The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnJournal Entry
#1
Huck is a teenager, so he is trying to figure out who he is and where he belongs.At first, I didn’t understand why Huck chose not to return to town after he escaped from his father. His life in town had been very luxurious, and he turned away from it. Huck doesn’t know where he belongs in society, so he stops trying to fit in and goes and lives on the river. The reason he feels like he doesn’t belong is that he is too immature. His father raised him for most of his life, but did a terrible job. A boy’s roll model is usually his father, but Huck never respected his father since his father is an alcoholic. His only roll model is Tom Sawyer, because Tom knows how to have a good time and is good at playing practical jokes. Tom is definitely not a good roll model for Huck. Tom is extremely immature, lies and steals, and breaks rules.
I think that the canoe that Huck finds symbolizes freedom from a life that he despised. It was the only way for Huck to permanently escape from his father, who doesn’t treat him well. It also symbolizes Huck maturing, because he has to fend for himself and he is taking his life into his own hands. He knows that he is not happy living in town or living with his father, and his only outlet is the river.
The river and the shore highly contrast each other in this novel. The shore is where Huck’s life was more stabile and normal, and where he was a boy. Then he finds the canoe and begins his life on the river. Living on the river was totally unpredictable and spontaneous, and it is where Huck becomes a man.