Beginning of Essay
In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the river plays many roles and holds a prominent theme throughout much of the story. Huck and Jim seem to be happiest and most at peace when on the river. Although probably not to the point of having its own pers ....

Middle of Essay
.... a raft." (96) He resents the objectives and beliefs and the so-called "civilized" people of the society around him. He disbelieves what societal beliefs have been ingrained in his mind since his birth, which is shown by his close friendship with Jim, a runaway slave. The river is the only form of separation from this society which Huck has access to, but it still does not completely separate them from what they disbelieve in. Although "the river allows [them] some measure of freedom at once, the moment they set foot on Jackson's Island or the raft," as Marx says, and although "only on the raft do they have a chance to practice that idea of brotherhoo ....