At the end of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, Huck remarks that he’s lighting out for the territory, a comment that underscores his rebellion against conventionality and social oppression. But what is Huck lighting out for? What specifically is he rebelling against? Anne Jones, Lucinda MacKethan, and John Sekora offer an appraisal of the nineteenth-century American literary theme of the fugitive and images of escape.
At the time of this conversation, Jones was visiting professor of English at Emory University. MacKethan, a Fellow at the National Humanities Center (1984-85), was professor of English at North Carolina State University. Sekora, a Fellow at the Center (1982-83), was professor of English at North Carolina Central University.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
