Mark Twain"s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel about a young boy"s coming of age in the Missouri of the mid-1800"s. The main character, Huckleberry Finn, spends much time in the novel floating down the Mississippi River on a raft with a runaway slave named Jim. Before he does so, however, Huck spends some time in the fictional town of St. Petersburg where a number of people attempt to influence him. Before the novel begins, Huck Finn has led a life of absolute freedom. His drunken and often missing father has never paid much attention to him; his...
of the novel where he always is uncomfortable and wishes to leave them.

At the conclusion of chapter 11 in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim are forced to leave Jackson"s Island because Huck discovers that people are looking for the runaway slave. Prior to leaving, Huck tells Jim, "They"re after us." Clearly, the people are after Jim, but Huck has already identified with Jim and has begun to care for him. This stated empathy shows that the two outcasts will have a successful and rewarding friendship as they drift down the river as the novel continues.