Maturing Experiences

After reading the novel numerous people have a decision to make, whether or not the

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a coming of age book. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is

written by Mark Twain. The main character is Huck Finn; he is an eleven year old boy who faces

many challenges throughout the book. One major challenge that he faces is that his father is an

alcoholic and does not care for him as he should. Since his father is never around Huck stays

with Miss. Watson and the widow. At Miss. Watson’s house Huck and the reader is introduced to

the other main character Jim. Jim is Miss. Watson’s slave, Huck is being influenced by society

that slavery is perfectly fine. Huck receives money from an event that occurs with Tom Sawyer,

who is Huck’s best friend. Huck’s father discovers that Huck had received money so his father

Pap came back to take it from him. Pap demanded that Huck dropped out of school because

Huck was better than Pap. In the end Pap takes Huck to his cabin. After being abused Huck

escapes and adventures off onto the Mississippi River and lands on Jackson Island and discovers

that Jim had ran away because he was going to be sold from Miss Watson. In Mark Twain’s

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the theme of coming of age is shown through Huck’s

experiences with death, the Duke and King, and Jim.

First, the experience of Huck seeing numerous cases of death causes this to be a coming

of age novel. At the beginning of the novel Huck, Tom and a few other friends decide to start

their own gang. They all decided that they would steal and kill people and would not care about

anything that happens. Huck says to Tom, “Must we always kill the people? Oh, certainly. It’s

best. Some authorities think different, but mostly it’s considered best to kill them” (6). This is

showing how these young men did not care about life and just thought killing was no big deal.
Also it shows how immature these young men truly are. Though at the beginning of the book

Huck is immature and doesn’t care about death because he has never experienced it, that all

changes. Huck, after escaping Pap and floating on a raft down the Mississippi River comes

across a ferry boat with a man dead onboard. This person we find out at the end of the book is his

father. As a young child most people do not witness death for quite some time but for Huck he

witnesses it numerous occasions. When Jim is telling Huck how his father will not be coming

back Huck responds, “Why Jim? Nemmine why, Huck-but he ain’t comin’ back no mo’. But I

kept at him; so at last he says: Doan’ you ‘member de house dat was float’n down de river, en

dey wuz a man in dah, kivered up, en I went en unkivered him and didn’ let you come in? Well,

den, you k’n git yo’ money when you wants it’; kase dat wuz him” (220). This quote shows how

Huck keeps questioning Jim to find out why he will not see his father anymore. When he keeps

asking, this tells the reader that he has came of age because he has seen death and cares about

what had happened to his father.

Next, the experience of Huck meeting the Duke and King causes Huck to come of age. In

the novel Huck and Jim meet these two characters who lie quite frequently. These two men make

Huck realize stealing and lying is wrong and it enlightens him not to do it anymore. As in the

beginning of the book Huck wants to steal money from these innocent people with his friends.

After meeting these two men and traveling with them to different towns Huck has changed

completely. The Duke tells Huck and Jim that he does, “a little in patent medicines; theatre-actor-

tragedy” (92). Like the Duke the King tells Huck and Jim, “I’ve done considerable in the

doctoring way in my time” (92). These two quotes convince Jim and Huck that they good people

and its fine to trust them. Huck realizes later in the book that they have lied the whole time and

should have never been trusted. After the King and Duke decide to go to pretend they are the
family of Peter Wilks who had just died and had left money for his family. When the King and

Duke do this Huck realizes stealing and lying are wrong and makes him more mature proving

this is a coming of age novel. Huck says to Mary Jane, “I put it in the coffin. It was in there when

you was crying there, away in the night. I was behind the door, and I was mighty sorry for you,

Miss Mary Jane” (144). This quote is showing how Huck realized that what the Duke and King

stole was not there’s and to be honest Huck steals it from them, hid it and then told Mary Jane

where she could find it, so it could go to the rightful owner.

Finally, during the experience of traveling with Jim, Huck realizes blacks should be

treated equal making this a coming of age novel. At the beginning of the novel Huck wants to tie

Jim up to a tree but does not do it because he thought he would get caught. The author writes,

“When we was ten foot off, Tom whispered to me and wanted to tie Jim to the tree for fun” (4).

Huck thinks of Jim as just property and that he has no feelings and rights just how all the whites

thought of blacks. Throughout the novel Huck figures out that Jim has feelings and is just like

everyone else in the world. The reader finds this out when Huck says, “It was fifteen minutes

before I could work myself up to go to humble myself to a nigger-but I done it, and I warn’t ever

sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn’t do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn’t done that one

if I’d knowed it would make him feel that way” (65). This quote is showing how Huck felt

terrible for tricking Jim into believing he was dreaming because he was black and Huck thought

all blacks are gullible and don’t have feelings that can get hurt. Huck finds out that he is wrong

about what society is telling him about blacks. The biggest decision for Huck is that he lies to

save Jims life by telling these men that Jim is white and not black. All these decisions show how

this novel is coming of age.

 The theme of coming of age is supported by experiences with death, the King and Duke,

and Jim. All of these have one thing in common, people and experiences display the good and

bad in the world and these people and experiences help others become more aware of right and

wrong. This awareness matures and makes people come of age just like Huckleberry Finn. If the

experiences and people had not occurred in Huck’s life then he still would have been just a child

but after it he is mature and ready to take on many new tasks and conflicts that will rise in his

life.