SOURCE: Wieck, Carl F. “Huck and Jim on the Mississippi: Going with the Flow?” In Refiguring Huckleberry Finn, pp. 70-81. Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, 2000.

In the following essay, Wieck discusses the river motif in Huckleberry Finn.

The majestic Mississippi River is of central importance to Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and, over the years since the novel first appeared, an impressive amount of scholarly effort has been expended in evaluating its role. While many perceptive observations and theories have been put forward to explain various aspects of the qualities that the river displays and embodies, relatively little consideration has been given to the fact that neither Huck nor Jim wish, or originally intend, to board a raft and float down the river with the current; for neither character is life on a southward-drifting raft a first choice. Nor is it certain that Twain himself had...