Nature In Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

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Within Mark Twain’s novel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, Twain uses nature as a binding web to his story, a canvas which is good, but challenging at the same time. To the characters, Huck and Jim, nature is, at times, an ally, a friend and a companion, but at times, a deterrent and a manipulative force that agitates. However, to Twain, nature is holy, scared. He describes it with much more care than he does society. But mostly, Twain shows the beauty of nature in contrast to the pettiness and horrible mentality of society, a society that is two-faced, critical and hostile. Twain’s greatest symbol of nature throughout the novel is the Mississippi River, a powerful force that acts as a guide, a teacher and mentor to “Life’s Journey”.

The majority of the story takes place on the river or its banks. The river represents freedom and possibility, but also the pitfalls of life. On the raft, Huck and Jim are completely independent and determine their own course. Huck is free from societies restrictive rules and Pap's lock-up. Jim desperately wants to reach the Free states and Huck is eager to flee his abusive, drunk father. Huck uses the river to describe his freedom. “So in two seconds away we went a-sliding down the river, and it did seem so good to be free again and all by ourselves on the big river, and nobody to bother us.” (29) …show more content…
Not all is peaceful on the river. Challenges begin to exert themselves illustrating how unnatural the collective behavior of society can be. Huck and Jim meet with dishonesty; encounter all kinds of life-threatening events: criminals and murderers; lose their raft twice; and witness the Grangerford-Sheperdson blood shed. Even nature, via a fog, forces them to miss the town of Cairo, where they planned to take a steamboat up the Ohio River to the Free

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