Huckleberry Finn Persuasive Essay
SanFelippo � PAGE �10�
Adam SanFelippo
Mr. Kearney
American Hero/4
12 December 2008
_The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ as Journey Through the Afterlife
The afterlife, in unanimity with the underworld, includes a plethora of mythological characters and symbols in the form of the river Styx, Cerberus, Charon, and Hades itself. The journey into the underworld is instigated with a person 's death and preparation for passage into hell, as he needs to realize certain requirements. Greek mythology suggests the feral River Styx, "across which the dead were ferried," as the dangerous river leading into the underworld (Webmaster). On the river souls drift along until they meet the requirements, gaining admittance from Charon and Cerberus. The …show more content…
In _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_, Mark Twain starts the novel by depicting the pessimistic Huckleberry Finn 's unhappiness in the present world, describing the afterlife and hell as a superior home: "but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn 't stand it no longer, I lit out.…I felt so lonesome I most wished I was dead" (Twain 1, 3). After escaping from his home, the unpredictable Huckleberry Finn returns, only providing his polemical father with an opportunity to take him away to his little house, where again Huckleberry Finn finds himself unhappy in his current environment. Finally, Huckleberry decides death to be the cure for all his problems and develops an elaborate scheme to "fake" his own passage into the afterlife: "Well last I pulled out some of my hair, and bloodied the ax good, and stuck it on the backside" (Twain 25). In reality, Huckleberry Finn takes his own life to flee life 's parsimonious problems and looks back on the event, as a soul listening to the cannon probing the river for his dead body: "They won 't ever hunt the river for anything but my dead carcass" (Twain 26). The events preceding his escape in the canoe to the island develop Huckleberry Finn 's death and begin his journey as a spirit through the afterlife. By providing the novel …show more content…
Twain describes the steamboat with the connotative phrase "black cloud" in order to show it as a juggernaut in Huckleberry Finn 's path. The intimidating river brings the minuscule raft and the mammoth steamboat together, forcing Huckleberry Finn and Jim overboard: "She come smashing straight through the raft" (Twain 71). By leading Huckleberry Finn up against such an overwhelming force, the river demonstrates its ultimate objective, to end Huck 's quest for freedom and passage into the underworld. Twain 's use of the connotative relations with the color black and lightning allows him to build up the river as an infuriating yet it carries him impediment to Huck 's journey and effectively depict it to represent the River Styx. The demonstration of the river to be an archetype of the River Styx, further develops the novel as a story of the
Adam SanFelippo
Mr. Kearney
American Hero/4
12 December 2008
_The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ as Journey Through the Afterlife
The afterlife, in unanimity with the underworld, includes a plethora of mythological characters and symbols in the form of the river Styx, Cerberus, Charon, and Hades itself. The journey into the underworld is instigated with a person 's death and preparation for passage into hell, as he needs to realize certain requirements. Greek mythology suggests the feral River Styx, "across which the dead were ferried," as the dangerous river leading into the underworld (Webmaster). On the river souls drift along until they meet the requirements, gaining admittance from Charon and Cerberus. The …show more content…
In _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_, Mark Twain starts the novel by depicting the pessimistic Huckleberry Finn 's unhappiness in the present world, describing the afterlife and hell as a superior home: "but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn 't stand it no longer, I lit out.…I felt so lonesome I most wished I was dead" (Twain 1, 3). After escaping from his home, the unpredictable Huckleberry Finn returns, only providing his polemical father with an opportunity to take him away to his little house, where again Huckleberry Finn finds himself unhappy in his current environment. Finally, Huckleberry decides death to be the cure for all his problems and develops an elaborate scheme to "fake" his own passage into the afterlife: "Well last I pulled out some of my hair, and bloodied the ax good, and stuck it on the backside" (Twain 25). In reality, Huckleberry Finn takes his own life to flee life 's parsimonious problems and looks back on the event, as a soul listening to the cannon probing the river for his dead body: "They won 't ever hunt the river for anything but my dead carcass" (Twain 26). The events preceding his escape in the canoe to the island develop Huckleberry Finn 's death and begin his journey as a spirit through the afterlife. By providing the novel …show more content…
Twain describes the steamboat with the connotative phrase "black cloud" in order to show it as a juggernaut in Huckleberry Finn 's path. The intimidating river brings the minuscule raft and the mammoth steamboat together, forcing Huckleberry Finn and Jim overboard: "She come smashing straight through the raft" (Twain 71). By leading Huckleberry Finn up against such an overwhelming force, the river demonstrates its ultimate objective, to end Huck 's quest for freedom and passage into the underworld. Twain 's use of the connotative relations with the color black and lightning allows him to build up the river as an infuriating yet it carries him impediment to Huck 's journey and effectively depict it to represent the River Styx. The demonstration of the river to be an archetype of the River Styx, further develops the novel as a story of the