Freedom is an important concept in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The two protagonists of this novel, Huck and Jim, both seek freedom by fleeing along the river. Critic Julius Lester states that the vision of freedom in this novel is a childish escape from responsibility and limitations. However, Mark Twain's concept of freedom in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is not freedom from responsibility but freedom to think independently and freedom from oppression. Throughout the novel, Huck seeks freedom of thought to escape a dogmatic society whose ideals and morals he has come into conflict with. One problem Huck has with the society he lives in is the religion that is imposed on him. This is demonstrated when he ignores the biblical teachings of Moses when taught by the widow, because he “does not care for the dead” (2). This shows that Huck is not interested in the ideas of the past and does not believe in following religious authority just because he is told to do so. Furthermore, when Miss Watson tells him about Heaven and Hell, he "wishes [him] to be there (in Hell)" because he "wanted...a change" (2). Huck's desire to go to Hell instead of Heaven shows that he wants to be free from the falsely moral view of the world espoused by the people who impose religion on him. Another reason Huck wants to leave the society he finds himself in is the rampant hypocrisy he sees in it; he wants to be able to come up with his own ideals and follow them instead of blindly following what he is told. Huck observes the widow's moral hypocrisy when she tells him that smoking is "a mean practice," but then she continues to take snuff, which Huck points out is fine... middle of paper... a free black man , while the black man he describes is a professor, who is clearly better educated, smarter, and more refined than Huck's father. This choice of an ignorant white man as the villain and a black man as his superior shows Twain's desire to break with the racism that was still rampant at the time he was writing the book. Twain's freedom was the freedom to think for himself. Critic Julius Lester's claim that freedom in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a simplistic adolescent freedom of escape from duty is false. Twain's goal was to encourage free thought and to be free from blind obedience to the ideas of the past and take responsibility for one's beliefs. Freedom can be defined in many ways, but the freedom to think and challenge established opinions is what makes Twain's novel so compelling. Works Cited Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain