Summary: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a counter part to another tale, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, written by Mark Twain and published in 1885. The story is narrated by the main character, Huck Finn, who is orphaned and being cared for by two ladies, Miss Watson and her sister, Widow Douglas. .
The heart of the story is about a journey Huck and a befriended slave, Jim, endure together down the Mississippi river "in search of freedom". Jim is in search of freedom from slavery and he is on the run from his owner who is Miss Watson. Huck is on the run from his abusive father and later into the story, we learn Huck is in search of a more "natural" freedom from the mainstream rules of society-he is forever questioning.
Opinion: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a coming of age story for Huck.
Proof: .
1.) Huck questions Miss Watson of manners and prayer.
2.) Huck doesn't understand the term; "love thy neighbor" yet, enforcing slavery at the same time.
3.) After discovering his own feelings, Huck takes a huge sacrifice by not turning in Jim.
Huck questions Miss Watson, in the beginning of the story, of the manners he's being taught and the meaning of prayer. Miss Watson tells Huck that if he does not behave, he will go to "the bad place". Huck's realistic outlook on life at this point, lets him believe that it is okay for him to misbehave then, because he kind of likes the idea of going to the bad place if Miss Watson isn't there. This is the beginning of the story and here, we see that Huck has a hard time with why he has to have good manners, keep his clothes cleaned and why he has to go to Bible school. Huck's life before Miss Watson and Widow Douglas, he didn't have to put up with all these rules of society.
Another expression deemed by society, "love thy neighbor", is something Huck can't quite understand. It was okay in society to own and have slaves and on Huck's journey down the river with Jim, he discovers that Jim is not a slave and that he is a man and more importantly, his friend.
