Analysis of the Mississippi River in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—Viewed From the Ecological Perspective

【Abstract】The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was Mark Twains masterpiece. Hemingway once described it as the book from which “all modern American literature comes”. Eco-criticism is a newly aroused critical method. It appeared due to the present global ecological crisis. This thesis attempts to analyze the Mississippi River from the eco-critical perspective to arouse peoples consciousness to protect our increasingly serious environment.

【key words】Mississippi River； Huckleberry Finn-Viewed； Ecological Perspective

【作者簡介】姚楠，貴州醫科大學。

1. Introduction

1.1 Mark Twain and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain， whose pseudonym was Samuel Langhorne Clements， was a famous American realistic writer， lecturer and traveler. When he was four， the family moved to Hannibal， Missouri. Twains life there exerted an important role in his imagination. He was even acclaimed as “the true father of our national literature”. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was Mark Twains masterpiece. It described a journey down the Mississippi undertaken by two fugitives， Huck and Jim. In this novel， Twain described Huck as a typical American Boy which Twain has created as no one had ever done before. Hemingway described The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as the book from which “all modern American literature comes”.

1.2 Eco-criticism

Eco-criticism is a newly aroused critical method. It appeared due to the present global ecological crisis. There were many definitions of eco-criticism. But the most accepted definition is Glotfeltys “the story of relationship between literature and the physical environment” （Glotfelty， 2003）. Eco-criticism tries to explore the relationship between human and nature， nature and culture， environmental crisis and culture. The main purpose of this paper is to find Mark Twains ecological thoughts embodied in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

2. The description of The Mississippi River

Various images of nature have established close links with human spirit. Among these images， the water is most close to human spirit and the survival of human beings， In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn， Mark Twain gave an important role to the Mississippi River. Huck and Jims floating along the river was the main theme throughout the novel. Their life on the river was free and full of poetic meaning.

2.1 Symbol of maternal love

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn， the protagonist Huck was often abused by his father. He couldnt find any help， love or care either from his father or his mother. Hucks mother was only mentioned by his father： “Your mother couldnt read， and she couldnt write， nuther， before she died” （Mark Twain， 2009：38）. As the only relative for Huck， Hucks father was irresponsible. He never thought about Hucks future and refused Hucks chance to education. The Widow Douglas regarded Huck as her son but she didnt give Huck enough concern either. What she did was to teach Huck civilization only. But when he was on the river， he became what a child should be： carefree and innocent. At that time， the river was like his mother. Thus， we could see Huck was lack of maternal love and his trip along the Mississippi River could also be interpreted as Hucks endless pursuit of maternal love.

2.2 Symbol of morality

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn， Huck didnt have a set of beliefs or values because of his family， the society and legal systems. He started to doubt about everything around him and wanted to flee from the civilized world. The raft as well as the river was another world where they could enjoy themselves. They poured out their feelings to each other and talked about their dreams. In such an ideal world， Huck gradually formed his own virtues and values. Huck was a good and noble boy but at the first beginning， his goodness was unconscious. Along the river， Huck witnessed many instances of cruelty， brutality and hypocrisy in the townships. And during the process， his goodness became clear. For Huck， the journey on the raft with Jim is a voyage of moral discovery. This is particularly the case in his relationship with Jim. At the early stage， Huck had racial prejudice against Jim. He thought Jims identity was lower than his and often played trick on him neglecting Jims feelings. However， as they progressed down the river， he changed his attitude and no longer held prejudice against black people. He gradually came to see Jim as a human being and began to accept Jim as his friend.

2.3 Symbol of life

Hucks life was closely linked with the river or the water. In chapter 4， Jim once told him like this： “You wants to keep way fum de water as much as you kin， en dont run no resk， ‘Kase its down in de bills dat yous gwyne to git hung” （35）. Huck was destined to get away from water. But later Huck created an illusion that he was killed by the robbers and then drowned. By doing so， he successfully get rid of his father and the civilized world. In order to find Hucks body in the Mississippi River， the village people threw bread into the river and fired cannon over the water， trying to make his carcass come to the top of the river. But at last they failed anyhow and just at that time， Huck got rebirth and became free. It was the river that gave him another life. To all readers interest， Huck didnt use his real name on the shore. He changed his name and identity all the time. The first time he disguised as a girl named Sarah Williams in order to ask for some information about him. Then after he was rescued by the Grangerfords， he changed his name to George Jaxon. The third time he got ashore and disguised as the servant of Mr. Peter Wilks. He only used the name “Huck” when stayed with Jim on the river. That is to say， only on the river did he have life.

3. Ecological balance around the river

With the desire to be free， Huck and Jim rode the raft down the river. Unlike the life on the shore which was secular， their life on the river was ecological and natural. “we was always naked， day and night， whenever the mosquitoes would let us-the new clothes Bucks folks made for me was too good to be comfortable， and besides I didnt go much on clothes， nohow” （222）. Just imagine the scenery， a young boy and a slave sat on the river with nothing to wear. Isnt it natural scenery？ Isnt it the so-called ecological balance？ There was no money， no civilization or some other material things. What they had was intimate contact with the nature. It was such a simple and unadorned life that Huck and Jim could live harmoniously with the nature.

In order to keep a close relationship with the nature， people should keep ecological balance just as what Huck and Jim did in the novel. Jim had black skin but he was diligent and kind， strong enough to fight for his own freedom. As Hucks friend， he often taught Huck to take care of animals and cherish everything in the nature. We should act as natures friends instead of enemies in order to create an ecological world. Although the two boys had different skins， they could also live in harmony. There was no boundary of age， race or skin between them. Such kind of friendship was necessary in ecological balance.

4. Conclusion

Although there was no eco-criticism in Mark Twains times， his works were embodied with some ecological thinking. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn， the Mississippi River was the most important image throughout the novel. Huck and Jims adventures all originated from the river. After the analysis of this novel， we got that the river embodied with deep meanings. First， it symbolized maternal love. Thus， Hucks trip along the river could be interpreted as Hucks endless pursuit of maternal love. Then， the Mississippi River helped Huck form a set of beliefs and values. Therefore， it also represented morality. Besides， Hucks life was closely linked with the river. He “died” and then got rebirth several times， which all connected with the river. So it symbolized life as well. Since the Mississippi River was so important， we had to find some ecological thinking around the river. Huck and Jim created ecological balance on the river. They had no money， no civilization or some other material things but the nature. In todays society， Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn needs to be read by all of us again from ecological perspective to arouse peoples consciousness to protect the world.

References：

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