The Free Spirit In Huckfinn And Harrypotter

The thesis comparatively analyzes Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series (the first four books) from the perspective of Existentialism. Neither Huckleberry Finn nor the Harry Potter series expounds any existential philosophy but describes stories of concrete existence itself, reaches a unique understanding of it and discovers a way out of magical life situation. Huck and Harry tell us one can come through the world of absurdity by making his free choice. The two boy-heroes are free spirits. Huck, in industrial period, finds his true identity in the Mississippi River and decides to "light out for the Territory" rather than to be "sivilized" by hypocritical capitalist society. Whereas Huck represents individualism, Harry embodies team spirit, the pillar that will keep human race surviving in the materialized outside world. In post-industrial times, Harry can only find his self in an imaginary world since the river of Eden is lost.The thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter introduces the two writers and their works Huckfinn and Harrypotter. The second chapter sketches the existentialist philosophy. The third chapter analyzes comparatively Huckfinn and Harrypotter from the viewpoint of existentialism. The last chapter comes to conclusions from above discussions.