UNIVERSIDADNACIONALDELAPLATA

FACULTADDEHUMANIDADESYCIENCIASDELAEDUCACIN

TRADUCTORADOENINGLS

ASIGNATURA:LiteraturadelosEstadosUnidos

PROFESORATITULAR:Chiacchio,CeciliaAlejandra

JTP:Spoturno,MaraLaura

CICLOLECTIVO:2012

ESSAY:RevisionofTheAdventuresofHuckleberryFinn

ALUMNA:Garca,Ma.Paula(mpgaarciaa@gmail.com)

In his critical essay The Unity and Coherence of Huckleberry Finn, R. Adams posits that the

novel is structured in a cyclic fashion, as its development is dependent on a series of symbolic deaths

and rebirths on the part of Huck Finns character. He relates this concept to Trillings idea of the

storys having a clear dramatic organization, positing that this pattern provides the framework for

structuring the novel it is by means of this device that it is possible to find a beginning, a middle and

an end. But Adams takes the idea of symbolic deaths and rebirths even further, and states that this

motif could be thought of as representative of our heros decision to either neglect or embrace life in

society, and that this is made explicit by his repeated withdrawals from and reinsertions to it, which

can also be paralleled with his departing and returning to the shore. He also takes into account that it

serves to portray Hucks ambivalent stance towards slavery and southern customs, towards what is

thought to be right and wrong. It then becomes evident that the main function of this technical device

is not to merely organize the text, but also to depict the boys initiation, the radical reconstitution of

his moral attitude toward the society in which he lives. He grows, therefore, during the time of crucial

change, by `dyingout of society and then returning or being `reborninto society with a new and

different attitude toward it. (Adams, 1984) Following Adams conception, it is then possible to

think of two different aspects that these symbolic deaths and rebirths display: one that is social and

other that is ethic and hence internal. These might be seen as two sides of the same coin instead

oftwodiscrete,selfcontainedphenomenathatoccurindependentlyfromoneanother.

The first moment in which a symbolic death is visible, and the pattern activated, is casually

enough that in which Huck stages the fake murder that will free him from social strings. He knows life

within civilized society and he also knows life with pap, but both are equally painful to him.

Throughout the first chapters he is described as an innocent boy, although capable of practical

reasoning, who is constantly showing disdain for social rules, timetables and even religious believes.

It is not until he makes the decision of leaving that his initiation begins, and this coincides with two

facts of great relevance in the text. On the one hand, he voluntarily isolates himself from society to

become an outlaw. This to him means freedom, to be capable of doing what he wants and escape

the danger that his father and the Widow who is trying to syvilize him represent. On the other

hand, almost adjacent to his escaping is his accidental encounter with Jim, the runaway slave. At this

point Huck chooses not to give Jim away for the first time, but only accepts to accompany the

nigger because he feels lonesome and cannot go back to St. Petersburg. His decision is not as

pervaded with moral conflicts as the ones that will follow. He recognizes that what Jim is doing is

wrong, according to what has been instilled in him by aristocratic society, but at some level he rebels

against those values, although he does not question them yet, and chooses to help him. The middle of

thenovelisconsideredtostartatthispoint.

People would call me a lowdown Ablitionist and despise me for keeping mum

but that dont make no difference. I aint agoing to tell, and I aint agoing back

thereanyways.(Twain,1885:50)

After going through several experiences and adventures in the river, which are described by

Huck as a comfortable period in his life despite the many inconveniences the characters go through, ,

and just in the moment Jim starts to feel freedom, Huck starts having qualms about his plan to free

the slave. He realizes that he is robbing Mrs. WatsonJims owner, and what implications it may

have. When thinking about this matter, Huck decides to give away Jim, but it is in the moment he is

about to do it when he reflects upon the fact that even though the correct thing to do would be to tell

thetruth,hisconscienceurgeshimtoprotecthisfriend.

Then I thought a minute, and says to myself, hold on, spose youd a done right

and give Jim up would you felt better than what you do now? No, says Id feel

bad Id feel just the same way I do now. Well, then, says I, whats the use you

learning to do right, when its troublesome to do right and aint no trouble to do

wrong,andthewagesisjustthesame?(Twain,1885:95)

At this point he becomes aware of his internal contradictions and decides to act impulsively, giving

no importance to whatever moral questionings may be in play. In doing this he puts distance between

his humanity and social conventions, not knowing that the latter are precisely the cause of his moral

contradictions.Rebirth,inthesenseofsocialreinsertion,isfarfromoccurringyet.

It is only a couple of chapters later that Huck will find himself fascinated with an apparently

sophisticated southern family, and will in fact have the desire of belonging to it. All of his moral

questionings will be left aside and even Jim will loose presence throughout this period of temporary

rebirthintosociety.

It was a mighty nice family, and a mighty nice house, too. I hadnt seen no house

inthecountrybeforethatwassoniceandhadsomuchstyle.(Twain,1885:102)

But this period does not last long. After a while the now aware Huck Finn learns about feuds and

other atrocities which this new family is responsible for. He then decides to leave the farm along with

Jim, and return to the river that is now more than ever considered as home by both of the characters.

Nature and freedom enchant them and a new symbolic death plays a special role in the novel. Huck

feels impelled to escape from a life that seems disgusting once he is able to apprehend reality

throughhisowneyesratherthanthroughsocietys.Growthstartstobecomeevidenttothereader.

The final rebirth is led up to by Finns final decision to free Jim, one that is at this point more

definitiveandchargedofmoralconflict.

It would get all around that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom and if

I was to ever see anybody from that town again, Id be ready to get down and

lick his boots for shame. Thats just the way a person does a lowdown thing,

and then he dont want to take no consequences of it. Thinks as long as he can

hide it, it aint no disgrace. [] And at last, when it hit me all of a sudden that

here was the plain hand of Providence slapping me in the face and letting me

know my wickedness was being watched all the time from up there in heaven

(Twain,1885:207)

Religion appears as an obstacle, penetrating Hucks conscience, but in the end he is finally able to

leave these prejudices aside and follow his own path. This can be seen as representative of how

society influences the individual, who in time will acquire enough confidence in himself to follow his

intuitions. Huck is able to make this decision because of his having a deeper, more personal and

extensive knowledge of upperclass southern society. The rebirth is finally achieved by his reentering

society and feeling able to live within it but this time his return will by no means correspond to

uncriticalacceptance.

Well, it made me sick to see it and I was sorry for them poor pitiful rascals, it

seemed like I couldnt ever feel any hardness against them any more in the world.

It was a dreadful thing to see. Human beings can be awful cruel to one another.

(Twain,1885:224)

The initiation is complete, which means that there has been a radical transformation in the characters

morality. In fact, it is no coincidence that he be mistaken with Tom Sawyer and that his identity be

changed.

After having analyzed the pattern in this way, it is important to point out that although textual

structuring constantly goes back and forth to the same situation, not all the symbolic deaths and

rebirths that occur throughout the novel are equivalent. Each one of them represents Hucks growth,

in that every time he `dieshe let go a part of himself and, detaching from society, he becomes an

external observer. At the same time, every symbolic rebirth places Huck in a more critical position

than before, this accompanied by the fact that his knowledge about life and society is deeper every

timethishappens.

References:

Adams, R. The Unity and Coherence of Huckleberry Finn, in: Simpson, C. (ed), 1984,

Twentieth Century Interpretations of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Collection of

CriticalEssays,EnglewoodCliffs,US:PrenticeHall.

Twain,M.1885,TheAdventuresofHuckleberryFinn,PenguinBooksLtd,England.