Huckleberry Finn
and Holden Caulfield make take journey into self-discovery. In The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck Finn is
trying to find purpose and identity through
conflicting of morals. While Holden Caulfield
in Catcher in the Rye, is an adolescent
struggling to find mature into manhood. In
comparison, they are both on a journey towards
maturity and identity. Life itself is a
journey full of bonding and experiences which lead
to wisdom and understanding. Without maturity
one may never have these essential
experiences. This leads to an empty shell of a
person, never truly feeling passion, love or
peace.
Huck Finn is a young boy deciding which morals
to hold true. The quest for what's right is
long and confusing. During his adventure is
forced to choose between his morals and his
conscience. When Huck runs into the bounty
hunters he is forced to make one of these
decisions. He must choose whether to turn his
run-away slave friend Jim as his conscience
advises or to trust his morals and protect his
friend in need. Fortunately, his will is
strong and he creates an elaborate lie to
prevent Jim's capture. Huck seeks refuge in
nature, where right and wrong don't exist and
life's beauty is what is truly important. He
mentions that nature is peaceful and he need
not worry about either his morality or
conscience but is allowed to ponder these
personal discrepancies.
Holden Caulfield, however, has a much more
complex yet equally important struggle. His
struggle is of his own hypocrisy and
misunderstanding. This struggle can be overwhelming
for some and it is for Holden who requires
help to come to terms with maturity. Even though
he is constantly speaks as if he is
experienced in connection and bonding, they were always
just faades. Holden thinks he is superior to
his environment because he has a false
knowledge of it and it's workings. This is
best explained by his reaction his old friend
June whom he would like to have a meaningful
relationship with but cant come to grips on
how. Inspite of all he thinks he knows he is
really only the faker he despises.
Both Huck and Holden must complete their own
journey's to become complete individuals. This
journey is only a step on the staircase of
life which ultimately leads to inner-peace and
happiness. Each experience is unique and
powerful but are essential to getting the whole
picture.
What Huck finally comes to terms with is that
life's questions should be answered from the
heart. He also decides that humanity has
evolved into a corrupt species whose ideas aren't
worth the headache. His answer is to flee
society and all of it's constraints and live in
nature where he is free from civilization.
Holden has a tougher decision to make since he
must completely reverse his thinking
completely. The first step is to realize his hypocrisy
which he was able to do but couldn't truly
solve his problem and was forced to seek
professional help in the end. Fortunately,
both characters ultimately progress onto the
next step by some means outside the conformity
of normality.
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