Dear future Mr. Finn,
In my young age I have elected to “light
out for the territory ahead of the rest” (Twain 395). In doing so, I write to
my older self, so that when I may question my reasoning for wanting to far from
society, I am able to understand after having read this letter.
When
making the decision to flee society, many factors were involved yet the most prominent,
being what encouraged my first steps to leave, remains aunt Sally’s invitation
to adopt me. While I love aunt Sally, I am not looking to follow in her footsteps
and take upon the same beliefs as her. I am not looking to be civilized and
live a structured, respectable life. And I am not looking to conform to the
expectations of society.
With honesty
I tell you Aunt Sally is a good Samaritan, one who believes the common beliefs
of society and appears to be a follower. However, I am not a follower. I will
not follow in the poor decisions of my father and I will not follow in the
footsteps of anyone else. I will make a path of my own. Just as I set out the first
time alone, I will rise and venture out once again.
In
understanding that we as a person both young and old, I hope, are not one to
follow, I hope you see it as such for a reason. We, unlike many others are
given great freedoms in all places of this great country. And while many individuals
of the country believe that their duty is to grow as a respectful, loyal and
civilized citizen, believing, acting and speaking as their guardians do, I see
such actions to support success in the lives of white Americans and no others.
As I grow older, having befriended Jim as I did, I have realized such common beliefs
are “incorrect”. Thus, I look to depart from society with hope of better
understanding many aspects of society and live a free life, uncontrolled by a
drunk, a common citizen, or societies expectations.
I aspire to look back one day, as
you, after reading this letter, or maybe even before, and believe that I made the
right decision, the conscious decision, that made the most sense for me as an
individual, who rarely looks to others for a path.
Sincerely,
Young Huckleberry Finn
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