Abstract

Mark Twain, the founder of American critical realistic literature at the end of the 19th century, is a world-renowned master of short novels recognized as “Lincoln of American Literature”. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of his masterpieces, commonly accounted as a typical initiation novel in American literature. Adolescence is the critical period everyone needs to undergo and youngsters in different times have diverse concerns, so initiation is a literary theme invariably full of vitality and novelty. Besides, children’s growth is the social focus in contemporary society, so it endows social meaning to the research of the initiation theme.

This paper mainly focuses on two aspects. One is, concentrate on elaborating the narrative structure of the protagonist’s initiation from the perspective of archetypal criticism and interpret how Huck breaks through the mental bondage and gains epiphany and initiation after undergoing various ordeals and trials. The other is the analysis of the American social factor behind Huck’s initiation, which exerts the fundamental impact. The analysis of the novels indicates that as a typical initiation story, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn not only reveals the profound theme of individual initiation and presents the common experience of human initiation, reflecting the protagonist’s spiritual and moral growth, but also has its unique and distinctive feature: behind the archetypal initiation there exists the American social element that is the fundamental factor.

Key words: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Initiation Stories; initiation; Archetypal Criticism; experiences

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1 Introduction-1

2 Literature Review-3

3 The Theory of Archetypal Criticism .-6

4 Archetypal Analysis of Huck’s Initiation-9

4.1 Facing Lure11

4.2 Choosing Escape.12

4.3 Having Puzzlement 14

4.4 Experiencing Trials.15

4.5 Gaining Epiphany17

5 The Social Factor behind the Archetypal Initiation-19

5.1 The Inducement of Huck’s Initiation --Mobility.20

5.2 The Background of Huck’s Initiation--Slavery.21

6 Conclusion-23

References-.24