Huck Finn Religious Hypocrisy Analysis

Miss Watson tells Huck that if he does something, he can expect a certain result but when things don’t work, he asks for her help and she chides him for it! The widow Douglas and Miss Watson are religious, educated, and yet, they are slave owners. They educate Huck, and teach him religion but find it perfectly acceptable to do things contrary to their teachings, such as snuff and practice slavery. The latter, being a more insidious humbug of St. Petersburg, is shown over and over again throughout Huck’s journey.

At the beginning of the story, Huck is a young, wild boy who doesn’t really understand the world. He is distant from his father because he was very abusive, and he is cared for by both Miss Watson and Widow Douglas. Huck has very few morals and is usually dirty. He does not believe in religion. “Well I got a good going-over in the morning from old Miss Watson on account of my clothes; but the widow she didn’t scold, but only cleaned off the grease and clay, and looked so sorry that I thought I would behave awhile if I could.” (page 10) Huck does not genuinely care about what goes on or what he does, in fact, he didn’t care too much when people said that his father had died. He was only uncomfortable. (page 12)

This assertion tells the reader that most, in that time period, did have the same views, reactions, and ethics as offered in the book. Huck is in direct opposition and retaliation with almost all of these tenets. He first demonstrates this by wishing to leave the Widow Douglas because she wants to “sivilize” him. The interesting observation is, the irony of the Widow’s attempt to teach Huck religious principles while she persists in holding slaves. As with her snuff taking—which was all right because she did it herself—there seems no relationship between a fundamental sense of humanity and justice and her religion. Huck’s practical morality makes him more “Christian” than the Widow, though he takes no interest in her lifeless principles. (Grant 1013)

“I was most ready to cry... and so I offered them Miss Watson-they could kill her.” ( p. 11) In the beginning of the novel Huck lacks a set of basic morals. This is evident in his willingness to offer the life of miss. Watson in order to join Tom’s gang. It is at this point where Huck can now develop, morally.

Huck and the sisters don’t get along because they are trying to explain what religion is like and they want him to be more civilized. The sisters have different views on religion which confuses Huck and makes him skeptical about it. Huck thinks religion is irrelevant and boring in chapter 1, he says says that heaven is going to be boring because all you is walk around and play the harp. He also does not believe in prayer. In chapter 1 he explains that he would rather go to the “bad place” than heaven.

Mark Twain’s, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a coming of age story that focuses on Huck’s development of a personal sense of morality. In the course of his adventures, Huck experiences the ugliness of society: bigotry, corruption, and hypocrisy. Huck determines for himself that what is often considered acceptable and estimable by society is morally reprehensible.

Twain introduces Huck as a reckless boy struggling to accept society's social norms. Having no exposure to any of society’s social norms leaves him unable to decipher what he believes to be truly right and wrong. Therefore, prior to his journey with Jim, Huck had become a ruthless member of Tom Sawyer's “gang” willing to steal and kill. Taking an oath to, “never tell any of the secrets; and if anybody done anything to any boy in the band, whichever boy was ordered to kill that person and his family must do it” (Twain 7). By swearing into what he believes to be a

It is clear throughout the novel that Huck was not raised as part of proper society, in the beginning, however, he does face many different pieces of society so to speak which makes him choose his own views before those of a backwards society. Huck’s great dislike of structure and order in society and the reader sees that Huck would rather be in his own world than have to deal with the realities of nineteenth century society. The novel shows Hucks great dislike of Ms. Watson and the Widow Douglas’s religious views:

As Twain finds immense fault in the church and those who blindly follow its teachings, his characterization of Huck as an outsider to religion furthers his overarching critique of indoctrinated religion on impressionable followers.

To begin with, organized religion is consistently mocked throughout the novel, primarily by Huckleberry Finn. The imitation of organized religion emerges during the beginning of the novel, when Widow Douglas and Miss Watson are introduced. There are instances where Huck unknowingly points out the flaws in organized religion, such as the scene where Widow Douglas decides to read about Moses. Huck is not against

Twain constantly satirizes religion and other social institutions throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He points out flaws and fallacies present in organized religion through the eyes of a young boy, Huckleberry Finn. Since Huck is an outsider and “uncivilized”, Twain can present an objective view of religion and religious practices as they are explained to Huck. This viewpoint is used to criticize the religion and religious people of the South through the use of satire and irony.

Almost everyone around the world knows what religion is. While religion may be universal, there are many different ways to interpret it. Some people may believe the same religion, but they have various ways of practicing it. Through the characters in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain was able to show his view on religion, which is that religion can be negatively influential, hypocritical, and make people naive to the world.

One scenario in the novel evaluated society’s greed. In the novel the Widow is Huck’s guardian considering that his mother passed away and his father way never around. Miss Watson, the Widow’s sister, was a tolerable slim old maid who wore glasses and was a strong Christian. Throughout her stay she tries to teach Huck the truths behind heaven and hell, praying, and God himself. While explaining heaven and hell Huck mentions how he wants to go to the bad place because he craved adventure and change in his life. Appalled Miss Watson replied, “It was wicked to say [that] and said, she was going to live so as to go to the good place” (Twain chpt. 1, pg. 6). However, anyone who has

There is a moment where he “couldn’t seem to strike no place to harden [himself] against [Jim],” instead he sees how horrible the “other kind” is (213). Huck finds that his morality will forever override the close minded hypocrisy of society and that the middle and higher class citizens during this time are in the wrong. There is nothing better than Huck realizing the value of his relationship with Jim during their journey; Jim has become like a father figure to Huck.

The main character of Twain’s novel, Huckleberry Finn, is a rambunctious character that the author uses to express the deeply imbedded desire of mankind to obtain freedom. As the story opens, Huck is reflecting on his civilized life with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. Both women insist that Huck becomes more civilized and are very stern regarding his clothes, grooming, and posture. The Widow Douglas teaches Huck religion through fear of God’s punishment. On the contrary, Miss Watson teaches him to pray, and tries to change him by showing him God’s love. Although the women feel they are helping Huck, he finds the life to be monotonous and taxing,