The Necessity of a Normal Family According to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

When Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1884, the typical American family was "perfect": the mother kept the house, the father worked and provided for the family. At this time, a nuclear family, in which a child has a mother and father who are married and living together, was not rare. Today, however, that is not the case. Marriages and relationships are awash with divorce, discord, and general unconcealed difficulties. In the nineteenth century, if a marriage did have problems--whether it be drunkenness, adultery, financial difficulty, etc.--they were kept under tight wraps. Reputation proceeded personal strife. Mark Twain takes a very modernized and Realistic approach to the identity of family in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, bringing to light legitimate issues prevalent in many families. Through Twain's stark contrast between Huck Finn's upbringing with his father and the widow, Jim's influence as a paternal figure, and Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer's vastly differing maturity levels, Twain challenges the ideals of the nineteenth century nuclear family.

Twain begins his critique of the idea of family with an exposition of Huck Finn's genetic family. Huck's father, an abusive drunk, threatens his own son with a beating for getting an education, accusing Huck of thinking he is better than his father. As Twain writes, "'...I'll lay for you, my smarty; and if I catch you about that school I'll tan you good." (Twain 142). This, in itself, challenges the idea of a decent family. The thought of a father's willingness to beat a child for receiving an education exceeds all notion of injustice. A decent father, in 1884 and now, would support a child's willingness to learn--one would hope. By making the main character, Huck Finn, a child raised in a broken home, Twain embraces the very essence of Realism. Twain isn't, by any stretch, glorifying Huck's upbringing, but rather, he is bringing to light, in stark detail, that not everyone has a perfect childhood; an idea greatly ignored in the late nineteenth century. Because Huck was raised not only taking care of himself, but for his father as well, he has an infallible grip on reality and responsibility. The reader sees this often, whether it be Huck's willingness to kill his father during his father's drunken rant (Twain 148), Huck's attempt to save the men in the shipwreck on the river (Twain 174-176), Huck's honesty with Mary Jane (Twain 245), or Huck's loyalty to Jim (Twain 262). It can be inferred that without Huck's damaged childhood, his deep sense of right and wrong would be significantly diminished.

Twain continues his critique with Huck Finn's adopted family: the Widow Douglas and her sister Miss Watson. Twain analyzes the opposite end of the spectrum of family with the widow and Miss Watson. The widow, who really wanted nothing more than to "sivilize" Huck, succeeded only in pushing him away by being too overbearing (Twain 132). Likewise, her sister, Miss Watson, who wanted Huck to be a good Christian, scared Huck away from the idea of religion altogether with her oppressive teaching (Twain 132). Unlike Huck's father, a heathen drunkard, the widow and Miss Watson smothered Huck with ideals of morality and decency. While the widow and Miss Watson seem to fit the idea of a "perfect family", Huck himself becomes the defector from the norm in this case. Huck Finn, a child of fourteen years, only wanted to be child. He wanted to be free. The thought of a child fleeing from paternal influence and seeking freedom of thought and action far outstretched ideals of the nineteenth century. Once more, Twain adopts Realism as he portrays a character who has human needs and desires; a human character who wants to find his own way.

Twain also pursues the idea that family does not end in blood. When Huck Finn fakes his death and runs away, he meets up with Jim, the Widow Douglas's runaway slave on Jackson's Island (Twain 156). As the two begin traveling together, Jim becomes more of a father or parental figure to Huck than any other person Huck encounters. As the story progresses, Twain defines Huck and Jim's relationship, and the reader sees that Jim truly cares for Huck and vice versa. Huck and Jim, who have absolutely no blood relationship, draw together in a way that transcends racial boundaries and can only be described as familial. Twain draws these two characters together to not only make a racial stand, but to prove that paternal love can be found beyond genetic family. Time and time again Jim worries for Huck's safety, and even attempts to shelter Huck from seeing his dead father on the river (Twain 161, 309).

What is compelling, furthermore, is that Jim found a relationship with Huck without being forced. It wasn't as though Jim's master forced him to be Huck's caretaker--his parental responsibility for Huck was simply chosen. What is even more compelling, however, is that Huck let Jim assume the responsibilities of parenthood and friendship. This relationship is made clear when Huck and Jim reunite after the feud. As Twain writes on page 201, "It was Jim's voice--nothing ever sounded so good before. I run along the bank a piece and got aboard, and Jim he grabbed me and hugged me, he was so glad to see me." Rather than assuming the privileged identity of a southern white child, Huck Finn began regarding Jim as really nothing more than a friend or companion by the end of the story. The idea that a man, let alone an African-American man, who is unrelated to a child could fulfill the duties of paternity, far exceeds the nineteenth century social standards of a family.

Finally, Twain challenges the necessity of a normal, cohesive family by portraying the differences in maturity between Huck Finn, who grew up with a broken family, and Tom Sawyer, who grew up with a cohesive, happy family. Tom Sawyer, who had grown up with an education and who had been loved by numerous siblings and his Aunt Polly, is incredibly book savvy, and well-read, yet he greatly lacks common knowledge of the world. On the other hand, Huck Finn, who had grown up mostly uneducated in a broken home, is firmly rooted in reality, and possesses a deep sense of right and wrong. Considering that Huck is imminently sensible without any parental influence, Twain implies that a cohesive family is virtually unnecessary in the upbringing of a child; a highly modern concept that diminishes the nineteenth century ideal of a normal family. He also pursues the idea that common sense is more important than book smarts. At the end of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, this idea is reiterated when Huck and Tom attempt to free Jim. While Huck simply wants to free Jim by stealing the key to Jim's cell, Tom devises an elaborate and highly dangerous scheme that almost gets him killed and does not accomplish the goal of setting Jim free (Twain 273). This parody of a rescue mission, of course, is brought on by Tom's romantic fascination with the stories in the books he reads. Huck's maturity far exceeds Tom's, and it can be inferred that it is mostly due to Huck's experiences in the real world--experiences Tom never received because he had a happy childhood at home.

Twain embraced modern and Realistic ideals that many writers still have yet to capture. Twain's ideas on family, brotherhood, loss of innocence, and maturity are even still somewhat untouched in modern literature. He redefines and challenges the concept of familial bonds, bringing to light flaws characteristic of every family. Though Huck Finn comes from a broken home, he overcomes every obstacle placed in front of him, displaying a pronounced sense of responsibility and logic. Huck Finn defied the underlying social stigmas placed on him because of his lack of a nuclear family, and he challenged almost every familial ideal of the nineteenth century with the echoing sentiment: your blood does not define you.