Essay Analysis of Lies in Huck Finn

In the middle of the book, Huck starts to distinguish what is the right thing to do. He starts to think if all the things he was doing before with Jim and Tom were too mean and stupid to do. One specific example is when he decides to steal the money that the king and duke have, “I got to steal that money somehow; and I got to steal it some way that they wont suspicion I done it." (Twain 133) After Huck stole the money Huck and Jim didn’t feel bad at all, and knew that they did the right thing after all. He learns that not everyone can be scammed on, that the real life is important and that you can’t do anything stupid like that. He sees eye to eye with Jim and realizes that he cant have someone taken advantage of just because of their

In the beginning Huck never really knew what a true friend was, and then he went on a journey with Jim, a runaway slave. For a while, Huck has thoughts about turning in Jim and having him sent back to Miss Watson. However, he always remembers how nice Jim is to him. Huck said that he would not tell anyone that Jim had runaway and in return Jim was willing to protect and help Huck. Jim would even give up his sleep just because he wanted to let Huck continue to sleep. That was not the only thing Jim did for Huck either. When the house floated by and the two saw a body laying inside it dead, Jim went in to see what was in the house and found that it was Huck's father that was dead. Jim covered the body so Huck did not realize that his father had been killed. Through just these two actions made by Jim, Huck learns one of the most valuable life lessons: true friendship.

Ch. 13) Huck typically lies to help himself, although he lies here to save the robbers. Huck does not tell the truth to the watchman because if he were then the watchman would not be inclined to help the robbers.

He has a father who is abusive as well as an alcoholic, which is why two older ladies by the names of Miss. Watson and Widow Douglas watch over and care for him. The concept of a journey to freedom is portrayed through Huck due to him leaving home as a young boy and seeking for independence. In chapter eleven, Huck dresses up as a girl to go steal food and other items from a home for Jim and himself. “My mother’s down sick, and out of money and everything…” (62). Huck lied to a woman just to steal things from her home to survive because he was running away to become free. "It didn't take me long, though, to make up my mind that these liars warn't no kings nor dukes at all..." (40). This is ironic because Huck is noticing that the King and the Duke are con men and liars, but Huck himself is just like them because he lies to people all the time to better himself and get to freedom. Huck has to go through many disadvantages as well as Jim, on their journey to

“That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth” (1). Those are among the first lines in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, so it’s obvious from the very beginning that the truth, or lack thereof, is a major theme in the book.

Huck’s conscience does not bother him when he lies because he believes it never hurts them and no one, at least in his memory, were hurt from his lies. However, Huck feels bad when he lies to Mary Jane, whom he admires a lot.

     On Huck and Jim’s journey to Cairo, Jim begins to speak about when he is free he will go and find his children and take them from the slave owner. This rubbed Huck the wrong way; his standards of Jim had been lowered because, from Huck’s point of view, why would Jim steal his children away from a man who has done nothing to him? Huck’s conscience began to come into play and he had made up his mind: He was going to turn Jim in when they reach shore. He was sure of it until Jim began to sweet talk Huck, telling him that Huck was the only white man that had ever kept a promise to him. This comment went directly to Huck’s heart; he could not possibly

After a few minutes go by Huck realizes the effect lying has, since Jim was very upset and wouldn't reply back to Huck. Jim doesn't appreciate Huck tricking him like that, and making him sound like a fool. We see this in chapter 15. “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 ever sorry for it afterward, neither. I didn’t do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn’t done that one if I’d ‘a’ knowed it would make him feel that way.

