Freedom is part of what makes people themselves. It is the deserved right to be able to make decisions, do as they please, and speak their own minds. It is the liberation from having to listen to someone else all day long, and it gives everyone the right to be able to think with their own minds, speak with their own mouths, and do with their own hands. You might have listened to the United States’s national anthem, where one of the lines is “land of the free.” However, history was not always so pretty. You might have also heard of a term called slavery. Before, American plantation owners would buy African captives and force them to work without pay under very harsh conditions. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, slavery plays a role in the crucial theme of freedom. Freedom, which was so desired by the two main characters, Huck Finn and Jim, finally finds its way to them as they take their interesting journey down the Mississippi River. Even though they two both want freedom, their reasons for it are different, and Huck even has two reasons. However, both have reasons that tie into one theme: family. Either running from it or running to it. Freedom, even though everyone deserves it, is not always given to the seeker.
The everyday society isn’t exactly the best fit for everyone. Some people just like to run wild. Our society is made up of rules and manners. Common beliefs root the core so that everyone can be on the same page. However, even with all the efforts, some people just don’t belong the best in a society. Huck, at the end of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, gets assigned to his guardian, which is Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson. Even though this might seem like a relief that Huck now has clean clothes and three meals a day, Huck is not satisfied with the service he is receiving. He does not want to live in an enclosed space and go to school and keep his clothes neat and clean. He just wants to play, to smoke, and to just have fun, like a boy normally would want to do. Huck, having lived a lot of his life away from society’s rules, does not like to conform to the rules that are not put before him, yet doesn’t ever want to receive the discipline he will receive if he doesn’t follow the rules. Also, Huck does not enjoy having to be religious, and having to pray. In fact, he takes everything so seriously that when Miss Watson tells him that he will get what he prays for, he tries, yet when he asks for a fishing hook, no hook appears, so Huck gives up. All in all, Huck just wants to be a free boy, free from society’s boundaries. Sometimes, rules just make it feel even worse, not better. Freedom is a choice. It is a choice that must be attained at all times within reason.
The end isn’t always sweet like portrayed in novels. This rule applies to everything, including families. For example, you might think that every family in the world is all nice and loving and kind. No. Some are just the opposite. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck Finn runs away partly because, yes, he wants to escape from society’s rules and lead a free life. However, that isn’t just the only reason. Huck also runs from Pap, his abusive father who is extremely bad at taking care of children and tries to steal Huck’s money to get drunk. He never worries about Huck’s whereabouts, and when he kidnaps Huck, he tortures him and gives him beatings, showing signs of physical violence toward a child. Huck, scared of having to return to this miserable lifestyle when captured, does what he can, even staging his own murder, to escape from his own abusive dad, Pap. Huck, not just because he does not want to live in society’s rules, but also because of the living conditions of his own family, runs away to spare himself all the misery and discipline. Huck is a strong-willed, determined boy that will not stop until he gets what he wants. He doesn’t just give up when Pap locks him in, he manages to use his own resources to get what he needs. Family is not essentially kind. When they are not kind, do something. Anything. Family isn’t always your best bet.
Sometimes, you just have to do what you have to do. Some things can wait. Other things can’t. When it can’t wait, you just know that you have to make a run for it in order to succeed. In the book, Jim, Miss Watson’s slave, also runs away with Huck for his own personal reasons. As a slave, Jim had a high potential of being sold farther south to sugar plantations. However, this was just the beginning. After being sold, Jim would also be separated from his family, his wife, his daughter and son. Jim wants to escape so that he does not have to be separated. At first, Huck also thinks that Jim is doing something wrong, but he comes to realize that Jim is actually right. Because of all of society’s beliefs, Huck has gotten into his mind that slavery is good, even though it is actually bad. At first, he is against Jim running away, but does not tell. As the two boys travel on, however, Huck comes to realize life from Jim’s point of view, and learns that slavery is actually bad and should be abolished. Miss Watson isn't a bad person, she is just doing what she thinks and has learned is right. She has a big heart, and treats Huck very kindly in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. But, when it comes to Jim, she treats him very inhumanely because that is what she thinks she should be doing. Jim, who doesn't want to be separated from his family, makes it his job to run away and find a way to save the rest of his family from Miss Watson’s clutches. It isn’t exactly easy to leave your home. But sometimes, you just have to do it. Your parents have probably told you not to be selfish, and that’s true. Even so, you still have to be able to care for yourself.
Freedom is a balance where the seeker gets to do as they please and not get disciplined. It is when there is an enjoyable balance between play and work. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, two prominent characters both seek freedom, though for different reasons. They both want to experience the life of a free man, with no restrictions or discipline to follow them around. As the novel progresses, the two discover the true meaning of freedom and how it compares to their fantasies. Both of them, at first, are set on leaving and not returning, but by the end, they both realize that running away is not always the best idea. During the short journey from the Mississippi River almost to the town of Illinois, the two boys encounter many interesting situations, where they both use their resources to try to get out of trouble. In the end, it is both of their resources that are successful. Both boys learn the true meaning of freedom and how it can relate to their own current life. Freedom reigns in a place where everybody knows how to use it to their own advantage.
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