Analysis

Although Huck and Jim have both undergone changes in character, the novel returns to its beginnings at the conclusion with the Widow Douglas trying to “sivilize” Huck. The last chapter allows Twain to comment on the process of writing and the difficulty of completing Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain’s difficulty was due, in large part, to his struggle to decide between a social commentary and a children’s adventure novel. Although Huck declares that if “I’d ‘a’ knowed what a trouble it was to make a book I wouldn’t ‘a’ tackled it,” the suggestion is that there will be yet another adventure for Huck, and yet another novel for Twain. Always the maverick, Huck announces that he will continue to try and avoid the trappings of civilization and seek his own freedom.