Racism In Huck Finn Essay

Huck's observation and reaction to the feud of the two families has reinforced his conscience about the chaos of white society in comparison to Negroes. Huck's reaction in regards to the King and the Duke is also an important point in Huck's development as a person. Huck, having been exposed and shown the immoral and corrupt products of society has grown strong enough to work against society in the end. This development has allowed huck go approach society in a more skeptical manner and to confront and accept that society and the world is not Widow Douglas' delusional mirage. This resulted in Huck to have more confidence in his relationship with Jim and loosened his bond with society's immoral

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a Mark Twain classic, wonderfully demonstrates pre-Civil War attitudes about blacks held by whites. Twain demonstrates these attitudes through the actions and the speech of Huckleberry Finn, the narrator, and Jim, Miss Watson's slave. These two main characters share a relationship that progresses from an acquaintance to a friendship throughout the novel. It is through this relationship that Mark Twain gives his readers the realization of just how different people's attitudes were before the Civil War. Twain also reveals the negative attitudes of whites toward blacks by the cruel manner in which Jim is treated with such inferiority.

At first, Huck enjoyed his new setting and life in the cabin, but eventually he started to grow sick of being locked up for long periods of time. He began to get annoyed at seeing his father getting drunk and violent all the time. He says, "But by-and-by pap got too handy with his hick'ry, and I couldn't stand it. I was all over welts. He got to going away so much, too, and locking me in." (Twain 1216).

During Huck and Jim's travel down the river, they meet several people that prove to be obstacles in their overall goal to freedom. One of the more significant antagonists in Huck Finn is Pap, Huck's drunken father, ‘’By and by re rolled out and jumped up on his feet looking wild… He chased me round and round with a clasp-knife, calling me the Angel of Death, and saying that he would kill me.’’ (Twain 29). This event is essentially what finally made Huck abandon any desire he had left to be part of society and instead to stand on his own morals and not let society dictate what he does. Pap is the reason that Huck and Jim first met on the island and he is virtually what started their adventure. Also Pap’s next appearance in the book plays an essential role in the bonding of Huck and Jim. As previously mentioned throughout the story readers see how Jim takes the fatherly role, well that all began when Pap’s dead body washed up in a house on shore and Jim protects Huck from the pain of seeing his dead father. All this to say that Pap one of the major antagonists in the story, plays a big role in strengthening the bond between Huck and Jim. This bond eventually becomes the reason for why Huck is unable to turn in his friend; thus once again proving that self-morals are more influential than society's ethics. To continue, like Pap, Prince John has no regards for the feelings

Huck fights against the ideals of civilization throughout the book on many different occasions. As Bruce King the author of Huckleberry Finn a paper analyzing Hucks rejection of society states Huck “lives by a personal code of conduct, without references to the judgements of society” (King par 1). This is very

In the beginning of the novel, Huck feels as if the adults in his life are restricting him, hampering his ability to do the things he likes. Huck seemingly has a strong distaste for conforming to the structures of society, specifically for the Widow’s attempts to make him conform to society. Huck explains that while he appreciates the things she gives him, he is strongly opposed to her belief that he needs to be more civilized, saying, “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” (2). While on land, Huck’s life is filled with rules and order, something he despises. The river allows Huck to escape these rules, allowing him to be free.

She makes him bathe, dress well, use manners and go to school. This is what Huck knows as civilization. The only thing he receives for being civilized is the love and affection the widow gives him, other than that he much rather live with pap. When he is with pap he can wander the woods get his own food when he wants, bathe when he wants and dress how he wants. The thing that pushes him back is the way pap treats him.

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).

In order for Huck to challenge any of the values and assumptions of the time he must first be acquainted with them.  And he is not only intimately acquainted with the values of his society but he holds many of its beliefs himself.  But Huck longs for freedom away

He like the majority of the Deep South’s population was forced to submit to popular religion in the form of Christianity, being racist and not being able to criticize the institution of slavery, as well as acting like a “proper” boy and being civilized with manors, rules, and restrictions. However, he is the polar opposite of the ideals expressed by his society. Huck is forced to reside with Widow Douglas, he describes the experience in the first chapter, “She took me… allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time … I wanted to smoke, and asked the widow to let me. But she wouldn't. She said… I must try to not do it any more.” (Twain, 2). In this particular environment, Huck is forcefully civilized by the Widow Douglas as well as Miss Watson. This essentially shows an indirect form of slavery in which Huck is forced to do as society and his elders dictate regardless of what he believes in which many of us are also subject to. This enslaves him and leads him to decide that he needs to relocate himself as far away from society as possible. Therefore, he forges his death and runs away meeting Jim on the way. This idea of Huck being controlled by society influences him through the novel, for instance he thinks about turning Jim in because it is wrong to steal since Jim is

From the early stages of his life, Huck was raised in a lifestyle that society deemed was the “Truth” and the “right way”, but as Huck grows he had adventures through nature and that taught him lessons that he himself accepted. Conflicted by these two polar opposite lessons, he chose to end up with nature as he leave most of society’s “way of life” behind and proceeds to exploring nature’s. From the very start, Huck never really belonged in society because Huck “..said I wished I was there. [Miss Watson] got mad then, but I didn’t mean no harm. All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change, I warn’t particular” (Twain

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

In the story “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, Huck didn’t know his place in society until he lived both worlds. A woman took him in and tried to civilize him, but Huck didn’t like civilized life. In the end, Huck’s place in society was in the uncivilized life.

Huck was brought up and raised without any rules, and he has a strong opposition to anything that might "sivilize" him. This is first shown in the first chapter when the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson tried to pressure Huck to wear new clothes, give up smoking, go to school, to study religion and the Bible, and to "sivilize" him. On the other hand, Tom Sawyer, who lives in a completely civilized world, represents civilization and symbolizes the idealism of civilization. Tom is always looking for adventures and ways to escape from the irrational conduct of civilization.

Illustrated in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain reveals Huck’s character as honest and transparent; Widow Douglas wants to civilize Huck because he has no manners and she wants to save his soul. Huck portrays to the audience that he is truthful and honest. In Widow Douglas view Huck should be respected by white society which means having to wear new clothes and having to come to supper when called. Huck tries to defy the norms of society by running away from it. As a result of leaving society Huck feels free (para. 2). Huck feels free from society because he feels like society was changing him into someone he is not (para. 2). Society to Huck is condoning slavery and racism. Huck acts “uncivilized” according to Ms. Watson because Huck can’t spell nor behave properly and she is concerned that he will not go to the good place (para. 6). Huck doesn’t want to go to the good place because its is full of white society. Ms. Watson’s interpretation of the good place reveals the ignorance of her society because she believes that in heaven would be a great place with people playing harps and singing all the time (para. 7). Huck doesn’t want to go to heaven because if his best friend wasn’t going he wasn’t going either and he wanted to be with him.