Throughout the novel, both Jim and Huck are trying to find freedom. Even though they live in America, land of the free, they are not really free, so they try to find it. Jim is trying to find freedom by not being a slave while Huck seeks freedom from society's rules. After running away and meeting on Jackson's Island, the two escape together to find freedom.
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| Jim in Chains |
Jim's quest for freedom stands out more prominently than Huck's because Jim's is more literal; he is a slave. He runs away from Miss Watson because she was planning to sell him down the river away from his family.
He tries to find Cairo, so he could take a steamboat up the Ohio River to the free states. Ironically, when traveling with the duke and king, Jim pretends to be a runaway slave (Huck tells the king and duke that Jim is his slave) on his journey for freedom. Both Jim and Huck try to gain Jim's freedom from slavery, and it is Huck that makes many sacrifices for it.
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| Huck Wanting to Be Free |
It is Jim's quest for freedom that is the clincher for Huck's desire for freedom of society's rules. Huck, as seen in the early chapters of the book, does not like the "civilized" life with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. But it is his time with Jim that forces Huck to reconsider the value of conforming to society. Society tells Huck that helping a runaway slave is wrong and that Huck should turn Jim in, but Huck does not feel that that is right. The stereotype that society pushes of blacks is inaccurate as Huck learns because Jim is not that way. Jim is intelligent and loving towards his family. Huck's relationship with Jim leads Huck to eventually break with society.
With only the two of them on the raft, the river provides freedom for Huck and Jim. Jim is not in slavery; Huck does not have anyone fussing at him. But, on land, they are trapped in the grip of society. After the journey down river, both of them find their freedom in the end: Miss Watson sets Jim free in her will, and Huck travels to the Western frontier.
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| Huck and Jim on the Raft |
Pictures:
First picture courtesy of: http://edu.glogster.com/glog.php?glog_id=1737848&scale=100
Second picture courtesy of: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/76/old/orig76-h/p1.htm
Third picture courtesy of: http://readingrebelshjh.blogspot.com/2012/04/adventures-of-huckleberry-finn.html
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