The Battle Between Heart and Conscience in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn

In the middle of the book, Huck starts to distinguish what is the right thing to do. He starts to think if all the things he was doing before with Jim and Tom were too mean and stupid to do. One specific example is when he decides to steal the money that the king and duke have, “I got to steal that money somehow; and I got to steal it some way that they wont suspicion I done it." (Twain 133) After Huck stole the money Huck and Jim didn’t feel bad at all, and knew that they did the right thing after all. He learns that not everyone can be scammed on, that the real life is important and that you can’t do anything stupid like that. He sees eye to eye with Jim and realizes that he cant have someone taken advantage of just because of their

During his journey with Jim, Huck begins to understand his own beliefs better. He comes across many people who test those beliefs and he grows internally because of it. When Huck and Jim discover The Walter Scott, a wrecked steam boat, Huck decides to go on and have an adventure. He discovers two robbers threatening to kill a third. As he?s leaving, Huck feels genuinely sorry for these robbers who are stranded on the wreck. The fact that he is able to feel badly for these terrible people shows that he is maturing. After he comes on land, Huck meets the Sheperdsons who show him the nature of human violence through their feud with the Grangerford family. Huck matures through witnessing the feud and also begins to comprehend the hypocrisy of religion:

When the two conmen attempt to swindle three young girls out of their inheritance Huck is so outraged the he decides he must put a stop to it pushing him further and further from people and society:

I tried to, but the words wouldn't come. I tried for a second or two to brace up and out with it, but I warn't man enough—hadn't the spunk of a rabbit. I see I was weakening; so I just give up trying, and up and says: 'He's white'” (90). He has this cunning talent, just as the king and the duke do, and so takes advantage of it numerous times throughout the novel, although not in the same context as these corrupt figures of society do. Huck employs this ability for the sake of helping others as well as himself. He lies about his past and intentions to prevent complications for those he cares about, while the untrustworthy characters deceive others for no reason but profitable opportunities. This quote further displays what is going through Huck's mind as he attempts to decide right from wrong. When asked if the man on board was white or black, Huck was planning on telling the truth, with the argument that the ethical decision would be to return Jim to his rightful owner, but an encouragement inside him pushed to keep the truth away from the slave hunters. He was under the impression that this urge was the lack of masculinity, the fact that he did not have the manpower in himself to allow Jim to leave him alone. However, this feeling was the integrity forcing him to realize that the moral decision would be, ironically to lie. The influence of the king and duke do show Huck an opportunity of an easy

They often profit off of others' misfortunes. They are what Huck could become if he was to continue his habit of lying which he had in the beginning of the novel. In fact, with them being professional liars, their whole purpose is to reveal to Huck the terribleness that comes with lying in order to exploit others. This is emphasized through the event of the Wilks brothers con. In this con, Duke and King pretend to be the brothers of the recently deceased Peter Wilks, in an effort to acquire the large inheritance that would have been given to the real brothers. All the while, Huck knows the truth as to what is happening, and feels terrible about it. Huck's opinion on the matter was that, "It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race (Twain 165). Huck recognizes the terribleness of the situation he is in, but still doesn't do anything about it. He seems to have reached a setback here, which is most evident when he tells another lie, which indirectly helps Duke and King with their scene. This is the lie he tells to Joanna, a member of the Wilks family, while eating dinner. Joanna Questions Huck about the validity of his story, and Huck swears that everything he has said has been true: "Not a lie in it (Twain 177)". However, after this moment, Huck immediately realizes his mistake, "I felt so ornery and low down and mean", and vows that, "[he'll] hive that money for them or bust (Twain 178)." Huck then steals the money away from Duke and King, so that they would not get

In the novel, Huck learns a big lesson. Huck bonds with Jim causing him to rethink many things he is taught. Jim exclaims, “‘Dah you goes, de ole true Huck, de on’y white genlmen dat ever kep’ his promise to ole Jim’” (Twain 83). Jim is a slave, therefore, he is not treated with much kindness.

Huck's lies were meant to be for the greater good, in contrast to lies told to trick and deceit characters in the book. The Duke and the King are the perfect symbols of evil liars. Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, they intentionally attempted to scam people for their own personal gain. For example, the King and the Duke impersonate Wilk's two English brothers to get money from a family who just lost a family member.

