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Contrasting places are often used in literature to represent opposed forces or ideas which are central to the meaning of the work. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel which tells the story of a boy named Huckleberry Finn and his journey down the Mississippi River. Author Mark Twain contrasts the river and the shore in order to get across to his readers the idea that society tends to conform people while nature lets …

…novel follows the river. By contrasting the river and the shore, Mark Twain shows that society places a restraint on the individual and attempts to force them to conform to its standards, while nature tends to bring out the individuality in people without placing any restraints upon them. Understanding what the river and shore represent and how they relate to the characters can give the readers a greater understanding of the novel in its entirety.