What does the River Mean?
The mighty Mississippi river is the mode of conveyance for Huck and Jim in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. However, the river is much more than just a way to travel for the pair. Additionally, it symbolizes safety and danger and the both literal and figurative platform that Huck and Jim use to come to understand each other.
Paradoxically, the river symbolizes both a safe haven and a dangerous place for Huck and Jim during their journey. The river gives the pair an easy way to travel safely without having to walk through towns or come into contact with a great number of people. They simply have to constrain themselves to traveling at night, and shove out to the middle of the river to avoid detection (65). However, the river is also a place full of danger. A number of storms almost destroy the raft and kill Huck and Jim. Steamboats are a constant threat to their well-being, and indeed one eventually collides with the raft and smashes it to bits, nearly killing Huck and Jim (94). Worst of all, while the river is bearing Jim away from captivity and towards his freedom, it is also carrying him further and further south, deep into the heart of slave country. The close Jim gets to freedom, ironically, the higher the risk of his capture.
The raft is also the platform on which Huck and Jim come to understand and respect each other. While they are on the raft, they are perfectly equal. Both are fugitives in their own way, running from their respective pasts. On the raft, Huck and Jim do everything together. They swim together off the side of the raft in the night as they drift lazily downstream. When the weather permits, they lie on the deck and stargaze. They both become accustomed to not wearing clothes; they simply present themselves openly. They have numerous discussions about
religion, race, and other issues as they pass the long hours of the night. Huck and Jim’s connection goes beyond a mere friendship. These are two men that are working together with the common goals of survival and escape. The raft is symbolic of the commonalities of their situations, and is the base from which the two men grow to respect and value each other.
I like your choice! Huckleberry Finn is a very controversial book and I remember doing debates based off of the novel. I remember when I began to read Huck Finn I wasn't paying attention to symbolic features of the story at first because the book had a lot of racial content in it. I read it in my class in the beginning of junior year and my teacher wanted us to focus more on the content and how the story was written and write an essay arguing if the book should be read in schools or not. I actually agree with you when it comes to the River's symbolic meaning.When I read it, I never really payed attention to the River until you mentioned it. I guess I should have re-read more! That sounds like an important feature of the story's deep meaning. When did you figure out that the River had a symbolic meaning to it? did you ever re-read the novel? Now that I think about it now, I think the River represents Jim and Huck's long journey . Just like you said. I like how you didn't just say the river was some sort of safe place for Huck and Jim and how it was also dangerous for them both. Great job giving evidence and also mentioning the raft and how it connects to the river. The Raft is something where both character had started their change regarding their mentality later on in the story
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