When we first read about Huck Finn he is quite
immature. He is uncivilized and has no intentions of allowing himself to be civilized.
He also follows the lead of his good friend, Tom Sawyer who, in his own way, is
also immature. He is influenced by his friends and shows his immaturity early on
in the novel. The biggest problem he faces in regard to his maturity is his
lack of identity. He has not quite figured himself out at this point.
However,
Huck seems to begin to come of age a bit later on. He has to take care of
himself for the most part because of his abusive, alcoholic father. His experience
with Pap furthers his maturation. Also playing a part in Huck’s coming of age
is being on Jackson Island with Jim. Having Jim around gave Huck someone who he
could relate to and someone who had a similar situation to him. Jim helps Huck
in this way to begin to find him. However, Huck still shows sign that he is not
fully changed at this point. He plays a prank on Jim that involves a snake and
Jim ends up getting bitten by the mate of the snake as a result. Huck shows his immature
side here with this prank. Huck shows signs of coming of age through this
incident though. He feels guilty for what he did to Jim, a feeling he would not
have had earlier in the novel. Huck shows that while he is still immature he is
showing signs of coming of age.
