Archetypes in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - 2048 Words

In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain utilizes the archetypes of the Unwilling Hero, the Shape Shifter, and Haven vs. Wilderness to show that Huck Finn and Jim can find freedom all along the banks of the Mississippi River. Huck portrays the unwilling hero because he puts a lot of thought into something before he does it, even though it will benefit everybody. He is also very hesitant to perform heroic acts. The King and Duke show the archetype of the shape shifter because they are constantly lying about their identities and deceiving everybody. The Mississippi represents the characters â€Å"haven†, and Huck and Jim’s home represents the â€Å"wilderness†. Huckleberry Finn portrays the archetype of the unwilling hero.†¦show more content†¦Having Huck step out of his comfort zone lead himself and Jim to freedom, but Huck would not have been able to show as much courage if it werent for the archetype of the shapeshifter portrayed by the King and Duke. The Duke and King are always lying about their identity and changing their story, they deceive many people including Jim, threatening Huck and Jims chance at freedom. The Duke and King began their role as shape shifters when they were first introduced in the novel. Huck and Jim were fooled by them for a bit, but it didn’t take long for Huck to figure out that these were con artists. Having two shape shifters aboard with them also got Huck to explore his role as the unwilling hero more. You can see this by the way he doesn’t want to say he knows who they really are. It didn’t take me long to make up my mind that these liars warn’t no Kings nor Dukes at all, but just low down humbugs and frauds. But I never said nothing, never let on; kept it to myself; it’s the best way; then you don’t have no quarrels, and don’t get into no trouble. (page 125). The King and Duke scammed a whole town out of $87.75 by making up a make story just to make some quick money. He told them he was a pirate-been a pirate for thirty years†¦he’d been robbed last night and put ashore off of a steamboat without a cent†¦and put in the rest of his life trying to turn the pirates into the true path (page 131) BecauseShow MoreRelatedRenegade Archetype Analysis1151 Words   |  5 Pagesthe course of American history, an archetype has developed and molded how many of thus think and live our lives. The archetype, A Rebel and Renegade, can be seen throughout much of history, from the revolutionary war to the expansion of the Midwest, and even in film and literary works, such as Huckleberry Fin and many War movies. Eventually, the Archetype became embedded in American culture and became what it is today. The typical Rebel and Renegade archetype can be expressed and studied by fiveRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain1917 Words   |  8 PagesStereotype in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Civilization evolves over time, trading old ideas for new ones. Society grows in intellect and innovation. Though, despite the heights that humanity has soared, impurity still remains. Regardless of the best efforts, millennia of oppression have ingrained the tendency to hate into the psyche of man, despite centuries of reform. Racism continues to propagate every corner of the globe. Yet, in his modern American novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark TwainRead MoreRealism In Huck Finn Essay876 Words   |  4 Pagesrealism, and the concept of realism as a realization of democracy. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , written by Mark Twain, is a perfect archetype of a novel written in the style of realism, as it satisfies all of the aforementioned principles that are characteristic of the style. â€Å"Insistence upon and defence of the commonplace†, is perhaps the most obvious principle of realism featured in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This is seen most clearly in the author’s use of dialect throughoutRead More Using Lies to Define Morality of Characters in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn1377 Words   |  6 Pagesthought in his portrayal of characters in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twains novel emulates his quote, juxtaposing the good and bad aspects of stretching the truth. Throughout the novel, Twain provides numerous commentaries on the morality of characters. His display of deception in the story continually serves to improve the reader?s understanding of a character?s moral integrity, based on the nature and intent of the lie. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses the lies of numerousRead MoreHuckleberry Finn Analysis Essay1709 Words   |  7 PagesThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Analysis Essay â€Å"The situation of the orphan is truly the worst, you’re a child, powerless, with no protectors or guides. It’s the most vulnerable position you can be in, to see someone overcome those odds tells us something about the human spirit. They are often depicted as the kindest or most clever of characters.† Michelle Boisseau describes how important these types of characters are. In a Sunday Times article, she states that a lot of the stories andRead MoreRole of Jim in Huckleberry Finn Essay1119 Words   |  5 PagesHonors American Literature 13 December 2012 Role of Jim in Huckleberry Finn During the late 1800’s post civil war, the reconstruction era surfaced in the union. The reconstruction, a political program designed to reintegrate the defeated South into the Union as a slavery-free region, began to fail. The North imposed harsh measures, which only embittered the South. Concerned about maintaining power, many Southern politicians began an effort to control and oppress the black men and women whomRead MoreEvolving Huck in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 965 Words   |  4 Pagesthemselves overtime, similar to Huck Finn. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a story about a 13 year old boy who heads out on a journey through the Mississippi River with a black runaway slave, Jim. Through the trials they went through during the adventure, it opened up a new sense of understanding for the world. Twain manipulates Huck to be an evolving character in the novel supported by his changes in maturity and morals. Huck Finn exemplifies the epitome of an immatureRead MoreLiterary Analysis : An Inspector Calls 2046 Words   |  9 Pagesexamines the artist’s society to better understand the author’s literary works; other times, it may examine the representation of such societal elements within the literature itself (Social Criticism) An example of this would be how in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck goes against what society wants, that being harboring a slave, and instead makes a friend out of a slave named Jim and shields him from the law no matter what the consequences of that might be. In â€Å"The Informer† byRead MoreMasquerading Colonial Innocence in Rudyard Kiplings Kim2940 Words   |  12 Pagesdoes indirectly question Kims self- expansion from deserted ragamuffin to fully skilled royal agent, something that boys stories of adventure do not always do. On the other hand, Kim does manage to borrow from the custom of the Bildungsroman in representing Kims growth from a child to a man; on the other, it also really does draw upon the narrative plea of adventure stories that are imperial in its nature. Kiplings boy hero (or maybe the boy as a hero?), like the Byronic hero, cannot be burdenedRead More Reading and Censorship of the Harry Potter Novels Essay5573 Words   |  23 Pagesreasons for censoring Harry Potter is that the books are centered around a magical community. The plot revolves around Harry and his friends as they learn how to become wizards and witches at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Through Harry’s adventures, there are allusions to the real world that may help children in their learning process, but there are those who do not want to expose their children to the large amount of witchcraft portrayed in the books. The question of censoring the Harry Potter