American society is highly visible in numerous works in history, including everything from short stories to poems, to songs and movies. As we make our way through forms of art throughout history, we see several interpretations of what American society was like at the time of the completion of that piece of work. Values and ideals from American society in the past and today, including individualism, freedom, peer group conformity, courage and friendship. Each of these themes can be seen in numerous works throughout history, but there are numerous major aspects of American life that are represented in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*.

Published in 1885, Twain’s story of a young ‘backwoods’ boy making his way through adolescence is a vision that many young boys and girls of today don’t necessarily understand, but grow to see resemblances. When looking back into the ‘heart of adolescence,’ I see parts of my life represented in the story of Huck Finn. As Aunt Polly and the widow tried to get Huck to become civilized, he was not very cooperative. I see this attitude in those going through adolescence today as they try to become

taken the time to form his own thoughts and beliefs apart from those in his peer group. As most teens are more involved in their own identities that they not only isolate those different than themselves, but don’t take time to try to understand them. I feel that Huck’s character is trying to understand Jim to avoid seeing himself for what he is. At the same time, I feel that he learns more about himself with Jim than any boy could learn about themselves in a lifetime of being sheltered.

their own person and not conform to what other people say or do. Huck is used to represent what conformity tries to eliminate, freedom of expression. In life today, expression is encouraged, but only within certain societal limitations. While people today do certain things in order to be different, the time of Huckleberry Finn was the time of conformity. People today do outrageous things to prove their independence, such as color their hair brig!

* All references to this story were taken from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, published in 1994 by Dover Publications, Inc in New York.

Friendship is another major American societal value. Huck shows friendship to his peers, his ‘family’ and Jim. This is a major accomplishment for such a young boy. While he is not very well educated, it often takes a very bright boy to show friendship to people older than himself. Huck seems to grow rapidly in his communications with adults. While it is a challenge to speak with Jim, he does a great deal of conversing with him on what seems to be an intelligent conversation, when the conversing parties are considered. Teens today find communication as a barrier to understanding and helping others to understand them. Communication is a key factor in Huck’s journey into manhood, through which came a friendship with Jim. Friendship with his peers came easily to Huck, but that is not true today. Teens today tend to take more time to become friends, possibly due to the lack of trust. Huck and Tom seem to have complete trust in one another.

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of life is all about, unlike many

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Approximate Word count = 1482
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)