preview

Huck Finn Moral Analysis

Satisfactory Essays

Huck Finn Morality and Kohlberg’s Theory
Mark Twain shows Kohlberg's Theory of Development through Huck Finn's actions. In the book "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain, Huck faces situations where he must make decisions based on his morals. Huck goes on an adventure where he is faced with several moral choices, that lead him to question the morality and supposed ‘sivilized' nature of humanity; Huck outgrows his own instincts of moral standards and goes through 3 stages of moral development, Preconventional, Conventional, and Postconventional. As the story goes on Huck has developed more into the last stage of Kohlberg's theory, Postconventional. Contrary to belief, Huck makes ethical decisions and is more civilized than society's ideal of ‘sivilized', while demonstrating different levels of Kohlberg's Theory.
Huck is left questioning the validity of society's idea of community when meeting the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons. After being separated from Jim, the Shepherdsons offer Huck a place to stay and teach him "brotherly love" (Twain 97). This leaves Huck in confusion as they are in a prolonged feud with the Grangerfords. Despite Huck's age, he is able to identify the hypocrisies that exist within the ‘sivilized' society. Huck also witnesses the death of Buck, a family member of the Grangerfords, in retaliation of the Shepherdsons. Huck is very saddened by this, he was crying while "covering up Buck's face, for he was mighty good to me" (Twain 115). Here

Get Access