How The King And The Duke Affect Huck's Way Of Life

The first eleven chapters of Adventures establish Huck's character prior to his journey on the river with Jim. Dealing with external difficulty is easy for Huck, as he consistently adapts to his environments; however, his actions contradict his desires, revealing that Huck is conflicted.

Throughout the novel, Twain shows his contempt for corrupt human nature. Although these instances are often satirized and exaggerated, the message is still the same. For instance, when the King and the Duke first start to lie about being the dead Peter Wilks’ brothers to obtain his money, Huck says, “It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race,” (191). In this instance Twain is utilizing Huck to show his aversion to the way people lie and cheat, and how a couple of people can make a bad name for all of us. Another example is when Jim sells the King and Duke out to the townspeople and they are carried on a pole, tarred and feathered. Although Huck, has tried to escape the King and Dukes several occasions and has witnessed the cruelties put on others and lies they tell, he does not think that they deserve similar treatment. In fact, he says, “Human beings can be awful cruel to one another,” (269). Through Huck, Twain is voicing his opposition to how people treat one another, whether they deserve it or not. Thus Twain is using his novel to voice his enmity for the cruelty in human nature.

The men pose as great men, but they have unethical intentions. Twain’s use of satire is a parody of the duke and king to add a comical effect, but it also serves to enhance Huck’s character. He humorously juxtaposes the morally intelligent but uneducated Huck in contrast to the duke and king who perceive themselves as educated but indeed the two are arrogant con

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

A French philosopher named Henry Burquen once said, 'To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.' A good example of how a person develops his or her maturity is the story of Huck in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. In the novel, a young boy from the South travels down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave where they encounter many adventures and meet many different people. Along the way, not only does Huck mature, but he also becomes a kind and loyal person, sometimes going against the values of society. Huck's adventure down the Mississippi River is a passage into manhood because he learns to make decisions on his own as well as gain respect for Jim as a person.

Huck's lies were meant to be for the greater good, in contrast to lies told to trick and deceit characters in the book. The Duke and the King are the perfect symbols of evil liars. Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, they intentionally attempted to scam people for their own personal gain. For example, the King and the Duke impersonate Wilk's two English brothers to get money from a family who just lost a family member.

Another example that indicates hypocrisy in the civilized society in the novel is the biased punishment of crimes according to the society’s rules and regulations. This is shown by the non-judgment of the Duke and the King regardless of the fraudulent schemes that both con artists involved in the community. Huck and Jim rescue the Duke and the King and offer them their raft. The first scheme begins when both criminals present fake identities to Huck and Jim. The Duke introduces himself as the English Duke’s son, also known as the Duke of Bridgewater whereas the King presents himself as the Lost Dauphin as well as Louis XVI’s son and France’s designated King (Twain, 144-145). Additionally, one of the con artists, the Duke, takes advantage of Jim’s race and position as a runway slave and prints leaflets that offer $200 reward to any person that manages to catch the runaway slave. The Duke is

While on the river, Huck comes across the duke and the dauphin, two individuals that represent selfishness and greed in the community. These “liars aren’t no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds” (125) and take advantage of innocent

The older gentleman uses his current state to get a better title to him. “You see before you, in blue jeans and misery, the wanderin’, exiled, trampled-on and sufferin’ rightful King of France” (Pg. 125). The Duke and King fake their titles to be in control of Jim and Huck and use them to their advantage. “If I never learnt nothing else out of pap, I learnt that the best way to get along with his kind of people is to let them have their own way,” (Pg. 126). Huck relates his dad to these men, proving that they are alike in their abusive ways.

Throughout Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim meet a variety of characters and encounter many diverse situations. In Chapter 18, Huck and Jim have their first encounter with the supposed rightful heirs to separate nations. In reality, these two men are conmen and have never been anywhere close to Britain or France. Huck is soon to find out that these men are not royalty and are just crooks looking for ways to make money. This is shown when Huck states, “These liars warn’t no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds (Twain 125).” The two’s stupidity also shows many more times as the story progresses. In my opinion, the best sign of ignorance was when Jim kept persisting for the King to speak French; however,

Huckleberry notices society’s mistakes and deviates from their traditions, while deciding to do the right things by saving a runaway African American. If more people were like Huckleberry, our society would be a much more virtuous

When the King goes to feel out one of the towns to see if the people of that particular town has heard of the fraud of a show that he and the Duke had been putting on Huck is planning his and Jim’s escape. Huck at this point knows that the King is actually going into the town to look for more people’s houses to rob. The Duke is visibly agitated for some reason and Huck senses it. When Huck and the Duke go into the town to look for the King he is obviously drunk. Huck runs as soon as he sees an opportunity to lose the King and the Duke. Huck thinks he and Jim are finally free only to find that Jim is gone. When Huck realizes Jim is gone and he cannot find him he actually cries. We see the emotional attachment and bond that Jim has formed with Jim. When Huck comes across a young boy who tells him of how a runaway slave was caught and he learns that he was caught because the Duke and the King tricked them. Following this encounter Huck is upset. The first reason he seems upset is because he was turned in by the hands of people he thought he was helping but the most ironic reason for his anger

The journey of Huckleberry is both physical and psychological. Huck has many realizations and begins to sympathize with Jim, transcending the social restraints on interracial interaction. While rafting down the river to Cairo, two men are looking for a runaway slave. Huck decides to protect Jim after having a moral debate on whether or not to turn him in. After the whole dilemma Huck ponders the issue, claiming, “I knowed very well I had done wrong, … what’s the use you learning to do right when it’s troublesome to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?”

Along the way, they meet the duke and the king, two white people. What Twain is doing here, is to contrast these two cons with Jim, a kind and honest man. The duke and king, over and over again, make up stories, fake their identity to cheat on people and take their money. When they try to be the two brothers of a rich man to take all the iherited money: “Well, when it come to that it worked the crowd like you never see anything like it, and everybody broke down and went to sobbing right out loud -- the poor girls, too; and every woman, nearly, went up to the girls, without saying a word, and kissed them, solemn, on the forehead, and then put their hand on their head, and looked up towards the sky, with the tears running down, and then busted out and went off sobbing and swabbing, and give the next woman a show. I never see anything so disgusting.” (Twain 178). Why was it so disgusting to Huck? The true nature of these two white men, the duke and the king, proves that the stereotypes of racism was completely wrong. There are white people who do not have morality like Jim does. The contrast was too large, to be compared, Jim shall be loved and valued more than the two frauds. While the Victorian women complaint about Huck’s behaviors, considering him

Mark Twain wrote the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. At the beginning of the novel, Huck Finn is an immature thirteen year old boy. He goes south on a river with a runaway slave, Jim, trying to leave his old life behind. During the course of the novel, Huck meets many different people who teach him very valuable lessons. Throughout the novel, Huck has changed in several different ways. There are many things that he obtained from these people that will help Huck build the foundation of the person that he will become. He learns what true friendship is, how dependable, and how to be honest.