Finding Freedom Essay Research Paper Finding Freedom

Finding Freedom Essay, Research Paper Finding Freedom In both Frederick Douglass The Battle with Mr. Covey and in Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character finds a force more powerful then he. Not only do they experience physical abuse, they also find themselves mentally beaten. To save themselves, both characters flee in search of freedom. In The Battle with Mr. Covey Douglass portrays a slave struggling for his life. One afternoon, the slave s strength failed him. Despite many attempts at getting up, he couldn t find his feet. Although trying to explain to Mr. Covey what was wrong, Covey gave him a savage kicking the side. He then picked up a hickory slab and hit him over the head. As his physical wounds progressively got worse, he was beginning to be mentally scarred as well. Despite a near death experience, Covey just left him to his fate. This was when Covey realized he had to go to his master. He proceeded to walk seven miles through the woods, making his physical stature even worse. This being his attempt at freedom however, he had to bear the pain. Despite the savage look of Douglass, master Thomas seemed to believe Covey would never hurt him. In his seven miles of walking with unbearable pain, he only received one night away from Covey. Upon the return to Covey, he felt it was time for rebellion. He then made a desperate attempt at freedom by seizing Mr. Covey hard by the throat. He later says that that battle was the turning point for his career as a slave. By showing how the slave found freedom, he truly showed how a slave was made a man. In Mark Twain s The adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck Finn, a boy struggling mentally and physically, finds himself in search of freedom as Douglass had. The exert opens with Huck living in a home in which civilization is the primary goal. Although he became educated, Pap shows up in search of money. At first Huck seems reluctant, but then decides to go with him. Although being caged like an animal in the shanty he moved into, he, in a since, became more free. Huck was away from the burden of being civilized, which is a sort of confinement in it self. He is now able to curse freely, and no longer has to dress up. Although he attains this mental freedom, his physical freedom has now diminished. His dad also freely uses physical abuse as a way to punish his son. For this reason, Huck decides to make a second attempt at freedom. He tunnels out of the shanty much in a way a prisoner would. He makes an escape and for a second time finds freedom. The physical and mental freedom had been attained, but after meeting Jim on an island, mental abuse begins. Jim is caught one afternoon when Huck, tired of fish, goes trading. He later stops them from killing him and attains freedom of mind as well. In both works, the main character is forced to rebel in search of freedom. Both characters were able to attain this freedom in the end and truly showed how a boy can become a man.