Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews June 16, 2023 June 9, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
What does it mean to be "free"?
Huckleberry Finn presents two main visions of freedom in exploring questions about the meaning of liberty and at what price, if any, a person is truly free. Both Huck and Jim seek freedom, though they have very different ideas about what freedom means. This difference has to do in part with what each character feels he is winning freedom from. Huck, for instance, longs to be released from “sivilized” society. He feels suffocated by the restrictions imposed by heavy clothing, formal education, and, of course, domestic life: “Living in a house, and sleeping in a bed, pulled on me pretty tight, mostly.” By contrast, Jim longs to be released from his station as Miss Watson’s slave: “she pecks on me all de time,” he complains, “en treats me pooty rough.” Despite the differences in their class and race backgrounds, Huck and Jim both face immediate threats that amplify their desire to escape. Huck’s abusive, alcoholic father kidnaps him and seems willing to do him harm to acquire his fortune. Jim, on the other hand, overhears Miss Watson discussing the possibility of selling him downriver, where she could get a lot of money for him. Both of these events culminate with an escape to Jackson’s Island, which is where Huck and Jim begin their adventure together.
Just as Huck and Jim are escaping from different types of confinement, they also have divergent visions of what freedom will look like, raising the question of whether there is one universal definition of the idea, or if the notion of freedom is unique to each individual. In Huck’s case, he imagines that freedom will allow him to pursue an unhampered life of adventure and exploration, all without the restrictions imposed by society and religion. Huck’s vision of freedom, which is clearly influenced by his friendship with Tom Sawyer, is naïve, as it comes from a place of relative privilege. The freedom he seeks is more symbolic than literal since no one actually “owns” him and he has enough money to live independently. Jim’s vision of freedom, in contrast, seems much humbler: in escaping from slavery, he hopes to earn enough money to reunite with his family. Since Jim is reminded on a daily basis that he is another person’s property and has no personal liberty whatsoever, the freedom he seeks is simpler, more fundamental, and also more profound: a state of being both literal as well as figurative.
For both Huck and Jim, the Mississippi River serves as a powerful symbol of the freedom they envision, though the symbol acts differently for each character. Alone on their raft, Huck and Jim have complete autonomy. Being on the river at night, invisible to the world while moving swiftly through it, brings Huck a profound sense of calm: “You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.” For Huck, being on the river is freedom. For Jim, who hopes to travel the Mississippi to the free states along the Ohio River, the river is a path to freedom. As long as he and Huck are traveling on the Mississippi, Jim is still a slave, his life is still in danger, and his personal liberty is still compromised. This is why he and Huck mostly travel at night, and he hides in the wigwam when Huck and the king and duke go ashore during the day. While for Huck the river is a destination in and of itself, for Jim it is a means to an end, and represents the freedom in theory, not in fact.
Please wait while we process your payment