Raft Symbolism

“I never felt easy till the raft was two mile below there and out in the middle of the Mississippi. Then we hung up our signal lantern, and judged that we was free and safe once more. I hadn’t had a bite to eat since yesterday; so Jim he got out some corn-dodgers and buttermilk, and pork and cabbage, and greens- there ain’t nothing in the world so good, when its cooked right- and whilst I eat my supper we talked, and had a good time. I was powerful glad to get away from the feuds, and so was Jim to get away from the swamp. We said there cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft” (Twain, 128).

I really like this passage because it interprets the raft in many ways. “I was powerful glad to get away from the feuds, and so was Jim to get away from the swamp” (Twain, 128). In chapter 18, it is when Huck escapes from the Grangerford and Shepardson family feud and heads for Jim and the raft, where they go downstream. It explains how Huck and Jim are “escaping” from society in a way. I was interpreting how Twain used going ‘downstream’ as one cannot go ‘upstream’, meaning you cannot go back in life, only forward.  “You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft” (twain, 128). From this quote, I feel like the raft depicts a sort of utopia, as we discussed in class, for Huck and Jim. They do not need to worry about anything else when they are on the raft and it is where they have their moments of just being ‘friends’ and conversing. “I hadn’t had a bite to eat since yesterday; so Jim he got out some corn-dodgers and buttermilk, and pork and cabbage, and greens- there ain’t nothing in the world so good, when its cooked right- and whilst I eat my supper we talked, and had a good time” (Twain, 128). Jim offers Huck the most basic food there is, pork and cabbage, and Huck sees the food as delicious, almost praising it. I think he feels this way due to the fact that he is in a free space where he is most comfortable, which is the raft.  Also, I feel like the raft is where Huck first treats Jim as a man, instead of a slave.

  When reading this passage, I also thought of the Garden of Eden. I think the raft represents a paradise and freedom, while the outside world is full of evil and danger. For example, in chapter 10, Jim gets bit by a snake when they got off the raft, which is caused by one of Huck’s pranks. Jim thinks of this as how a snake bites the unwisely and one will receive bad luck. Is Twain trying portray a different message about the raft? Is there irony tied to the raft symbolism?

However, as the novel goes on, the duke and dauphin come aboard the raft, making the raft not so comfortable and free anymore. “We said there cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t” (Twain, 128).  Is this where the irony sets in? Huck and Jim do not feel the same freedom from the raft as they did before. Jim gets tied up by his hands and feet when no one is with him on the raft; is this showing freedom? Of course not. This example shows how status is part of the raft. Basically, Jim is held hostage by the two frauds. Who really has the power? In this case, everyone has power over Jim.