In what ways might Huck be a metaphor for America ?

There is the nostalgic belief that America was built by a rugged individualism and people that took the "road less travelled" to forge their own destiny. Huck certainly embodies this mythos. He goes against "civilized" Southern culture that, at the time, included institutionalized slavery. Huck forged his way down the Mississippi River with an escaped slave. Huck developed his own social and moral code that often went against Southern society.