A Fitting Ending

I have recently reread one of my favorite books of all-time, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. It is a timeless classic and often considered the greatest American novel. The story is a sequel to an earlier work by Twain, The Adventures of Tome Sawyer. The novel begins with  Huck and his best friend, Tom Sawyer, just getting back from their own adventure and now returning to a boring, humdrum lifestyle. Huck lives with Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson, who are taking care of him, and cannot stand all of their rules and cleanliness. However, Huck's birth-father soon comes into the picture and gains custody of Huck. His father is abusive and Huck runs away the first chance he gets. When he escapes from his father, Huck meets Jim, a runaway slave, and they head down the Mississippi together. Huck meets people along the way and, while he was just on a search for another adventure, ends having many possible life-changing experiences.

It was published in the United States in 1885 and received controversy from the very start. Most of the criticism revolves around the harsh language used in the book, but there is also a lot of arguing over the ending of the novel as well. Be advised there may be some spoilers in the following paragraphs, so please stop here if you have not read the story or do not want to know the ending.

Many found that the ending of the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, was inapt and unsatisfactory. The build-up and suspense created throughout the novel may have led them astray. For example, most people were upset by the way in which Jim was set free. It appeared that Jim was freed due to Huck and Tom’s courageous actions, when in reality Jim was freed from slavery due to the death of his owner. Her will stated that Jim should be set free when she dies. Most believe that this negated many of the heroic deeds performed by Huck and Tom to free Jim. I did not mind how Jim was freed. It did not refute Huck and Jim’s actions in any way. It simply showed that some things in life do not happen exactly how one plans. Regardless of the outcome, Huck and Tom sacrificed their health and their livelihood all for Jim’s well-being.

Another reason for the dislike of the conclusion of the novel was the lack of development shown by Huck Finn as a person. Throughout the story, he went through many emotional and difficult situations. However, Huck failed to understand multiple mature concepts. For example, Huck does not understand the difference between want and need, which is shown when Tom attempts to lecture Huck about stealing a watermelon for his own desire. Although Huck showed a great change in his view of Jim and other black people, he never felt regret for leaving Miss Watson. Therefore Huck staying with Aunt Sally in the end would have contradicted Huck’s behavior and beliefs and resulted in a far too dramatic change in Huck’s character. This result allowed the mood to remain consistent and resulted in an appropriate ending.