Huck Finn 2

      "I've always wanted to get as far as possible from the place where I was born. Far both geographically and spiritually." -Paul Bowles


      After Pap's return to town, he got in a lot of trouble with a lot of different people.  He made a mockery of a lenient judge who was attempting to give Pap a second chance, and when Huck did not head Pap's warnings about going to school, Pap decided to take matters into his own hands.  Like any good father would, Pap forced his son to stop going to school by locking him up in a log cabin in the middle of the woods... But wait, there's more!

      Inside the cabin, Pap rants on and on about how terrible it is that a mixed race man from his home state of Ohio is allowed to vote and what a terrible path society is headed down before falling asleep, waking up and chasing Huck around the cabin with a knife.  But to be fair, Pap was under the impression that Huck was the Angel of Death, and what would you do in that situation if you were Pap?

      It was at this point in the story that Huck did something that was extremely religiously symbolic.  He killed a pig and used its blood to fake his own murder inside the cabin while Pap was out.  Huck was running away to a new start, but before he could start a new life, he had to end his current one.  This reminded me very much of the death of Christ, who died and came back to life in order to achieve something greater than himself.
     
      After faking his murder, Huck paddles out in a canoe to an island in the Mississippi River where he stays for three nights before discovering that he is not alone on the island.  As a matter of fact, Jim, the superstitious slave from the Widow's house is there and is apparently running away so that he will not have to be resold in New Orleans.  This island is where even more religious imagery comes into play -- a great flood sweeps away houses into the Mississippi, one of which contains a man who has been shot dead.  On the island, Huck plays a prank on Jim which results in Jim getting bitten by a snake as well as the supposed "snakebitten" journey ahead.

      If Huck's fake murder is the death of Christ, then surely his return to shore dressed as a girl is his Resurrection.  However, it is also similar to the story where Jesus disguises himself as a beggar and is refused water.  After discovering that the townspeople are suspicious of Jim hiding on the island, Huck and Jim ride out on a raft together, and after a few days they encounter a wrecked steamboat that is being robbed.  After swiping the robbers' boat with Jim, Huck sends help to pick them up because he has not ruled out the possibility of becoming a murderer one day, which serves as a counterexample to the Christ imagery and also reminds the reader that he is still Pap's son after all.  Later in the book, Huck makes a resolution not to let his conscience influence his decision making.