societhf Images of Nature and Society in Chapter 19 of Huckleberry Fin

Images of Nature and Society in Chapter 19 of Huckleberry Finn In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain creates a strong opposition between the freedom of Huck and Jims life on the raft drifting down the Mississippi River, which represents nature, and the confining and restrictive life on the shore, which represents society. Early in the novel, Huck describes how much he dislikes his life with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, who try to sivilize (1) him. He says it was rough living in the house completely the time, considering how dismal and regular and decent the widow was in all her ways (1). Huck wants to be free from the Widows and Miss Douglass rules and routines, and sees travel and mobility as his escape route. He tells the reader that when I couldnt stand it no longer, I lit out (1), and that All I wanted was to go somewheres all I wanted was a change (2). At the beginning of Chapter 19, Twain offers a long descriptive passage of Huck and Jims life on th e raft that seems, at first glance, to notice the idyllic freedom symbolized by the river and nature. The episode occurs immediately after the Grangerford episode, where both Huck and Jim were trapped--Jim in his hiding place in the swamp, and Huck in the pathetic cycle of violence of the Grangerfords feud with the Shepherdsons. Now free to drift aimlessly down the river, Huck and Jim seem to escape the confining and destructive social knowledge base on the shore and return to nature. A close reading of this passage, however, shows that the river is not a privileged natural space outside of and uncontaminated by society, barely is inextricably linked to the social world on the shore, which itself has positive value for Huck. I... ...e various signs of societys presence on the river seem at first to suggest defilement and corruption, by the end of this section we can see them as valuable and lovely in their own right. The steamboats sparks are just as beautiful and awe-inspiring as the stars in the sky. Works Cited Harris, Susan K. Huck Finn. Huck Finn. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea House Publishers. 1990. Mitchell, Lee Clark. The Authority of Language in Huckleberry Finn. New Essays on Huckleberry Finn. Ed. Louis J. Budd. New York mess Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. 1985. Trachtenberg, Alan. The Form of Freedom in Huckleberry Finn. Huck Finn. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea House Publishing. 1990. Whitley, John S. Kids Stuff Mark Twains Boys. Huck Finn. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea House Publishing. 1990.