Introduction
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the most prominent works written by Mark Twain. The novel addresses one of the most crucial issues of the society of Twains times – slavery and describes the life of people living along the Mississippi River. Undoubtedly, on one side, the Mississippi River functions on a realistic level. However, the present essay argues that Mark Twain uses this river as a symbol and, hence, it also acts on a romantic level.
Main body
The reason for treating the Mississippi River as a realistic element is apparent because it has been used as a means of transportation and the source of adventures since Tom Sawyer ran away from the house. For Huck Finn, the river that “always looks pretty on a summer morning” is the source of happiness and serenity (Twain 58). Still, it is more interesting to see how Twain uses the Mississippi River on a romantic level.
One of the significant characteristics of the non-realistic levels in literature is the celebration of nature, isolation, spirituality, and freedom from rules. All these aspects could be noticed in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. More precisely, Huck Finn left his house to escape his alcoholic and abusive father, Pap Finn. Therefore, from Hucks perspective, the escape from home in St. Petersburg and the journey along the Mississippi River equal the escape from control and provides access to veritable freedom and independence. For Jim, the river is also the way to find freedom. However, in contrast to Huck, Jim runs away from slavery and tries to escape the rules imposed by society. To some extent, the river reflects the personalities of Jim and Huck. All of them are in constant flux. They constantly move somewhere and do not stay in the same place for a long time.
At the same time, the Mississippi River could be treated as an illusion of free life for Jim and Huck. The characters face numerous challenges, including criminals and floods. What is more, at the end of the novel, fog prevents them from swimming to the Ohio River; that is the next step on their way to freedom. Therefore, on the mythic level, the Mississippi River could be treated as a guide to a better world that leaves its wards at the most crucial moment.
In spite of the written above, the functioning of the Mississippi River on a mythic level is rather limited. Undoubtedly, the river has a profound symbolic meaning. Nonetheless, the mythical aspect of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is based on elements other than the river. First of all, Huck leaves the house of his father to begin his independent journey. Such a plot development is inherent in fairy tales and myths. Secondly, the characters go through various trials and experience threats to life during their journey before reaching the ultimate goal and ending their trip.
Conclusion
To conclude, the novel of Marc Twain undoubtedly corresponds with the idea of romanticism. The message of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn goes more profound than the simple statement of facts and description of the life of the heroes. Besides, the novel has a lot of symbols, the most apparent of which is the Mississippi River. At the same time, the operation of the river as a tool of romanticism is limited because it acts only as a source of changes and does not possess any other features of a mythic object.
Works Cited
Twain, Marc. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Collier, 1884.