Abstract: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of Mark Twain’s masterpieces which describes a journey down the Mississippi River experienced by Huck, a white boy and Jim, a black slave. The Mississippi River in this novel serves as a main clue with very important symbolic meanings, playing an essential role. After giving an introduction to Mark Twain and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, this thesis then discusses the relation between the River, the author and the novel; at last, it analyzes in detail the symbolic images of the River in this novel: a mother, adventure, and freedom. The thesis aims at giving expression to the author’s aspirations for democracy and showing the real society in America at that time

Key words:The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; the Mississippi River; symbolic image 

摘要：《哈克贝里·费恩历险记》是马克吐温的著作之一。故事讲述了白人男孩哈克和黑奴吉姆乘木筏沿密西西比河而下的经历。河流充当着这篇文章的主线索，扮演必不可少的角色，有着重要的象征意义。本文首先对马克吐温及《哈克贝里费恩历险记》进行简要介绍，然后讨论密西西比河与作者和小说的关系，最后详细分析了河流的三大象征意义，即在小说中，密西西比河象征了母亲、冒险与自由，意图体现作者对民主的渴望，同时也反映了当时真正的美国社会现状。

关键词：《哈克贝里·费恩历险记》；密西西比河；象征意象