Huckleberry Finn Character Development Essay

This is exactly the kind of behavior that twain didn’t like. However, the main theme in this book is breaking free. He urges his readers to do the right thing, not necessarily what everyone else is doing. He illustrates this ideal with Huck. Most everyone else thought of Jim, along with blacks in general, as something less than human. Huck knew this was wrong, and his actions followed this when he rescued Jim. Main characters Huckleberry Finn Huck is the narrator of the story and for the most part is honest to us, the readers. He dreads the rules and conformities of society such as religion, school, and everything else that will eventually make him civilized. A big debate surrounds Huck on whether he changes or not throughout the story. Huck, in the beginning, seems very set in the south’s anti-black ways, however, Huck states that he will go to hell to keep Jim out of slavery. At this point it seems like he does change, but at the end of the book, Huck plays yet another joke on Jim and seems as though any change was temporary. Huck has little sense of humor, which is ironical, considering the book is satirical. Twain has also been criticized about Huck’s character, in that it seems as though Huck knows too much for his age. In one of the movies Huck was about seventeen, in another he was about eight. I figure from the book that Huck is

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain provided social commentary on southern society and beliefs. Twain addressed a number of significant issues throughout the novel, including religion and slavery. There are a number of instances where Huck, the 14 year-old protagonist, pushes back against the idea of organized religion. Similarly, Huck encounters a personal and moral dilemma when it comes to the practice of slavery. This idea of rebellion against society is a major concept explored in the book. Small instances of Huck’s rebellion culminate with him eventually freeing a runaway slave. The main examples include Huck’s refusal to learn the Bible, Huck’s decision against not to turn Jim in, and Tom and Huck’s choice to set Jim free at the end of the story. Huck’s refusal to conform to and demonstrate the social norms of the South illustrate the theme of rebellion against society.

Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shows the development of a young boy named Huck Finn. We see Huck develop in character, attitude and maturity as he goes on his adventure down the Mississippi River. This is displayed through his search for freedom from civilization and it's beliefs and through his personal observations of a corrupt and immoral society. Most importantly, we are in Huck's head as he goes through his confusion over his supposedly immoral behavior and his acceptance that he will “go to hell” as he conquers his social beliefs.

Racism a very important topic in this book, and it happens all throughout Twain’s book one of the ways that racism is shown is through dialogue/diction of Huck and including the author. Twain uses a certain type of writing when it comes to Jim’s dialogue. For example he mispronounces words or misspells them showing some kind of racism to Jim because of his ignorance and way of talking for lack of education. Also the many times that Twain used the word “nigger” which was probably used more than a hundred times. Not only how many times he used it but also how he uses this word so liberally.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is considered one of the most influential works in American literature. During the novel, two characters, Huckleberry Finn and Jim, run away from civilization to pursue adventure. Both characters come from humble roots; Huck Finn is a juvenile delinquent, and Jim, a runaway slave. Throughout their journey, Jim serves as a mentor and a friend to Huck. Together, the two brave the lawless environment of the early 19th-century South. As the story progresses, Huck matures from a delinquent child into a young man with a set of morals. In the essay “The Role of Jim in Huckleberry Finn,” Frances Brownell asserts that Jim is the key to Huck’s character development and moral growth. Brownell’s argument

     Since Huck is the center piece of the novel people could say that Mark Twain expressed himself through the character. They would use the fact Huck was degrading Jim. As I have said Huck was raised that way from a child, but he evolved to different beliefs. In the beginning after Huck and Jim have run away they find each other. Huck’s first step to overcoming prejudice occurs on that island. Huck feels relief that he is no longer alone and needs Jim for comfort. You start to see a bond form which never forms between man and his "property". This may not be a gigantic step but it is a step. As the story unfold farther they form a rather special bond of needing each other which shows strong when Jim is auctioned off. He decides to save Jim which is totally unheard of for a white to do for a black. At first he challenges his views of religion whether or not he should write Miss Watson, his owner, and probably still lose Jim for good, or go for Jim himself. Huck decides

     Twain uses his main character, Huckleberry Finn, to convey his literary style and therefore makes it important to think about this

Cassander Smith points out that “The character Jim, to whom racial epithets are most often attached, remains a ni***r at the end of the novel but not a slave” (Smith). He is pointing out that people gave Jim no respect through the entire book. He was always looked down upon even when he did something good. Twain is trying to make the point that the environment a person is in is the way the person will become. On this journey Huck encounters many challenges.

