Some critics contend that the overall meaning or message of the book becomes unclear when it is revealed that Jim has been a free man and the escapades of Huck and Jim were for naught. What message do you think Twain was trying to get across to the reader?

Twain wanted to convey to the reader that our problems can be solved naturally in different ways than we seek, in the meantime, we should have fun on adventures with dear friends.

Explanation:

As we know, in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", Huck and Jim are looking for freedom from their problems. Huck wishes to escape his father's clutches, while Jim tries to escape the cruelty of slavery. Huck and Jim then run away from their problems, become literally fugitives, establish a strong friendship and live several exciting adventures. At the end of the story, we discover that all of these adventures were in vain, because Jim had already been released from slavery and Huck's father had already died.

Despite being a controversial and criticized ending, we must have our own interpretation of the reasons that led the author to write this ending. One of the possible reasons, is to show that our problems can be solved naturally, in ways that we do not even imagine, in the meantime, we should enjoy life, stay away from stress and live various adventures with our friends.