Chapters 1-6: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

In these first six chapters of Huckleberry Finn we see that Huck conscience’s presents him two choices: The first is to continue with his old way of life which was easiest and most accommodating and familiar to him, which consisted of his cussing, running around wild being free, and not having to put up with wearing the Widow’s “stuffy cloths”. The other route was choosing to stick with the widow; go to school, forgo the cussing, superstitions, and put up with the nonsensical cloths. As Huck ponders the choice he must make, his abusive father comes back to town which changes the whole picture. Huck now has only once choice which is to stay with his father locked away from the rest of the world in the cabin. For the first two months Huck becomes very accustomed to the ruff way of living that he was best acquainted with and enjoys it to a certain extent minus the continuous thrashing. But as time goes on Huck is realizing that his Father’s drunken habits and nightmares are taking a toll on him that he must free himself. Huck is now faced with another choice whether to live this insane life or runaway; living with the widow is no longer an option since he has once again fallen into his uncivilized way of living. The only escape for Huck is to run away and be free. As this book progresses the topic of freedom will be brought up many times. The fight for both internal and physical freedom will be very clear as Huck will strive for his freedom from his dad’s abuse and choosing to do the right thing. Huck’s struggle for freedom will also parallel with freedom of Negros who at that time were also trying to gain their freedom from their oppressors.