These examples are necessary for historical accuracy. So Mark Twain had to display Jim’s treatment in this manner even if it was not the way he felt. Huck however does not treat Jim as most whites do. Huck see Jim as a friend and by the end of their journey disagrees with society’s notion that blacks are inferior. There are two main example of this in the story.

    Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is perhaps one of the most controversial novels the North American Continent has ever produced.  Since its publication more than a hundred years ago controversy has surrounded the book.  The most basic debate surrounding Twain's masterpiece is whether the book's language and the character of Jim are presented in a racist manner.  Many have called for the book to be banned from our nation's schools and libraries.  Mark Twain's novel is about a young boy who was raised in the south before slavery was abolished, a place where racism and bigotry were the fabric of every day life.  The novel is the account of how Huck Finn, who is a product of these

To understand the treatment of Jim, an understanding of white mentality must first be examined. Though blacks had been granted citizenship in 1870, southern white society still looked upon them as less than human without souls or feelings. Twain gives this popular opinion to the character of Huck before “the evasion” when he illustrates Huck describing Jim “He was thinking about his wife and his children, away up yonder, and he was low and homesick; because he hadn’t ever been away from home before in his life; and I do believe was cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their’n. I don’t seem natural but I reckon it’s so,” (Twain 199). By chapter thirty-two, it is expressed again by Aunt Sally during her conversation with Huck upon meeting:

.” (Twain, ix) He openly and firstly acknowledges the irregularities in this story and explains that it is not on a whim that he uses this specific type of language but with the purpose to expose the world to a new and original form of literary design. The main character in this story is Huckleberry Finn, the complete opposite of a traditional European hero; he is not the typical king or nobleman that traditional stories tell of. He is an everyday boy uneducated and seemingly unworthy, Huckleberry Finn is the epitome of a real American every day hero. Mr. Twain writes this book as a way to show that just by simply maturing and growing up so that Huckleberry Finn can make the right decisions in all aspects of his life; it makes him a noble character. “We are asked to trust this not as a sport, but rather as a well-considered and well-honed document. . . We are invited to experience and to appreciate this narrative in terms of its thought, its thoughtfulness, and its craft.” (Fertel, 159 –Free and Easy”)

Next, Twain uses characterization to portray the identities and qualities of characters. Huck Finn grew up in the South at a time where slavery and racism was relevant. Another important character from the story is Jim, an African-American male trapped in slavery. Characterization allows Twain to create a distinction between these two characters. Huck, a white male, seems to have a mild education. On the other hand, it is obvious to the reader that Jim is uneducated. Twain depicts Jim as the stereotypical moronic black man. In addition, character speech allows that reader to see the distinction in education amongst Huck and Jim. Huck's speech portrays a Southern accent by using words such as "ain't… [and] warn't" (130). However, Huck is understandable

An issue of central importance to Huckleberry Finn is the issue of race. The story takes place in a time of slavery, when blacks were considered inferior to whites, sometimes to the point of being considered less than fully human. But Huckleberry Finn challenges the traditional notions of the time, through its narrator and main character, Huckleberry Finn. While in the beginning, Huck is as unaware of the incorrectness of society’s attitudes as the rest of society is, he undergoes many experiences which help him to form his own perspective of racial issues. Through the adventures and misadventures of Huck Finn and the slave Jim, Twain challenges the traditional societal views of race and

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses essential pivotal moments to show the psychological evolution of the protagonist, Huckleberry Finn. The entire segment of life in which Huck is living in a cabin with his father shows development through, observing the de-evolvement of the situation around him, discerning freedom from captivity, as well as recognition of societal norms. Mark Twain uses this to show how the past that an individual comes from doesn’t define what one person’s future may