FREE ESSAY ON HUCK

HUCK

Dear Mark Twain,
After reading your famous novel, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," I don't feel that
the ending you have created is suitable for the book. Throughout the entire novel, Huck
is going to all extremes to help out a friend in need, Jim. As a slave, Jim is grateful
for having such an honest and open friend like Huck, but it seems as if when he finds out
he was free all along, things change. When Jim and Huck found themselves at the end of
their journey, neither had anything left to run from because Huck's dad was dead and Jim
found out that Mrs. Watson freed him when she passed away a few months ago and hoped he
would soon be with his family. Because of this ending of your choice, we never find out
Huck's true feelings about helping a run away slave besides what we learned earlier in
the book. It seems as if the special bond that Huck and Jim shared was over, each were
going their own separate ways and moving on in their lives. 
I found the ending very disappointing because throughout all the situations that took
place in the book, Twain develops Huck as a character growing up and accepting his innate
ideas of right and wrong, but we soon find out that Huck hasn't grown at all. It seems as
if Huck and Jim have formed a strong friendship with each other and Huck no longer looks
down upon his as a slave, but sees him as an equal individual and a friend. When Huck is
re-united with Tom, we find this to be false because he goes back to his old ways in
which he was taught through his child hood and refers to Jim as property. 
Another major disappointment is that Twain ends the novel as he started, with Huck
running away from a civilized life style. In the beginning of the novel, Mrs. Watson was
trying to civilize Huck so he decided to run away, at the end of the novel he fears that
Aunt Sally is going to try and civilize him, so he decides to run west to the enchanted
territory. This is an important technique that Twain uses to try and indirectly point
blame at anybody, but it is obvious to the reader. Huck does not decide to leave because
he thinks that society is rotten, he decides to leave because he thinks that he is the
one that is rotten, and cannot be civilized, so he decides to go somewhere far away from
civilization. Ironically, it is the corrupting influence of civilization that makes Huck
"uncivilized". 
Although I feel that a different ending is much more appropriate, I also realized that
the ending of the novel is relevant to the themes and ideas that make up the main body. I
do feel that it is too long-winded and a downfall to such a great novel, but it is very
important in reinforcing the message put forth in the rest of the novel; the greatest of
which is the shortcomings of modern society and the hypocrisy and arrogance, and even the
stupidity of people of Twain's time. 
Aside from the ending as a downfall, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn taught an
important lesson, one that showed the importance of the self in the maturing process. We
saw Huck grow up by having the river as a place of solitude and thought, where he was
able to participate in society at times, and also sit back and observe society. Through
the child's eye we see how ignorant and mob-like we can all be. Then nature, peace, and
logic are presented in the form of the river where Huck goes to think. Though no concise
answer is given, the literature forces the reader to examine their surroundings, and
question their leaders, which can also lead into this great disappointment. Because we
idolize Huck for his individualism and beliefs, the end of the novel lets all the readers
down. We can no longer refer to Huck as a hero because he never got Jim to freedom,
instead prevented him from it. Although Huck loved Jim, he feared his future and what
would happen to him if he were caught helping a run-away slave. Because of his fear, Huck
forces himself to keep Jim from freedom by holding him back and keeping the one thing he
always dreamed of from him. 
If I were to re-write the ending of the novel, I would have Jim and Huck escape from Mr.
Phelps without the help of Tom Sawyer. Not only would they escape together, but also Huck
would reach his final goal and set Jim free, but they would remain together. Because of
the time the novel was written, we know that slaves were inferior to all men no matter
who they were, but that's what makes Huck different from people of his society, skin
color doesn't matter, it's the quality that the person possess'. Because they have spent
so much time together and have become the best of friends, Jim should become the father
figure in Huck's life. Although Jim has a family of his own that he is hoping to find, at
heart, Huck was the closest thing to family he had. Throughout the journey they became
inseparable and it only seems right if they end up as a family and share happiness like
they have been for the past few months. 
Despite all the negative views of Huck, he is generally a good guy, and tries his best
not to mess up. Using Tom Sawyer as his model for the ideal good guy occasionally gets
him into trouble, but more often than not, Huck does the right thing. The main thing he
has to overcome in the novel is his immense fear of turning out to be a "bad seed" like
his father, and of going to Hell for trying to help Jim out. That was really not his
fault, considering the common attitude towards slaves, and Blacks in general, when this
book was written. However, if you look past all that, you can really see what a good
heart he had, and how he dealt with his problems throughout the book as best as he
possibly could, considering his lack of good, responsible role models and good education.
He applied what little knowledge he had well, and managed to help several people,
including himself, along his journey down the river.
One idea that I found very interesting was that Huck and Jim were two completely
different people running in the same direction in the beginning, and at the end they
become the closest of friends, but when we soon learn that it seems as if all has faded
away and the journey was useless. It comes across to the reader that both Huck and Jim
were on the raft together for one reason and that would be to escape civilization. That
would be the original idea but because of their bond that's not the intent of the book.
Huck and Jim both had one thing that held them together and that was the goodness at
heart, not only did Huck go against everything he was taught, but he didn't have a
problem doing it and by you ending the book in such a way just seems like everything that
happened doesn't matter and an incredible journey traveled by two amazing individuals
doesn't matter in the end. It just seems like Huck gave up on everything he worked so
hard for and not only let himself down, but his best friend and companion Jim also.