Romin, Michelle, Wonjune
Throughout the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, many important themes appear, but out of all the themes, the theme of family intrigued us the most. Hence, we chose to propose #familyforHuck to be considered for the next semester. The theme of family emerges many times, especially when he meets new people on his adventure. Every time he meets new people, there is a yearning for the family that he never had. As Huck narrates how he feels about them, his longing for a normal family subtly seeps through his words. The only family that he has known is his abusive father and this abuse is one of the biggest reasons for Huck running away from his town.
This theme is significant, because it is not looking just at Huck’s current adventures but also compels the reader to explore Huck’s background more. It is through this exploration that one can understand Huck’s admiration towards the people that he meets. One such example is the Grangerfords. When he Huck sees the Grangerfords, he is convinced that is what a normal family should look like. Not only is he in awe of the family, he is amazed by Colonel Grangerford, who is the head of the family, calling him “well-born” and gentlemanlike. Colonel Grangerford’s mannerisms towards his family was so different from what Huck had experienced under his father, he begins to not only admire the General but also begins to compare the two men. The negative feelings that Huck harbors towards his father is further ignited by this comparison as now he sees that his father was far from a good father to him.
Not only does Huck feel a sense of awe towards families, he is also not aware of basic familial concepts that one would normally be aware of. In the book, when the Duke and Dauphin attempt to fool the Wilks family in order to take Peter Wilks’ inheritance. They try to convince the family that they are their relatives George and Harvey Wilkes. The family becomes convinced but Huck is astonished at how easily the family was conned and does not understand the reason for this. Because Huck did not have anyone but his father to call his family, he most likely did not understand the Wilks happiness at meeting their relatives. The Wilks like most other families, probably held values of affection and endearment towards their family members and that is possibly their reason for them believing the Duke and the Dauphin lies. The Wilks family displays an absolute trust in their family members, even during a time of distress, because those are the type of beliefs that most families hold dear. To Huck, whose only family was his father, such trust in one another a foreign concept and because he is so unaware, he pities the family for how easily they were tricked.
