the townspeople for Boggs, the naivet of the Wilks sisters and the lack of common sense in Tom Sawyer. There is cruelty, greed, murder, trickery, hypocrisy, racism, and a general lack of morality, all the ingredients of society. All through the adventure you have Huck Finn and Jim trying to find the one thing they can only find on the river, freedom, but a person can only stay on the river for so long, and so you have to go on land to face the injustices of society. Quite a contrast, the freedom of being without authority, being able to think for yourself, running right next to the constraints made upon you by society. Somewhere deep within the story Twain is making a powerful statement, a wish for all humanity, that we can be brave enough to break with what others assume is correct and just, and make decisions for ourselves and the ability to stand on our own and do something about it. We are that mob that stood outside Colonel Sherburns house, we are the Grangerfords and Shepardsons, and we are the King and the Duke, and even the foolish townspeople in every town they conned. Somewhere along the line we must become I, someone has to have the courage to stand up for what is right, to be what Colonel Sherburn would call a real man. Huck gives us that chance, that ability to see things for what they are. His adventures along with Twains sharp criticism are so uniquely combined to give us that realization. The greatest thing is that it is done so well that we almost think that we are the ones that discovered it. ...
