Harney Rickson Character Traits

Huck's observation and reaction to the feud of the two families has reinforced his conscience about the chaos of white society in comparison to Negroes. Huck's reaction in regards to the King and the Duke is also an important point in Huck's development as a person. Huck, having been exposed and shown the immoral and corrupt products of society has grown strong enough to work against society in the end. This development has allowed huck go approach society in a more skeptical manner and to confront and accept that society and the world is not Widow Douglas' delusional mirage. This resulted in Huck to have more confidence in his relationship with Jim and loosened his bond with society's immoral

Huck has a grim attitude toward people he disagrees with or doesn't get along with. Huck tends to alienate himself from those people. He doesn't let it bother him. Unlike most people Huck doesn't try to make his point. When Huck has a certain outlook on things he keep his view. He will not change it for anyone. For instance in Chapter Three when Miss Watson tells Huck that if he prayed he would get everything he wished for. “Huck just shook his head yes and walked away telling Tom that it doesn't work because he has tried it before with fishing line and fishing hooks.” This tells us that Huck is an independent person who doesn't need to rely on

The primary relationships of Huck with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson as well as Huck with Pap and Huck with Jim are established. Throughout the novel, Huck takes on different identities to further his attempts at freedom. In this section three of these identities are seen. One is Huck, the dead boy when he “kills” himself in order to cover his escape from Pap at his cabin and the other is Sarah Mary Williams whom he disguised himself as when he attempted to get information and later George Peters emerges when Sarah is discovered to be a boy.

Huck shows his growth through his ability to understand that their religious beliefs are in conflict with their own actions. Huck learns even more about his own morals during his encounter with the King and the Duke. The King and the Duke lie about being the Wilks brothers in order to get money. For Huck, they cross the line when they lie to Mary Jane. Huck watches them cry for

Huck's religion also changes as he encounters various influences, such as Miss Watson, the Widow Douglas, and Jim. For instance, his view of Providence is at first both unusual and humorous, as he concludes that there must be two Providences. Later, he comes to trust Providence in a truly devout way. He puts it this way:

Huck not only realizes that Jim is a human being, but he also comes to terms with the fact that Jim is a good person, and has an extremely good heart.

13) Whereas most people would condemn the robbers, Huck expresses a sort of flexible empathy towards them. Huck does not always share the same views as society.

At the beginning of Huck’s narration, he immediately mentions his previous adventures with Tom Sawyer; by instinctively introducing himself in terms of Tom’s story, Huck demonstrates that he thinks of himself more as a supporting character to Tom’s life than the protagonist to his own. This belief also compels Huck to listen to Tom’s advice. When the Widow Douglas decides to civilize Huck, he initially runs away in disgust, but Tom ultimately convinces him to stay. Huck explains, “But Tom Sawyer he hunted me up and said he was going to start a band of robbers, and I might join if I would go back to the widow and be respectable. So I went back,” (1). Tom’s influence outweighs Huck’s instinct to escape civilization, and Huck instead chooses to try to become “respectable” like Tom. Despite Huck’s multiple sets of ideologies, the values he adopts from Tom Sawyer prevail as the most influential and serve as a guide for many of Huck’s

Huck’s feelings about living with the Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson. Which of the ladies does he like more? Why? What does he feel about their attempts to “civilize” him?

the person, Huck can not stand to see anyone go through pain. Later, in the

Finally, Huck decides that he has had of enough of these frauds and he wants nothing else to do with them. He does not value money as much as he values honesty.

Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas, two wealthy Christian sisters, relentlessly shape Huck’s life as devout Christians, restricting his freedom and

Although Huck ultimately does what he feels is right, the reader is left with a sense that the issue is not completely eradicated from Huck's conscience.

The future losses, which are inescapable hurt Huck because he feels connected to each family member in a different way, even the dead sister, Emmeline.

As evidenced in the introductory instances regarding death, Huck’s morality is defective and his sympathy is missing. Perhaps, Huck’s flaws are due to his close contact with the iconic delinquent Tom Sawyer, who is likely corroding Huck’s ethics. Consequently, when Huck bonds with his new partner-in-crime, Jim, a stark juxtaposition is evidenced between the ideals of Tom and Jim. However, luckily “youth is a time of greater potential for change than any other stage of life”, and Jim’s positive influence proves beneficial (Trites 53) . Specifically, Jim is extraordinarily superstitious and attaches a copious amount of meaning to just about everything, even a measly snake skin (Twain 162). Of course, this means that Jim does not completely disregard the significance of death and importance of sympathy, as Tom and his mischievous mates do. Consequently, Jim “has proven himself as a morally admirable figure” (Bollinger). As a result, after prolonged exposure to Jim, Huck starts to exude more concern for the life of others, as evidenced in quite a few scenarios that take place on his and Jim’s journey.