Fog is an interesting weather feature. In simplest terms, it is a cloud at ground level. That shouldn't be scary or ominous. Most people remember times when they looked up into the sky and imagined various shapes being displayed by a cloud, yet when that cloud is at ground level and obscures visibility to practically zero, fog can be scary. This is especially true if a person is in a new location. You can't see through it to give yourself a decent set of bearings, and the fog has the tendency to deaden/dampen sound enough to where feelings of confusion and claustrophobia are not uncommon. The world feels cramped, and everything looks and sounds different.

Readers see both Huck and Jim panic when the fog descends on them, and they get separated. I think the fog can be symbolically related to Huck's confusion about what to do with and about Jim in general. It's not uncommon for a person to express their lack of strong, coherent thought by saying that their head was "in a fog." Huck's head is frequently in a mental fog with doing what is right. Turning Jim in is the right thing to do by societal rules. Keeping Jim safe is the right thing to do by Huck's own moral compass. The literal fog caused confusion that mirrors the confusion and fear that Huck is forced to battle throughout the story regarding Jim's fate.

If we think of the literal meaning of fog, it is something that prevents us from seeing our way. It is difficult to move in fog, difficult to reach our destination.

The symbolic meaning of fog in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn appears to be similar. It is symbolic of obstacles, things that get in our way and prevent us from achieving our goals.

What is the symbolic meaning of the fog scene in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?

The fog scene in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a shining example of maturity and growth in the seemingly, and self-proclaimed, irredeemable boy Huckleberry Finn. Early on in the book, he professes no desire to education, refinement, or proper manners, and he shows a careless and reckless attitude towards others.

After telling a detailed tall tale to Jim to deceive him, trying to replicate what he believes Tom Sawyer would do, Huck feels great remorse at the pain and discomfort the story causes Jim. This is the main incident where it seems as if Huck is learning to care for others' feelings. He goes and apologizes to Jim, showing that he does care and has learned something of manners and respect. This shows that Huck is growing throughout the events of the novel.

It is vitally important to realise how this important scene in the novel links in with one of the major themes: the coming of age of Huck and his maturing into a character who is able to make decisions often against the values and rules of society. Note how, having been separated from Jim, Huck does what Tom Sawyer would have done and told a massive story about what had happened to try and trick Jim. However, when Jim realises how he has been tricked and communicates to Huck how upset this has made him, Huck shows that he is beginning to think about the feelings of someone else instead of his own fun and amusement.

Not only that, but his action in apologising to a black slave shows Huck's first victory over the values of his society. For a white boy in a world where whites were superior to blacks to apologise to a runaway slave was unthinkable, therefore indicating the way that Huck is learning to listen to his moral conscience more than the dictates of society:

It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn't every sorry for it afterwards, neither.

Symbolically, then, his actions have much more importance than they seem to do at first glance.