Aging is an inevitable process of growth. Growing up can be viewed in a physical or metaphorical sense as seen in the bildungsroman story, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The protagonist, Huckleberry Finn, and Jim, a runaway slave, travel down the Mississippi to escape their struggles and assert their independence. Twain uses the major theme of growing up to portray metaphorical character growth or lack thereof, molding the characters of Huckleberry Finn, the duke and king, and Jim, alluding to the growing pains of America.
Initially in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck Finn, the main character, is depicted as a rambunctious child, who refuses to ‘sivilize’ himself. Through his early behavior in the book, it …show more content…
Twain counters the reader’s view when Huck questions the importance of going to Heaven: “I couldn’t see no advantage in going [to Heaven]” (Twain 13). Twain highlights Huckleberry’s maturity through his delinquency. Through his unwillingness to conform to society and questioning the early American Christian beliefs, Huck develops an early sense of identity, a characteristic few adults acquire in life. Twain implies the America Dream, an idea that prosperity and success can be achieved through hard work, can be obtained by being an outcast. An outcast can provide different views by questioning other’s motives and standards, like Huck does; these views may be to just get one step further, opposed to someone who conforms to society. Huck’s maturity and character growth is shown when Pap, Huck’s father, continually threatens him to make him quit school. Huck continues to go to school, despite the threats, to learn. Huck’s point of view on education shifts from avoidant to yearning. Even still,