著者

田村 晃康

出版者

中京大学

雑誌

中京英文学 (ISSN:02852039)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.7, pp.1-13, 1986-12-25

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Quite a few scholars and critics refer to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a story of initiation. We will see if it really is, by examining what two of them have to say. According to J. M. Cox, Huck Finn is a conscious continuation of Tom Sawyer, and the two boys are identical twins, not entirely separate individuals. At the end of Tom Sawyer the discovery of the treasure enables both the boys to enter the society of the respectable. Tom remains there (he attains initiation), but Huck cannot bear the civilized life. At the beginning of Huck Finn, he "kills himself" when he stages a mock murder of himself to escape from Pap. He is "dead" throughout the entire journey down the river. Huck is a man without identity who is reborn at almost every river bend. Finally, at the Phelps farm his initiation is completed; by playing the role of Tom, Huck is reborn as Tom Sawyer. This is roughly what Cox says. There are several points on which I cannot agree with him. Firstly his identification of Tom and Huck. They are definitely separate characters, who probably represent two opposite aspects of the author. Secondly, his idea of "initiation." Cox thinks of "initiation" simply as "acceptance into society," paying no attention to the initiate's state of mind. Thirdly, his meaningless use of the words "death" and "rebirth." He says that Huck is reborn time and again during the journey, but as long as it takes place while he is "dead," it cannot lead to any change in Huck's mind. What is called Huck's "death" and "rebirth" have nothing to do with his inner growth, or his initiation; it is no more than a play of words. Shuichi Motoda, on the other hand, starts from the right understanding of "initiation." He knows that the initiates in American literature sometimes rebel against civilized society and confront its evils. So he puts much stress on the element of the spiritual rebirth in initiation. On this understanding, he declares that the theme of this story consists in Huck's initiation, that Huck attains his spiritual rebirth when he determines to save Jim even at the risk of going to Hell. This interpretation, in its turn, leaves some matters inexplicable. If the theme of the story is Huck's initiation, then some of the episodes about the King and the Duke seem to be too long. In fact, they are so lengthy that they seem to impair the harmony of the whole story. Another problem is that we cannot find even a vestige of reborn Huck in the last ten chapters. As soon as Tom appears before him, Huck becomes his subordinate as he used to be. These problems suggest that Huck's rebirth is not the theme of this story. Motoda's interpretation does not seem to be justifiable, either.