Discuss and analyse the role and importance of the river in Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

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Discuss and analyse the role and importance of the river in Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The river undoubtedly plays an integral part in the novel, which clearly illustrates the main ideas and concepts whilst having a great significance to the story’s plot and structure. The role and importance of the river is essential, adding depth and symbolism, however, how the role and importance of the river is interpretated and measured is debatable. Some critics view the issue of race and society as overshadowing factors, classing the river as just another symbol.  As a result of critics conflicting views, it seems necessary to discuss and analyse the river for one to understand and interpretate the novel as a whole.

The reality of the Mississippi river and its effect on the author, Mark Twain, explains its presence and importance in the novel. The influence the river had on Twain and his great interest in it is obvious throughout the plot. The idea that because the river was so important to the writer, which in turn is infiltrated through the language and focus of the novel, is a strong one. The role the river played in Twain’s life was an important factor, which could come to be seen as mirroring its role in Huck’s life. Twain found leisure, admiration, quality of life and the ability to live from the Mississippi, which appears to happen to Huck, which is clearly apparent in the quote, “Jim, this is nice,’ I says. ‘I wouldn’t want to be no-where else but here.” If the idea of Twain’s adoration of the river is entwined with that of the river in the novel, then the role and the importance of the Mississippi is a vast one.

The movement of the river throughout the novel moves like water, going in and around the adventures of Huck. Although the river is not the focus throughout

the novel, how it affects Huck and what it represents are always present. However, the sections, which do contain the river, act like a blank canvas for critics to write upon. The primary chapters containing descriptions of the river are a tightly constructed blend of the romantic and practical, despite Twain’s contempt for the romantic genre. This contempt alone allows critics to question whether Twain’s love of the river triggered this style of writing. The initial meeting of Jim and Huck on the island initiates the main plot of the novel. We begin the plot with imagery of being surrounded by water, amplifying its importance, foreshadowing the characters dependence on the surrounding river, for example, Huck’s easy access to food, ‘then I set out a line to catch some fish for breakfast.’ The island separated by the river emphasises Huck and Jim’s alienation from society in fundamental ways. The two characters share the limited freedom in the apparent utopian area, but their fates become intertwined as a result. Both characters have broken free from society with the help of nature, freed from the hypocrisy of religion, injustice and conformity, faced with the prospect of life on the river, their intended paradise. This idea of paradise is linked with the biblical idea of the Garden of Eden, which also had water and snakes as an element. The biblical snake was believed to hunt those who act unwisely, indicating that Huck and Jim escaping for freedom viva nature, although idealistically, it appears perfect, it is in fact not the solution.

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The ideology of the raft and what it comes to represent also supports the increasing role of the river. Huck and Jim together on the raft seem to symbolise the concept of equality and brotherhood. The raft becomes the centre of moral debate, a place for discussing their views on stealing and immoral elements as a whole. Their resolution to abandon the proposal of stealing represents an attempt to resolve moral and practical concerns, ‘so we talked it over all one night, drifting along the river, trying to make up our minds whether to drop the watermelons, or the ...

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