A person has the ability to control their own fate to a certain extension, to the extension in which that person allows himself or herself to believe in such a power. In Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn and The Mysterious Stranger, both main characters start off as boys beginning to discover the world and themselves, but unlike Huck Finn, Theodor discovers a greater truth about fate.
When looking back on Huck, he is a boy who does not seem to fit in. The adults want to civilize him and with the exception of Tom Sawyer, the gang robber members ignore him. In a way Tom was trying to create a society in which they wanted to live in. while the adults were using the Bible to civilize Huck, Tom was using pirate and robber books to direct their fate in. This did not work for Huck because he is too practical and could not imagine or make believe any of the adventures Tom was creating.
Huck and jim on raft
Traditional raft, from 1884 edition of Adventures ...
English: Illustration from Adventures of Huckleber...Theodore is able to believe his newly found friend Satan because he can actually see his creations. Theodore witnesses the creations of the little people and sees them come to life. It is through Satan that Theodore begins to experience the ability to control fate although not his own at first. It seems that since Satan likes Theodor, Satan will take care of Theodore and that he will have a good fate. This is why Theodore's fate is not the subject of discussion, but instead that of other. Theodore starts changing the lives of many people, at first he was horrified at the results but managed to push away those thoughts and feel proud when he hears what the other alternative life the person might have had.
Theodore appears well stable when it comes to how society works and he has an idea of what is expected of him and acts according to it. Huck has to learn the basics as he goes through his journey. He is barely learning what role he plays in society and where he belongs. Huck is told to pray for the thing he wants, but when he prays and does not get want he want, he finds prayer pointless. He is also very superstitious; one situation of this was when he accidentally turned over the salt shaker and the other when he touched the snakeskin. Here Huck is trying to direct his fate towards the direction of good luck but is unsuccessful.
When Huck runs away he proves he can survive on his won. At his point he thinks he has some ability to control his fate. He learns many things when he finds Jim and shares the rest of the journey. Huck finds a friend in Jim and gradually realizes that Jim is a human being like everyone else and deserves to be free. Things seem to be going well for Huck and Jim until they miss Cairo and head the wrong way. Here the thought of whether or not they can control their fate is questioned.
Theodore has been changing peoples fate for the better as he saw it fit and although he has some understanding of how things in his society work, he is sick at the sight of torture but is all right with the burning of witches. What was surprising is that when the other people hanged the old lady, Theodore started throwing rocks as her just like the rest of the people. He was afraid of what the others might think if he were not to throw any rocks. This was surprising because with Satan on his side, it would appear that no harm could possible come to him yet he was still frightened. Both Huck and Theodore learn a great deal about life and the nature of humans but most importantly of all about themselves.
At the beginning, Huck was an uneducated boy and by the end we see him as an intelligent, wealthy man who has a greater sense of what he wants in life and feels he has more control over his fate then before. He has standards and morals. He believes in physical freedom as well as spiritual. He as done may right decision throughout the story to get to this point. Theodore is the one who was completely freed forms any boundary that may have existed in his life. When Satan reveals to him that there is no other life in existence, that nothing is more real than his thoughts, it opens up many windows. He now has the aware of the ability he has to create his own reality and make of his life what he wishes.
Using Huck Finn, Mark Twain showed reader the importance of life and its many paths it takes us on. He shows that a person ca control their fate by what the person makes of their lives and how they wish to view it as. Using the character of Theodore the ability to control fate expands to a more universal idea. It is limitless, a person can live their life as they wish and as what they make of it.
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Illustration of Jim and Huckleberry Finn, by EW Ke...
The cover of the first edition of Adventures of Hu...