Huck Finn is a Rite of Passage Novel

Gaining responsibility and the ability to care for yourself are two key factors in the mental maturing of a person. In Mark Twain’s novel, Huckleberry Finn, both Jim and Huck mature by using these two aspects. Huck goes from being an over-willing, naïve child to a mature young man with his own opinions and thoughts. Jim goes from being an uninformed and slightly stupid man in captivity, to a stronger man who is growing into his true freedom. Though these two situations are quite different, both characters experience mental maturing and an extreme change. Through this maturity, each man undergoes his rite of passage.
Huck’s rite of passage is traditional; he grows from a boy into a more mature man. One aspect making clear his rite of passage is the way he teaches himself how to survive on his own. Huck is only a young boy, and should hardly know how to swim. However, he learns how to sail a raft, tell that it is morning by the candles each house has set out, and how to ”se...