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Essay On Huck Finn's Commitment

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A Complex Crisis of Compassion and Commitment Essay Huck’s decisions at the Phelps’ plantation are directly influenced by Huck’s learning process from the beginning. His decisions, however, are not effortless and don’t always concede to the moral beliefs of the time. Huck’s personal commitment toward friendship and doing what he believes is morally right create a push and pull effect on Huck; which creates his overall conscience. Huck’s personal conscience plays a major role in the evolution of the story and shows his moral development through his mental decisions, actions, and thoughts. Initially, Twain strikes the reader with powerful pain in Huck’s life from his family experience and puts Huck’s young life into perspective for the reader. …show more content…

This event is a huge turning point in Huck’s journey and creates an opportunity for Huck to make a decision that doesn’t only affect him. Huck has been brought up in a world where he has a deformed conscience because of his status in society and cultural upbringing. When Huck is asked if he there is anyone aboard his ship he responds with a stark, “Only one, sir”(page 110 ch 16) and is then presented with the quick decision to follow his moral upbringing as a white male or continue his new friendship. He explains when asked if the person on board is white or black that he was left dumbfounded. Huck believed that his response of, “He’s white”(page 110 ch 16) was not only hard for him to say, but was not what he truly wanted to exclaim. Huck’s decision to protect Jim came from what he thought was an act of cowardliness and giving up on trying to push himself to do the moral action. This would have been an easy out for Huck on this journey that he put himself in, however as nonchalantly as Twain presents Huck’s feelings on giving up on turning Jim in, it’s clear that Huck wants to continue this

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