Huck is uneasy, for he seldom admits the truth in a situation. However, Huck explains the scam to Mary Jane, and he gives her clear instructions, hoping to restore peace to the Wilks family (Twain 198-200). As Yanxia Sang states,

Huck rejects lying early in the novel, a testament to his successful training bestowed upon him by the Widow Douglass and other townspeople. Huck begins the story by lecturing the

He can see that the King and the Duke treat others unfairly. As he puts it at first,”It didn't take me long to make up my mind that these liars...[were] just low-down humbugs and frauds....If I never learned nothing else out of pap, I learnt that the best way to get along with his kind of people is to let them have their own way.”( 100) However, Huck comes to realize the wrongs they do to society. The particular incident where this occurs is when they take advantage of orphaned girls. Huck decides to tell Mary Jane what liars they are, stating “...here's a case where I'm blest if it don't look to me like the truth is better and actually safer than a lie." (132) Huck clearly views the girls as equal to him, knowing that it is the morally right thing to help a white family. This is Twain’s irony appearing in the book again, as Huck can see all the wrongs in society, except the big one of slavery. He truly believes that helping a white family is meritable, while helping a black slave will send him to

Feeling bad about letting Joanna and the other girls be swindled by the two imposters, Huck decides to “…hive that money for them or bust” (160). Huck’s own morals tell him that letting the two con artists get away with all of the Wilkes’ money is wrong, and that it should be righted. The development of Huck is important to understand and is a reason why many people think The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be

In “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, Huck has a struggle between his conscience and his good heart, and the heart wins in a surprising twist. However, this victory comes about because of outside factors. Huck’s experiences with Jim throughout the book influence his decision making and his eventual decision to trust his heart rather than his conscience.

When the King and Duke try to scam the Wilks family, Huck decides to steal the money back from the King and Duke to give to the sisters. "I says to myself, this is another one that I'm letting him rob her of her money... I felt so ornery and low down and mean that I says to myself, My mind’s made up: I'll hive that money for them or bust" (181-182). Huck's actions show integrity because he did not have to steal the money back but he chose to do the right thing. Another lesson that Huck learns is the value of his friendship with Jim.

Mohandas Gandhi once said, “Morality is rooted in the purity of our hearts.” However, it may not hold true in Twain’s novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In the novel, the protagonist Huck Finn’s morality and perception of others is shaped by the society he lives in, demonstrating that an individual’s morality or the epistemological sense of right and wrong can be largely influenced by society and the living environment. Yet despite strong traditions of the 19th century south, Huck is able to live away from the “civilized” world, leaving behind his hometown and travelling down the Mississippi river with Jim, a runaway slave. Huck’s unusual experiences with Jim contrast with his predetermined notions of race and power in the midst of the Jim Crow Era, thrusting Huck into a great crisis of morality dictated by his consciousness instead of his intellect. Through Huck’s journey in the search of morality, Twain conveys the theme that that morality is dictated by society, despite the goodness of an individual’s consciousness, it is difficult for and individual to intellectually challenge societal paradigms.

In the novel, all characters are flawed, and face internal struggles about their moral conscience and actions. The conflicts Huck faces within himself are used to highlight the racist mentality that has infected the South. For example, when he lies about his “family” in the raft being terribly contagious in order to keep Jim from being discovered, the protagonist feels “bad and low” thinking “[he] has done wrong” (Twain, 1344). Huck’s warped conscience, but good heart shows how the prejudicial attitude of this region is deeply ingrained within people who are truly good at heart, and have been conditioned to believe that the nature of slavery is not cruel. Huck’s initial conversation with Ms. Sally demonstrates this. For example, when reporting about a steamboat accident to her, Huck and Ms. Sally share a great amount of relief that “only a nigger” was killed in the wreck (Twain 1422). Twain’s racist, yet kind characters are deeply flawed by the mentality which permeates society. However, these individuals can have a greater effect of and connection with the reader, as audiences tend to empathize with these characters, especially when they are able to overcome personal struggles. Huck’s decision to “go to hell” and “steal Jim out of slavery” no matter the cost, represents the protagonist’s transcendence of his initial conscience