Vulnerability is Victory: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Sample

📌Category: Books, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
📌Words: 567
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 24 June 2021

Near the beginning, Huck doesn’t hate Jim. In fact, he is very nice to him, he simply doesn’t yet understand Jim. Huck grows up within a society that views people of color as barely human, emotionless, and perhaps too unintelligent to feel things as deeply as white people. With the pre-civil war ideologies surrounding Huck, he is shocked at first when Jim begins to open up about his pain and longing to be with his family, as well as admitting to mistakes he has made as a father.“I do believe [Jim] cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their’n. It doesn't seem natural, but I reckon it’s so” (Twain 157). This is what Huck thinks after Jim tells him stories about his family and his love for them. Jim’s vulnerability gives Huck, a young boy who has grown up in a deeply racist culture, a new perspective on society. Without Jim’s vulnerability, it can be assumed that Huck might as well turned Him into authorities by the end of the novel.

In March we see vulnerability similar as in Huck Finn, the speeches featured in the book including the infamous “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., emphasize human emotion. “At this moment, Dr. King made plain all or our hopes, our aspirations...everything we sought through the beatings and the blood, through the triumphs and failures, everything we dared to imagine about a new America, a better America, In which each of God’s children can live in a society that makes love it’s highest virtue” (Lewis, Aydin, Powell 173 and 173).  Like Huck Finn, the raw emotional vulnerability was what sparked change within one's psyche. Physical vulnerability additionally was graphically illustrated in March as various parts in the books involve non-violent protestors being brutally attacked. Non-violent protests and groups like the Freedom Writers forced people to question their morals as they were often beaten, threatened, or even killed without even provoking a fight. Although this type of vulnerability compromises the safety of the protestors, it raised awareness and questioned the horrific behavior towards black Americans that society deemed acceptable. 

Although my struggles are incomparable to those in both books, emotional vulnerability is something I have seen in both books that resemble a part of my life I struggle in. Like many people, I have gone through rough patches in my life but middle school was one of them. A combination of stress, poor mental health, and loneliness caused me to become emotionally distant from my family. I would often get in fights and stay by myself, one night in seventh grade I finally gave my parents some insight into how I was feeling. This led to even more conversations between my parents and I about my mental health. Over time my parents began to understand why I was always irritable, angry, and sad, this led to fewer fights and talking. Being emotionally vulnerable in one instance has changed my life for the better, and although sometimes I still struggle to open up, I can use my own life to further understand the importance of vulnerability in Huck Finn and March. 

Whether it’s in a book, a piece of history, or in life, vulnerability is a recurring theme that can present itself in many forms. As shown in Huck Finn and March, vulnerability can change the way you think and make you understand someone else better. Although vulnerability is seen as something that makes you fragile and weak, in truth it is an act of bravery whether it be emotional or physical. Vulnerability can spark sympathy in situations where it seems that comprehension is impossible.

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