Symbolic Messages in Huck Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a lifelong Mark Twain classic, has many symbolic messages and underlying symbols. ... A relationship that comes to mind is Odysseus’ “odyssey” back to Ithaca to Huck’s trip up the Mississippi to the free states. ... The Mississippi River, a term synonymous with great length and size is the setting of Huck’s trek with Jim. ... There are days where life treats you well, for example when Huck and Jim come upon a house that has been uprooted because of a storm and in this house are some very important items that will aid them in their trip. ... This can be seen in Huckleberry Finn when fog appears on the river and Jim and Huck cannot tell whether they have reached Cairo or not, which is the cutoff to the Ohio river that leads to the free states. There are also aspects of the river and life that are flat out unfair like when the steamboat hits the raft and Jim and Huck are separated. ... Overall, there are events in both The Odyssey and Huckleberry Finn that show underlying characteristics of our own lives.