The Raft Symbol in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

If the river is a symbol for absolute freedom, then the raft, host primarily to Huck and Jim but also to the duke and king, is a symbol for a limitation one must necessarily impose on one’s freedom if one is not to be overwhelmed: peaceful coexistence. Unlike the sometimes ridiculous and hateful rules of society, the rules of the raft are simple: respect differences and support one another. The raft is a kind of model society in which one can enjoy freedom unlike in society on shore, but at the same time not drown in one’s freedom. Huck says that his happiest days are spent on the raft with Jim. It is significant that the literal destruction of the raft immediately precedes Huck’s fit of conscience as to whether or not he should turn Jim in. Such a consideration, a betrayal, even, threatens to break Huck’s friendship with Jim just as the raft is broken. Significant also is the fact that it is after Huck learns about the insane destructiveness of human conflict from the Grangerford-Shepherdson feud that Jim pops back into Huck’s life, the raft of their peaceful coexistence repaired. This is all of course symbolic for the making, breaking, and repairing of trust and good faith in people despite their differences, and speaks to the fact that it is never too late to try to mend severed relations.

The Raft Quotes in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Raft. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

“My heart wuz mos’ broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn’t k’yer no mo’ what become er me en de raf’. En when I wake up en fine you back agin’, all safe en soun’, de tears come en I could a got down on my knees en kiss’ yo’ foot I’s so thankful. En all you wuz thinkin ‘bout wuz how you could make a fool uv ole Jim wid a lie.”

Related Characters: Jim (speaker), Huckleberry Finn

Related Symbols: The Raft

Page Number and Citation: 65

Explanation and Analysis:

For what you want, above all things, on a raft, is for everybody to be satisfied, and feel right and kind towards others.

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker)

Related Symbols: The Raft

Page Number and Citation: 94

Explanation and Analysis:

The Raft Symbol Timeline in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The timeline below shows where the symbol The Raft appears in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...without any lights.” Huck lands and conceals his canoe. In the darkness, he sees a raft go by the island and hears a man on the raft shout commands to someone... (full context)

...where he tells Jim that people are hunting them. The pair rushes to load the raft and silently paddles into the darkness of the river. (full context)

...Jackson’s Island, undiscovered by the men looking for them. At dawn, they tie up their raft on the Illinois side of the river and hide it, lying low there all day... (full context)

...“ain’t good morals.” As the men start out, Huck tells Jim to make for the raft that is lashed to the steamboat. But, when Jim does so, he discovers that the... (full context)

In the darkness, Huck and Jim spot their unmanned raft and paddle towards it. Upon reaching it, Jim boards, and Huck tells him to signal... (full context)

...in, limiting Huck and Jim’s visibility. With Huck in the canoe and Jim in the raft, the two become separated, and Huck becomes lost. Huck hears whooping sounds, and thinking them... (full context)

Huck then asks what the leaves and rubbish on the raft mean, along with its broken oar. Jim realizes that Huck was tricking him all along.... (full context)

...they’re hunting five runaway slaves, and ask Huck if there are any people aboard his raft, and, if so, whether they’re white or black. Huck desperately wants to tell them about... (full context)

Huck feels bad and low when he returns to the raft, but reasons that he would feel just as bad had he done “right” and turned... (full context)

...to Jim, hidden on a densely vegetated piece of land. Jim tells Huck that their raft survived the steamboat crash, patched up by Jim himself, and is hidden. (full context)

...Huck that he hugs him. Huck tells Jim to lose no time in shoving the raft off into the river so that the pair can leave the violence and danger of... (full context)

...becomes sour, but the king tells him that he should cheer up. Life on the raft is comfortable, with plenty of food and ease. The king asks for the duke’s hand,... (full context)

...goes on to say, has to travel at night, because so many people stop their raft to ask if Jim is a runaway. The duke proposes to invent a way that... (full context)

With Jim still on the raft and the duke at the printing office, Huck and the king go to the meeting... (full context)

...show is scheduled to start, the duke tells Huck to make a run for the raft. He does so, and the duke does the same. (full context)

Back at the raft, Huck and the duke meet up with Jim and the king, who didn’t even go... (full context)

The king, dressed in black clothes that make him look “swell and starchy,” rafts to a nearby town with Huck. As they drift in, the two run across a... (full context)

On the raft, the boy tells the king that he resembles Mr. Wilks. The king lies and says... (full context)

...a skiff. It is the duke and king. Huck sinks to the floor of the raft and almost cries that the two con men are not yet out of his and... (full context)

After the duke and king board the raft, the king shakes Huck by the collar and asks if he was trying to give... (full context)

As Huck runs to the raft, he shouts with joy to Jim that they are free. But Jim, Huck soon discovers,... (full context)

Huck suggests that he and Tom bring up the raft, steal the key to Jim’s hut, and rescue Jim in the night. Tom concedes that... (full context)

...men and dogs, the three run toward the river and at last arrive at their raft. Everybody’s glad to be safe and free, especially Tom, because he had the honor of... (full context)

The doctor paddles off in a canoe to the raft where Tom is, but the canoe can only carry one person, so Huck is forced... (full context)

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain

The Raft Symbol Analysis

The Raft Quotes in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Raft Symbol Timeline in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn