Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay
Morality and consciousness are complex elements of human nature. Renowned writer Mark Twain is acknowledged for his understanding of elements such as these through his character Huckleberry Finn in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Widow Douglas is civilly raising young and conflicted Huckleberry Finn after his uncouth drunkard father abandoned him. Huckleberry Finn, who first appears truthful, later reveals his dishonesty and inner mischief. In order to aid his friends, Huck alters his sense of morality to allow for deceit.
Huck first appears honest with a strong sense of morality. Often, Huck would remain truthful even when faced with controversy. One such conflict involved the return of his abusive
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Lying and providing misleading information are Huck’s preferred ways of getting out of trouble. Following an unfortunate river accident in which Huck was thrown overboard by a steamboat collision, Huck finds himself in the company of the Grangerfords family. In response to an array of questions posed about his life thus far, Huck fabricates tales of his prior adventures, “I told them how pap and me and all the family was living on a little farm down at the bottom of Arkansaw... and then there warn't nobody but just me and pap left… so when he died I took what there was left… and started up the river… that was how I come to be here” (110). Fearful of being discovered as a runaway, Huckleberry Finn decides to spew lies of hardship and loneliness to be accepted by the loving family of Grangerfords. This tendency towards mendacity as opposed to truth is proof of Huckleberry Finn’s inner dishonesty when faced with conflict. Having received comfort and new friends from his previous lies, Huck continues to lie throughout the novel. Accompanied by two men who call themselves the Duke and King, Huck is an accomplice in robbing a mourning family of their deceased father’s property. Speculation has arose of this scandalous heist and Levi Bell, the lawyer in charge of the will, accusingly confronts Huck, “I reckon you ain’t used to lying, it don’t seem to come handy; what you want is practice. You do it pretty awkward” (189). Plainly …show more content…
Jim has accompanied Huckleberry Finn throughout his adventures and with the backing of a youngster’s cunningness; Jim was able to escape the most unfavorable of situations. Embarking on a journey towards freedom, Jim has found himself once more captured and forced into slavery. Faced with a moral dilemma of stealing or continuing on with his own life Huck explains his decision, “I shoved the whole thing out of my head, and said I would take up wickedness again… And for a starter I would go to work and steal Jim out of slavery again” (201). Transforming his conscious and sense of morality, Huck justifies his wickedness when attempting to save Jim. A friend’s life is valued higher to Huck than a clean soul. No prayer can allow Huckleberry Finn to cope with the loss of his friend as opposed to coping with misbehavior. In cooperation with Tom Sawyer, Huck goes to extreme lengths to save his companion, Jim. Strategic planning between the two boys leads Huck to express, “Letting on don’t cost nothing; letting on ain’t no trouble; and if it’s any object, I don’t mind letting on we was at it a hundred and fifty year. It wouldn’t strain me none after I got my hand in. So I’ll mosey along now…” (225). Disregarding the amount of time or effort he has to contribute, Huckleberry Finn is determined to save Jim at any cost. He’s even stated he will begin right away. Tricking the adults into
Mark Twain's novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, encompasses a wide variety of moral implications faced by the main character, Huckleberry Finn. In the beginning, Huck was forced to decide what to do regarding his father. He could continue to subside to his father's actions, which would result in more abuse, or he could run away to escape the trauma he faced at home. Huck chose the latter, and embarked on a journey down the Mississippi River with Jim, the escaped slave. Throughout his journey, Huck would face many more difficult moral decisions. From realizing he was inadvertently helping Jim escape slavery, to ruining the Duke and King's plan, young Huckleberry Finn was forced to
In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, the main character Huck matures throughout the book due to a sense of growing morality and accepting responsibility for his actions. The character of Huckleberry Finn is introduced to the reader as a lower class, uneducated kid with no manners that is influenced by a greedy society. As the novel progresses Huck into a wonderful, strong character that has dug deep into what it means to be an individual, and by becoming mature, he has also escaped from the negative way society depicts African Americans.
Their morality allows deceit and betrayal, as long as there is a benefit. Huck takes pity on these men and allows them to ride in his boat to safety. The Duke and Dauphin begin by conversing about their true identities, and how they are both connected to royalty. In Huck’s narration, he states that “these liars warn't no kings nor dukes, at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds” (Chapter 19). Huck is able to see right through their deceitful tendencies. Huck however, does not want any trouble, so he lets them continue the charade. These men have no regard for damage that they cause through their lies. Huck is not fond of them, and believes that they are genuinely bad men. Furthermore, Mark Twain portrays the Duke and Dauphin more as silly, and unaware than damaging to others. Through Huck’s narration, Mark Twain is able to convey the message that these men are rascals and will never amount to anything more. For example, as the Duke and Dauphin travel through towns, they con the people by demanding money for tickets to their show, and putting on bad or short performance. In one town, they put on a performance called “The Royal Nonesuch” (Chapter 22). The Duke and Dauphin convince the townspeople to buy tickets to see a play for three nights. All goes well until the third night. On the last night, their comedy act successfully get the audience laughing; however, the play only lasts
American author Mark Twain was one of the most influential people of his time. Twain is perhaps best known for his traditional classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a novel about an adventurous boy named Huck Finn as he traverses about on the Mississippi. Under first impressions, Huckleberry Finn would be considered nothing but a children’s tale at heart written by the highly creative Mark Twain. However one interprets it, one can undoubtedly presume that Twain included personal accounts within its pages, humorous and solemn opinions on the aspects of the diverse societies around him during his life. Throughout the entire story, Huck Finn would often come into conflict between choosing what was consciously right and what was morally
Huck Finn, a narcissistic and unreliable young boy, slowly morphs into a courteous figure of respect and selflessness. After Pap abducts the young and civilized Huck, Huck descends into his old habits of lies and half-truths. However, upon helping a runaway slave escape, Huck regains morality and a sense of purpose. Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck lies to characters, casting the authenticity of the story into doubt but illustrating Huck’s gradual rejection of lying for himself and a shift towards lying for others.
The moral development of Huckleberry Finn in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is constant. As the novel progresses there are many situations and examples of Huck’s moral development as his journey goes on. Huck struggles to decipher between right and wrong when it comes to protecting Jim, leaving his father, and dealing with the con-men. Huckleberry Finn is faced with the decision of agreeing with society's views on african americans or treating Jim as a real human being. Huck has spent his entire life being raised to believe african americans are less important than others and was constantly submerged in the culture of slavery.
The comrades allow the two strangers to ride along, even though they don’t know who they are. The men claim to be a King and a Duke, though Huck quickly figures out that they are con men. Everyone seems fairly oblivious to the fact though so Huck keeps quiet and plays along with their schemes. The men commit fraud and fool a town family into believing that they are to inherit the fortune of their deceased family member. This here is a point in which Huck’s morality comes to play, he is frankly disgusted by the men’s actions. Though he believes what they’re doing to the family is cruel, Huck hasn’t said anything to the family. He observes the situation for a while, to see how far the men intend to go with their schemes. At first glance, this doesn’t seem like a fair display of good morality, but it is in a sense for Huck is able to form the conclusion that these men aren’t good and resolves to return the money back to the rightful owners. This is also another huge milestone, revealing the truth about the men and giving back what they have stolen. Huck is able to identify when someone is doing wrong by harming another person and figures out how to fix it. There are many people who would turn the other cheek for they would believe that it is not their problem, but Huck believes he needs to make things right, and that is a huge display of character on his behalf. In
Throughout the classic novel of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain we see a lot of moral development with the main character Huckleberry Finn. Throughout the story Huck’s friendships greatly influence his moral identity. Throughout the series of events that unfold upon our main character, Huck Finn, we see huge moral leaps in the way he thinks that are influenced by that friendships he makes on his journey. He starts the book as a young minded individual with no sense morals other than what has been impressed onto him and ends up as a self empowering individual. Through the friendships he makes with Tom Sawyer, Jim, and the Duke and King we see big moral leaps with Huck.
In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the young protagonist Huckleberry Finn runs away from his abusive father with Jim, a black slave. Throughout the novel, Huck encounters people that fail to understand the injustice of slavery and violence, despite their education. Although Huck lacks any substantial education, his moral values and judgment are highly developed. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses uneducated, colloquial diction and deliberate syntax to provide ironic contrast between Huck’s rudimentary level of education and profound use of moral judgment.
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
Huck lies in order to keep Jim safe; however by doing so he is risking his own life to help Jim, a runaway slave. Huck begins to familiarize himself with Jim to the point where Jim almost becomes like a father to him, and in a way, Jim is able to mold Huck’s mind into what it is supposed to be, not what society wants it to be. His is shown when huck tricks Jim and then is able to humble himself to him and apologize; he drops society’s ideas here as he is apologizing to a worthless runaway slave in the eyes of society. This shows Hucks abandonment of society and the nest sign of significant growth of conscience:
Often times Huck found himself in a moral dilemma on whether to do what society instilled in him or to do what he thinks should be done. Huck betrayed those feelings of “what society would want” him to do in order to be a good friend to Jim, putting his own self up at risk again for Jim. Jim was being held captive by Huck’s current host and Huck, abandoning his duties of his superior race and being a good Christian, as the Widow called it Huck suddenly has an epiphany “All right then, I'll go to hell!” as he goes to “steal Jim out of slavery” (212). Seeing the situation through Huck’s perspective it gives the reader every little detail that goes into his thought process in his decision making. These types of actions were considered wrong by society at that time and place but Huck sets that all aside and does what he feels is the right thing. Most of the time Huck has to think on his feet making the decision making process even more difficult, like the time when Huck was going to give Jim up as a runaway slave. “Then I thought a minute, and says to myself, hold on, s’pose you’d ‘a’ done right and give Jim up, would you feel better than what you do now? No, says I, I’d feel bad---I’d feel just the same way I do now” (91). Even through Huck’s dialect you can see him argue with himself on what the right thing to is, but he throws out what society would do and does what his heart tells him. Through Huck arguing
Almost all novels depict morals or the author's view on any given subject. Although many people start to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn thinking that it is a simple novel on a boy's childhood, they soon come to realize that the author, Mark Twain, expresses his opinions on multiple important, political issues. Twain touches on subjects such as slavery, money and greed, society and civilization, and freedom. From the time of its publication, Huckleberry Finn has been distinguished as a novel with prodigious political positions and messages. Throughout the novel, Twain continuously shows the hypocrisy and absurdity of civilized society.
.” (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”)
In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain presents the problem of slavery in America in the 19th Century. Twain poses this problem in the form of a character named Huckleberry Finn, a white boy raised in the antebellum South. Huck starts to question his view regarding slavery when he acquaints himself more intimately with a runaway slave while he himself tries to run away. Huck’s development as a character is affected by society’s influence on his experiences while growing up in the South, running away with Jim, and trying to save Jim. Although Huck decides to free Jim, Huck’s deformed conscience convinces him that he is doing the wrong thing.