To many readers, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is known as the "Great American Novel." It tells the story of a young boy and an escaped slave who develop an unlikely friendship while traveling along the Mississippi River. Twain explores many themes of American literature in his writings. Three themes that appear frequently throughout the novel are freedom, nature, and individual consciousness. Freedom plays a significant role in the story because Huck is trying to free himself from the Widow Douglas and his father and Jim is escaping from slavery. When Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas took Huck in, they were determined to make him more civilized. They don't allow him to smoke and constantly remind him to stop scrunching up and sit up straight (4). With women always on his tail, he can't be the independent and carefree boy he truly is. When Huck is kidnapped by Pap, he is grateful to be away from the widow's house because it is too “cramped and civilized” (30) for him there. Even if he is free from the widow, his life is in danger if he stays with his drunken and violent father. Huck's goal is to “go so far that neither the old man nor the widow can find me anymore” (31). He is able to do just that by devising a clever escape plan that tricks the entire town into believing he is dead. This leaves him free to do whatever he wants, just as he wanted. Jim's goal, however, is to escape slavery and help free his family. After hearing Miss Watson tell the widow that she will sell Jim, he realizes that he will be separated from his family, so he runs away to Jackson's Island, where he meets Huck. His plan is to travel to the free states so he can free his family and find…half of paper…and he really cared about Huck. It is then that Huck realizes that he must go and save his friend. He says to himself, “Okay, then I'll go to hell” (250) and tears up the letter he had written. Freedom, nature and individual conscience are just some of the American themes Mark Twain explores in the novel. Both Huck and Jim were able to achieve the freedom they desired. Huck managed to escape from both the widow and his father, and Jim was no longer a slave after Miss Watson died and freed him in her will. When Huck lived with the widow and Miss Douglas, he thought of Jim as just another stupid nigger. However, after spending time together on the river, he was able to see a different side of Jim and develop a true friendship with him. Huck battles with his conscience several times throughout the story when he feels guilty for helping free Jim.