Huckelberry Finn- Contrast Between Life in St.petersburg and Jackson's Island | Huckelberry Finn- Contrast Between Life in St.petersburg and Jackson's Island

Huckleberry Finn is a young boy who from the beginning of the novel is observed as being innocent, gullible and extremely wild. Lacking a mother and having a frequently absent, alcoholic father, Huck is mainly an orphan who lives in St. Petersburg with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. Widow Douglas feels that it is her responsibility to civilize and educate Huck. However, Huck is very uncomfortable with a civilized lifestyle and his father's abusive lifestyle. As a result, Huck chooses to escape from society and start his own adventure in his own natural world where he feels the most at home. This allows Huck to be free from civilization and free from all the abuse that his obnoxious father brought to him. During his isolation from rest of the society, Huck stumbles upon Jim, a black slave who escapes from Miss Watson, who becomes Huck's companion, and who helps Huck continue his journey by providing care and assistance. Huck's life in St. Petersburg with Widow Douglas and Pap is dissimilar to his fresh life in the wilderness with Jim. In the following piece of writing, along with the information above, the two contrasting lives of Huck will be compared.

Huck's life in St. Petersburg with Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas was a life that symbolized sophistication, civilization and protection. They put order and responsibility in Huck's irresponsible and sloppy life. The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, two religious and Christian figures, made Huck pray daily and told him that his wishes will become true; Huck did not depend on religion, partly because he did not get what he wanted. They made him wear clean clothes and made him wait for the dinner bell to ring before eating. Their goal was to educate Huck by putting him in school; this is where Huck learns to read, to write and to multiply. Huck was also told to stay away from bad things, such as smoking. Although Huck does not get perfectly comfortable with this lifestyle, he does get used to its expectations for a certain period of time and respects it, but yet he preserves his independent ways.

Huck's life with his Biological father, Pap, was quite different than his life with the Widow Douglas. Pap is a cruel, dishonest and selfish man who has never really played a big role in Huck's life. The only time Pap makes an appearance is when he needs something. For instance, when he heard that Huck had found six thousand dollars, he immediately chased after Huck to get the money, which he would use to purchase alcohol in order to get back into his typical drunk state. Pap is uneducated and illiterate and he becomes upset when he discovers that Huck is going to school and is learning to read. Pap is embarrassed and extremely uncomfortable that Huck, unlike himself, is getting educated and this is one reason Pap kidnaps Huck and brings him to the woods to live with him. While spending time in the woods with Pap, Huck enjoyed himself except for the usual and brutal beatings, which Huck referred to as "cowhide." The reason Huck enjoyed this was mainly because it allowed Huck to leap from civilization to freedom. Eventually, Huck escapes from his father and then intentionally fakes his own death.

As mentioned before, Huck leaves St. Petersburg to create his own world and meeting up with Jim makes it easier for him to do so. Life with Jim provided Huck with things he did not have in St. Petersburg because Jim had the values and characteristics that a father should have and, in fact, he becomes a fatherly figure for Huck. Jim, who provides positive examples for Huck to observe, is very intelligent and honest. Jim, like Huck, is also very superstitious. At Jackson's island, Jim provides food and shelter for Huck and takes care of him without being violent and abusive like Pap. When Jim finds Pap's dead body, he calmly and cleverly makes sure that Huck doesn't notice because he doesn't want to ruin their great relationship or cause Huck to flee back to St. Petersburg. Also, he didn't want to hurt Huck's feelings because Huck was somebody he cared for. We also see Huck protecting Jim when he lights the fire far away from their location in order to keep the people in search of Jim as far away as possible. Their friendship and the strong bond amongst them demonstrates that they need each other in order to help each other. By having Jim by his side, Huck has somebody to rely on, somebody to learn from, and somebody to aid him through his voyage for freedom