Huck can think so wisely is enough to show that he is mature, and, perhaps, always has been. I believe bildungsroman has a lot to do with mental processes and the ways that people perceive life; therefore, Huckleberry Finn is headed in the right direction. Huck is growing up.

Huckleberry Finn: Blog Post 3 (Coming-of-Age)

Warning: One portion of this post subtly addresses issues which are not directly related to “Coming-of-Age”. However, there are times when two themes go hand-in-hand. This is one of those times.

The sixteenth chapter of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn turned out to be the most crucial chapter in regards to Coming-of-Age so far. Huck faces an internal battle, trying to decide whether or not to inform people of Jim’s being a runaway slave. #Snitch. It was difficult to determine how he formed these “morals” (I was/am Jim-biased, so reading this section caused me to feel a little butt-hurt). In this harsh reality, Huck has no choice but to acknowledge the situation for what it really was: he was aiding a runaway slave in his escape to long-awaited freedom in the north. This was a time when slavery was a normal aspect of a normal society; therefore, these actions took a toll on Huck’s conscience. He started to heavily guilt-trip himself by bringing up the fact that he had wronged Miss Watson and the fellow Southerners who helped raise him: “Conscience says to me, ‘What had poor Miss Watson done to you, that you could see her nigger go off right under your eyes and never say one single word?’” (Twain, 109). Of course, during all this, Huck never seems to question his own righteousness regarding the issue (he was doing the same thing Jim was doing). #TheDifferenceBetweenWhiteAndBlack.

                  

                ~And now for a slight branch into Freedom and Enslavement~

Needless to say, if he had gone through with his initial decision to turn Jim in, he would have become, in all blatancy, a white man who conned the black man by having him aid and accompany him in his journey, only to have played him like a fool. Two men become “friends” while on their quests for freedom, then, in the end, once one’s quest is nearly achieved, he decides to send the other right back to his sad past of enslavement. I am failing to see the morality in this scenario.

However, all personal thoughts aside, this does contribute a great deal to the theme Coming-of-Age (just realized I have, yet, to refer to this as “bildungsroman” ß there you have it). Ultimately, Huck chooses not to sell his friend out, which shows he values their strong friendship more than he values the “morals” he grew up with. #Maturity. #DoneTheRightWay.   

Huckleberry Finn: Blog Post 2 (Coming-of-Age)

As stated by many in the past, a “journey away from home” performs a large role in the theme “Coming-of-Age”. Conveniently, this portion of the criteria was presented during the middle of Chapter 7, when Huck decides to run away from his father’s cabin. The process was also quite clever as he had managed to successfully fake his own death as well as stay hidden from the search parties. This alone indicates a significant amount of use of personal creativity and knowledge.

Finn also spends a considerable amount of time alone on this journey (before he runs into Jim, that is). Coming-of-Age is a journey of the self, where one comes into contact with who he or she truly is in regards to his or her perspective on life. For instance, Huck learns to appreciate the simple beauties of nature: “The sky looks ever so deep when you lay down on your back in the moonshine; I never knowed it before,” (Twain, 36).

Huckleberry Finn is still in the process of Coming-of-Age, except, rather than digressing from it, as he was when his father took him back; he seems to be moving in a positive direction. As for Jim, he already seems to be expressing his paternal side to Huck Finn as he proceeds to teach him everything he knows after they meet on the island: “And Jim said you mustn’t count the things you are going to cook for dinner, because that would bring bad luck. The same if you shook the table-cloth after sundown. And he said if a man owned a bee-hive, and that man died…” (Twain, 47). If nothing else, Jim is a much better influence than Huck’s abusive drunkard of a father.

At the moment, the inner qualities of Huckleberry Finn are beginning to blossom through this theme. One can only hope these changes will be permanent.

Huckleberry Finn: Blog Post 1 (Coming-of-Age)

The theme where one gradually matures and grows to understand the depth of the world and every aspect of it is referred to as “Coming-of-Age”. One major factor of this type of development would be “enlightenment”, or seeing situations for what they really are, with a clear, unbiased mentality.

 In the first five chapters of this novel, Huckleberry Finn experiences the beginnings of this transformation, having been taken in by a devout Christian woman who strives to turn him into the ideal Christian boy. The first signs of Huckleberry’s evolving awareness include his skepticism towards the widow and her beliefs. She is supposedly a good Christian woman, yet, she is also a slave owner. This comes off as a form of contradiction to Huck Finn, since Christians are supposed to treat everyone equally and/or the way they wish to be treated.

At the moment, he chooses to remain a skeptic when it comes to religion because he does not necessarily agree with the principles in regard to “certain people” (slaves). The fact that a boy as young as Huckleberry Finn is actually taking time to truly think deeply about these aspects of life most definitely displays signs of spiritual growth in his character. He is undergoing the primary stages of “Coming-of-Age”.