Huck and Jim's Adventures in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Furthermore, he contradicts the norm of the time by showing the strong bond between Huck and Jim. In of the scenes, Huck gets a job save enough money to free Jim. Huck says, "And for a starter, I would go to work and steal Jim out of slavery again..." In chapter 1, Huck depicts the widow as a devoted Christian who forced him upon many rituals. For instance, he "...had to wait for the widow to tuck her head and grumble over the victuals, though there really nothing the matter with them." However, through Huck's blatant honesty and humour comments we see her tendency to cuss. Huck asserts that "she also called me a lot of other names too...." she adds more irony to this agitating unholylike behavior by smoking snuff even while preaching to Huck that he is not allowed to do such things. Mark shows the religious satire and especially hypocrisy of southern whites, who are supposed to set an example of morality yet end up contradicting

Firstly, in the initial stages of their lives, both Huck and Douglass faced repression, though in different forms. While Huck is a character whose spirit longs to fly freely, there are others that would conform his ways. This is expressed early on in the novel when Widow Douglas attempts to compel Huck to dress in attire befitting of a civilized individual. She also tries to have him refrain from smoking and learn the

What the Widow and Miss Watson do not do is explain to Huck why he is doing unnecessary chores and acting so properly. When Miss Watson would say things like "Don't put your feet up there, Huckleberry;" and “Why don't you behave", Huck’s young mind asks himself, ‘Why should I behave?’ All of the critiques of Huck’s behavior makes him think that if he stays with the Widow and Miss Watson he will always be failing. His attitude toward the goals that the two sisters have for Huck change with every order he receives and eventually the two “kept pecking at me, and it got tiresome and lonesome." At this point Huck’s sentiment towards living in their house moves to more of a prison like atmosphere and, “considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn’t stand it no longer, I lit out”. He realizes that he is being held against his will, only after he realizes how “regular” and boring the two women are. This is very telling of his character and the same mentality of an ‘against the grain’ lifestyle pushes Huck to question the people and environments around him. The freedom Huck realizes from the sisters’ house of “sivlized” teachings is not the type Huck looks for and his oppressive time with pap

Huck hates that when he is with the widow Douglas he has to be civilized an constantly groans when they have to pray at the table

A prominent example of religious hypocrisy in the novel is the Watson sisters, Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. Very quickly Huck observes that each sister represents a different version of the “good place.” Both sisters ardently try to civilize Huck and teach him good religious values. Huck tells the reader that, “Sometimes the widow would take me one side and talk about Providence in a way to make a body’s

Huck learns the importance of freedom from the Widow Douglas and pap. By the time we finish reading the first page of the novel, we know that Huck does not like living with the Widow Douglas. Huck explains that the widow took him in, and how “when [he] couldn’t stand it no longer [he] lit out” (1). Huck is staying with Widow Douglas because other people want him to be there not because he wants to stay with her. Huck is being deprived of his freedom. Widow Douglas also makes Huck do things that he does not necessarily want to do. She teaches him bible stories, which Huck feels is pointless because “[he] don’t take no stock in dead people” (2), Huck is forced to go to school, which he isn’t particularly found of either because “[he] don’t take no stoke in mathematics” (15).

Huck Finn’s personal definition of family changes throughout the book as he encounters relationships with the other characters. Growing up, Huck did not have a normal home life. His dad was a drunk, his mother was dead, and he was the “bad” kid in the neighborhood that the other parents resented. Throughout the story, Huck spent time with a number of different “families”; some related by blood and others just a group of random individuals who lived and interacted in proximity of each other. Each of these had something different to offer and to each belonged a different backstory.

In HuckleBerry Finn there are two systems of belief, there is religion and superstition. The uneducated characters in this book, like Huck and Jim are skeptical about religion. Widow Douglas and Miss Watson are very educated about religion. Huck looks at the uselessness of Christianity, because prayers are never answered according to Huck. Many characters in Huck Finn have different interpretations of religion.

First off, Huck concludes that the Widow Douglass’s interpretation can make a “body’s mouth water” (Twain 21). Even though Huck admits that he would prefer to belong to the Widow’s vision of heaven, he begins to see the moral emptiness that underlies the Widow’s faith. For example, when the Widow Douglass attempts to punish Huck for his “mean practice” (6) of smoking, he observes that she applies double standards. When the Widow uses snuff it is acceptable “because she done it herself” (6), but when Huck tries to smoke it is sinful. The faith’s hypocritical nature is also seen when the Widow urges Huck to “help other people” (21).

Throughout this story you see how Huck wants to have his freedom from the widow and also from his father who is a drunk and just wants to take advantage of Huck’s money he had. Such as when he is telling us this “The Widow Douglas, she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn’t stand

Huck’s dual mother figures cover both the good and bad sides of motherhood between Miss Watson’s strict ways and Widow Douglass’s care and generosity. Jack as well has a love-hate relationship with his mother, resenting her for her list of lovers and yet admiring her for her youthful and determined loving nature. Although Miss Watson and the Widow Douglass have their faults, Huck admits they “never meant no harm” (1). Miss Watson, who ultimately means well, displays her care for Huck in a nagging manner rather than one out of love like the Widow Douglas, who can be characterized as one of Huck’s mentors. The Widow Douglass “took [him] for her son”, promising him she would civilize him into a proper young man (1).

He wants to be free of rules and regulations and he just wants to live his life without worrying about manners and other social graces. I think that Twain uses the widow to symbolize the part of society that is very strict and well mannered and that everything has to be perfect. Along with the widow is her sister, Miss Watson. She is also involved in teaching Huck etiquette and manners, and I think that she belongs in the same category as the widow. I think that both of these women influence Huck’s moral struggles because the more they push him to be a smart and poised young man, the more he wants to be free and do whatever he wants, and that causes him to want to make bad choices.

In the beginning of the novel while Huck was living with Widow Douglas she took him in as her son. She thought that she could eventually civilize Huck, but for Huck it was anything but easy living as he said it was “rough living in the house all the time.” (Pg. 13) Since Huck was so used to living on his own and being free, he saw Widow Douglas’s demands as terms of confinement and imprisonment. Living with Widow Douglas was impossible because it meant that he lost all sense of his freedom and who he really is. Huck feels that he belongs out in the free and wild where the community cannot tell him

Even though Huck was happy about escaping from Widow Douglass, he did not want to be around his father either. All he wanted was to go back to his independent life where he did not have to be controlled by anyone. This book also shows how selfish family can be. For example, Huck’s father knew that he did not want to take care of Huck, but he still took him to the cabin because he wanted his money and also because he did not want Huck to excel in life. Once Huck got tired of his father’s abuse, he found a way to escape and faked his

“When you got to the table you couldn’t go right to eating, but you had to wait for the widow to tuck down her head and grumble a little over the victuals … After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses …” (2) The Widow is a true example of Twain’s portrayal of the hypocrisy shown in society. She forces Huck to learn religious practices, which seem to take out all the meaning in Christian values. Lecturing Huck on the mean practice of smoking while taking snuff is another example of the ridiculousness in her teachings. “And looky here—you drop that school, you hear?