The concept of freedom means giving equal opportunity to everyone for liberty and pursuit of happiness. Freedom is a state of being independent, receiving little or no restrictions from anyone. Emancipation, liberty, privileges all demonstrate similarity to the meaning of freedom. Back in history till the present days, freedom has widely been used as a global theme in many kinds of arts and literature. The novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a great example that reveals different types of freedom of will from two different characters. From chapters one to eight, the book gives off a depiction of the restrained life of Huck living with the Widow Douglass, who takes his behaviors seriously. Later on, Huck begins his life with his abusive father, a drunkard, and makes several attempts to run away for freedom. On the other side, Jim, Miss. Watson’s slave, also escapes from his master’s control in order to gain value as a basic human being. Together with Huck, they embark on a journey seeking further liberty, without receiving any more restrictions or pressure. Even though Huck and Jim yearn for freedom simultaneously, they receive contrasting confinements before and imagine life with freedom divergently.
From Huck’s perspective, in order to gain freedom, he needs to escape from the manipulative society, including his domestic life with Widow Douglass and his abusive Pap. In the beginning, from chapters one to four, Huck spended his residence with Widow Douglass and Miss Watson, who both acted as strict and pious guardians, forcing him to quit his pernicious habits like smoking, receiving scholastic education as well as disciplines. While the widow stays respectable, embodying civilization, Huck opposes her method; no matter of Tom Sawyer’s suggestion or anyone’s exhortation, his ideal is to escape the traps of civilization, leading his way toward unlimited absolute freedom. Unfortunately, his foul-tempered Pap, a winebibber, prevented his direct escape multiple times by kidnapping him continuously. Escaping his father equates with being away with any types of violence and abuse. Finally, in chapter 7, Huck processed his abscond by boarding on his canoe, traveling to Jackson’s Island. As illustrated, Huck doesn’t want to abide by society's laws, so living by his own rules seems appealing to him.
In the widow’s house, Huck received a ton of physical advancement, such as education, clothing, food, and money, but that’s not what he really yielded for. He lives in tranquility on Jackson’s Island because he received spiritual satisfaction.
Differing from Huck’s will of freedom, Jim’s prospect of freedom is more inclined in gaining value, which means obtaining liberalization from racism or any forms of discrimination. Bygone days in the Southern region of the United States, slavery was prevalent, and many white masters and mistresses treated their own slaves horribly, as if they were an animal. In the beginning of the story, Miss. Watson's reception with Jim reveals the cruelty of slavery as an institution. Her decision of selling Jim to a plantation in the deep south so she could make profit, where he would be separated from his family was absolutely inhumane. Jim can’t bear this family separation, so he tried to escape, in other words, to be free of bondage, but with a contrasting reason compared to Huck. Specifically, in chapter eight, Jim operated his bolt and was found by Huck on Jackson’s Island. Even though Jim didn’t express his reason for escape explicitly to Huck, we can infer that he abominated being traded for money like a property, instead of normal humankind. Racism has been an issue throughout history, even nowadays, black people still live in poverty, attaining less freedom than other people.
Although many visions of freedom may differ from each individual based on their personal situation, the concept of nature freedom seems equal to all people, which means possessing unlimited right to do things. Seeking freedom is part of human nature, and this instinctive behavior leads us to true freedom in various aspects of our lives. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim both escaped from confinement, in other words, there must be a cause that drove them toward seeking freedom. Nature and freedom are closely related in some ways. The Mississippi River, where both of them traveled through on their raft and canoes, symbolizes freedom. They would rather prefer floating on a small raft on the flowing river water leading to the unknown than living a hampered life. Positive external freedom or freedom in action is the ultimate goal of both escapers, especially for Huck.
In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the prominent theme of freedom acts as a psychological concept, where mainly two visions of freedom appear, from Huck and Jim. Huck always wished to be released from the civilized society and take pleasure in his own comfortable life with no boundaries but happiness. He has a more naive viewpoint, aiming for relative privilege. For Jim, the view of freedom has a deeper and humbler meaning, which is to stay together with his family while not being treated like property. When Huck and Jim seek freedom, it is sharply contrasted with the existing civilization that they live in, producing a rather ironic effect on the story. Despite the risk of experiencing perilous disasters, they still chose the path of vagabondage because they had a strong value on independence, liberty, and adventure.
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