Following Huck’s escape from his father’s cabin, Huck escapes with Jim, rafting the Mississippi while he becomes his older self who helps others, a sharp contrast to the kidnapped Huck who only aided himself. When Huck encounters Judith Loftus, he lies, telling her that he is a girl by the name of Sarah Mary Williams, and later that he is a runaway apprentice called George Peters (69). Huck continues lying for himself, reflecting the depth of Huck’s descent while with his father; however, the lie also helps Jim, so Huck displays a tiny amount of selflessness. Farther down the river, Huck lies to several men and tells them that Jim is a white man who has smallpox (101). By this point in the story, Huck begins lying to help others such as Jim, not just himself. He slowly loses the overwhelming desire to protect only himself that he developed while with his father. Huck

When Huck attempted to deceive the woman in St. Petersburg he got the result he wanted because the lie was vital to his agenda. Huck went into town pretending to be a girl in order to find out information about what the townspeople have heard about his death and Jim’s escape. Huck needed to maintain a low profile because the society thinks he’s dead. “Tell me your secret, and trust me I'll keep it. And what's more, I’ll help you.” Said the woman. (Pg. 45) Huck then makes up a new story because he learned that people are out looking for Jim and that she to is out for Jim as well. With the information Huck has learned he

He mainly lies about his identity to keep Jim safe, but there were additional instances in which Huck fibbed to help others. For example, early on in the story, Huck and Jim steal a boat that belonged to bad men, robbers in fact. The two left the thieves to their death, until Huck’s conscience starts to get the best of him. He does not want to tell the watchmen that he stole a boat in which belonged to robbers, so instead he told a noble lie that would help save the robbers. He tells the men that Miss Hooker lost her oar and needed aid at sea. Later on Huckleberry is proud of himself and “wished the widow knew about it. [Huck] judged she would be proud of [him] for helping these rapscallions” (Twain). Huck’s confidence in his act of lying is Twain’s way of making lies more acceptable. Even though Huck did not tell the truth and told a tall tale, he was still saving others from death, making lying seem

One of the main aspects of Huck we continue to point out is his cleverness. However, if you look at chapter 26 Huck is now finding himself in holes that he has created. Before this bad experience Huck was very good with created backstories. However, the main difference between the lie with Joe and the other times is that Huck Finn usually allowed the listener to fill the gaps within his story. In chapter 11 Huck talks with an old woman and she starts to question his story. However, instead of panicking Huck waited for the old woman to fill the cracks in his story by letting her conclude that Huck is a runaway apprentice. Later in chapter 16 Huck is talking to two men about who else is on his raft. Huck gives very few details until the men conclude

Whereas Huck and Jim hide their reality from others and keep up different facades in order to stay safe from society. Lying and deception play a large role throughout Mark Twain’s, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as it is both a reason and an escape from conflict. Both lying and deception are also used as a way to show the stark difference between appearances and reality because lying is what hides the reality from Huck and the rest of the characters within the novel.

His whole life has been taught that “niggers” are property and are not meant to be free but In his heart he knew helping Jim was the right thing to do, no matter what anybody else says. “both Huck and Jim are depicted as characters who are capable of learning from their own mistakes, empathizing with others, and acting on the behalf of others” (Evans). As the journey down the river continues they run into two con men. These men pretend to be the Wilks brothers in order to rob this family of all of their possessions. Huck couldn’t see them do this poor family wrong. He spends some time really contemplating telling one of the girls, Mary Jane, the truth about these liars (Twain 175). He knows inside that it is the right thing to do but he doesn’t want to put himself at risk. He plans out every little detail of how he is going to tell her and how he is going to expose these men (Twain 175-178). His actions result from his sympathy for others and his conscience and show major growth as the story continues.

The importance of story structure and story-telling in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because it’s what helps Huckleberry fabricate these stories in order to change his identity to adept to whatever situation he’s in. The story is told through the eyes of Huckleberry, who is still a kid. The reader is shown Huckleberry’s thoughts and the way he speaks. It’s told as it happens. The plot of the book is told through smaller stories, such as Huckleberry and his dad in the cabin, Huck going down the river with Jim, the different people Huck comes across, and the end plan to free Jim (without the knowledge of the fact that he was already free). Twain put in these somewhat silly stories into the plot to show different backgrounds and different