In his essay “The Pattern of Fictional Experience,” critic Ihan Hassan states that in contemporary literature “the hero is only one man” (326). It is inherently American to be self-sufficient and independent of society. In literature this independence is often explored through the archetype of the outsider. Mark Twain's obsession with the idea of ​​solitude and society led him to explore the question of identity in his stories, and the outcast archetype is particularly prevalent in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Twain emphasizes the importance of the independent wandering hero. Huck Finn is the quintessential outsider and an adequate representation of the contemporary hero in American fiction. Readers are first introduced to the character of Huckleberry Finn in the sixth chapter of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: “Soon Tom fell in with the young pariah of the village, Huckleberry Finn, son of the town drunkard” (67). By stating that Huck is the son of the town drunkard, Twain is already establishing Huck's position as an outsider, a member of the "forbidden society." Critic John Erskine suggests that Huck should not "be an ordinary boy" like Tom Sawyer, "Huckleberry is explained away by his father" (Erskine, 299). Twain goes on to further describe Huck's character in his introduction: Huckleberry was heartily hated and feared by all the mothers of the town, for he was lazy, lawless, vulgar, and wicked. . Tom was like the rest of the respectable boys, in that he envied Huckleberry his conspicuous outcast status, and was under strict orders not to play with him. Huckleberry came and went, of his own free will (67). Huck is perhaps the only truly independent character in the Tom Sawyer stories and his Adventures...... middle of paper ...... of Finnish Hucklebery. Ed. Claude M. Simpson. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1968. (7-15). Erskine, John. "Huckleberry Finn." Huck Finn and his critics. Ed. Riccardo Lettis. New York:The Macmillan Company, 1963. (297-305). Hassan, Ihab. "The model of imaginary experience". Modern American Fiction: Critical Essays. Ed. A. Walton Litz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1963. (315-337). Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. Stanley Applebaum. New York: Dover Publications, 1994. Simpson, Claude M.. “Introduction.” Twentieth-century interpretations of the adventures of Hucklebery Finn. Ed. Claude M. Simpson. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall, 1968. (1-6).Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New York: The World Publishing Company, 1946. -------, ---------. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ed. Stanley Applebaum. New York: Dover Publications, 1994.