ese forces are opposing, Huck is forced to find freedom from each differently. Huck’s desire to adhere to his personal virtues overpowers his desire to become civilized or to please the Widow Douglas. In contrast, Huck wants no relationship with his father and, at one point, Huck shows no concern as to whether his father is still alive or not. Because of his father’s alcoholism and unpredictable behavior, emotional freedom from him is easily achieved by Huck. Physical freedom, however, is what must be accomplished in the story. For a boy like Huck, physical constriction is undoubtedly the most miserable condition he could be put in. At this point in the adventure freedom is not only a desire of Huck’s, but it is a necessity. Lastly, and possibly most importantly of Huck’s search for freedom is the struggle from the deep-rooted and well-established societal institutions of prejudice at that time. Of all the societal lessons Huck has fought to learn, the most damaging has been that blacks are not people, which was exemplified in several ways throughout the novel. One way is through the constant referral to Jim as “property”. The second and most disturbing way is through the overheard steamboat conversation explaining the wreck with the raft, by which the question of whether or not anyone was hurt was answered with a, “no, killed a nigger, that’s all.” Because of the friendship developed with Jim, Huck is once again forced to find freedom, this time from the oppressors of freedom and also racism. Huck quickly finds that he cannot simply ignore it as he did with Widow Douglas, nor can he run as he did with is father. Huck eventually learns the lesson of racism that even today people must learn; it is not going to go away and it cannot be changed single-handedly, all one can do is to follow their heart and do what they know to be right.Throughout the novel Huck overcomes nume...
