Paul Plawin
Mr. Matthew Horne
English 10 Honors Period 1
15 December 2014
Wind in the Night
In Huckleberry Finn Huck’s description of nature help convey his duality of feelings towards childhood, which are both eagerness and melancholy. Huckleberry, an adventurous teenage boy, dwells on the outskirt of a trivial town, which spores his feelings of lonesome and despair. When Huck begins to describe his feelings of the night, he uses an adventurous tone, focusing on the “stars”, “leaves”, an “owl”, “fog”, and the “wind” (13). The star, a lively light in the sky, signifies his hope and anticipation for adventure in the outdoors. Leaves consist of many different beautiful colors, which express Huck’s feelings of wildness and adventure. Owls, reserved creatures that function at night, and fog, a mysterious occurrence that conceals its surroundings, indicates that Huck sees the night stuffed with secrets and surprise, waiting for someone to discover. Finally, wind’s essence is everywhere and anywhere, symbolizing how Huck always desires to explore new places and always adventuring. These word choices and their connotations help convey Huck’s feelings toward the world, curiosity and keenness. However, teenagers like Huck in that society become civilized and educated, never getting to adventure in the night. That inner conflict of emotions is mirrored when Huck follows his passionate description of the night with a contrasting, gloomier description, using words like “mournful”, “dead”, and “crying” (13). They all have negative and depressing connotations, showing Huck’s mixed emotional views of the world. While Huck remains stuck in the confines of his room he says he “felt so lonesome [he] wished [he] was dead,” letting the darkness creep in