The Development of Individual Conscience in Twain's Huckleberry Finn

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

Mark Twain attempts to convey the corruption within society through the adventures that Jim and Huck are confronted with. Twain embodies a set view of conduct that differs from the rest of society within Huck’s character, although he does not fully accept his beliefs to be just. This sets Huck up for difficulties to conform to the standards of society, being that his initial instincts are frowned upon. Twain takes advantage of Huck’s situation and subtly incorporates his own views on society in his present day. It is difficult to alter one’s opinion, let alone the opinion of a whole society, so Twain aims to work in his own beliefs without losing attention of his reader. The moral of the story is obscured in order to communicate these beliefs

Huck, who is a child in a book, has a lot of room for development. In the beginning, he was taught to follow the rules of society like practicing Catholicism and refusing to associate with slaves. However, during Huck’s journey with Jim, he learns a valuable lesson about respecting people based on their character, despite what he was taught by Widow Douglas, Miss Watson, and Tom Sawyer. During the first few days of his journey, he pulls pranks on Jim, like attempting to trick him into thinking that getting lost in the fog was all a dream. However, later on in his journey, he refuses to follow the rules of society in order to save Jim. He even says “All right, then, I’ll go to hell” when he chooses not to tell Miss Watson Jim’s whereabouts (Twain 214). Jim in turn sees Huck as a great friend as well, thus showing how Huck is now seen as a

An early indication of Huck maturing is when he feels guilty about playing a joke on Jim. This acceptance of knowing he did something mean shows that he has gained a sense of responsibility. Another major step in Huck's maturity is when he decides to give Mary Jane back her stolen money. Huck footnotes, “I felt so ornery and low down and mean that I says to myself, my mind’s made up; I’ll hive the money for them or bust”(177). By saying this, it shows guilt in Huck's heart for the King and Duke’s criminal activity, and it shows a sense of morality that is developing inside of Huck. This morality developing in Huck blossoms when he decides to go after Jim. Huck then and there concludes, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell” (215). This display of a moral compass is one of the novel's most important representations of Huck's growing maturity. A continuation of Huck's moral compass is his empathetic reaction when he sees the Duke and King tarred and feathered running from an angry mob. Huck remarks, “Well, it made me sick to see it; and I was sorry for them poor pitiful rascals, it seemed like I couldn’t ever feel any hardness against them any more in the world. It was a dreadful thing to see. Human beings can be awful cruel to one another” (232). Even though the Duke and King were criminals and liars, because of Huck's now established maturity, he feels sorrow for the

Starting at the beginning of the novel, Miss Watson and the widow have custody of Huck. He praises a boy named Tom Sawyer who has decided he is going to start a gang. In order for Huck to join the gang, he has to agree to the murdering of his family if they break the rules. At this point in the book one of the boys realized that Huck did not have a real family. “They talked it over...and so I offered them Miss Watson-they could kill her.” (Twain 17-18). Here you bear witness to huck at his utmost point of immorality. A person with morals would not ever sacrifice the life of someone else just in order to be part of a gang. This is where you can consider the start of Huck’s Moral improvement.

Mark Twain once described his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as “a struggle between a sound mind and a deformed conscience”. Throughout the novel, Huck wrestles with the disparity between his own developing morality and the twisted conscience of his society. In doing so, he becomes further distanced from society, both physically and mentally, eventually abandoning it in order to journey to the western frontier. By presenting the disgust of Huck, an outsider, at the state of society, Mark Twain is effectively able to critique the intolerance and hypocrisy of the Southern South. In doing so, Twain asserts that in order to exist as a truly moral being, one must escape from the chains of a diseased society.

In the novel, Huck transformed from a irresponsible child to a responsible caring gentleman, which is proven in the novel by such events as when Huck feels regret for the trick he played on Jim, saving Jim, and getting medical help for

While Huck does not revert to his arbitrary way of making decisions, he does decide to move West, which is uncomfortably reminiscent of his early tendency to run from his problems in order to evade dealing with them. The commonalities between Huck’s early actions and later ones could be interpreted two ways. One interpretation is that Huck knew what was moral all along, he simply let society take hold of his emotions and divert him from a moral path. The second interpretation is that by having such stark similarities between Huck’s early and late mortality, Twain is implying that humans, at their core, are not as superbly moral as they are portrayed in religion, for example. Independent of these interpretations; however, is another idea worth noting: Huck only made “good” decisions when he experienced just the right amount of empathy. For example, Huck witnesses the Duke and King being tarred and feathered and feels bad for them, so bad for them; in fact, that Huck begins to feel guilty despite obviously having no role in what happened to them. Similarly, Huck’s chronic feelings of lonesomeness and displacement have dual effects. Huck’s empathy does not begin to develop until he is displaced from society as he knows it. Prior to Huck’s physically leaving his

Society can have a huge impact on an individual's moral growth. Sometimes the impact is positive but other times the learned habits and set morals of society have a negative effect. In Mark Twain's novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character, Huck, struggles with what society teaches him and with what he knows to be good and true. During different conflicts concerning either the king and duke, various women or Jim, Huck's sound heart wins the battle over his conscience, which the reader knows to be ill-formed.

Following Huck’s escape from his father’s cabin, Huck escapes with Jim, rafting the Mississippi while he becomes his older self who helps others, a sharp contrast to the kidnapped Huck who only aided himself. When Huck encounters Judith Loftus, he lies, telling her that he is a girl by the name of Sarah Mary Williams, and later that he is a runaway apprentice called George Peters (69). Huck continues lying for himself, reflecting the depth of Huck’s descent while with his father; however, the lie also helps Jim, so Huck displays a tiny amount of selflessness. Farther down the river, Huck lies to several men and tells them that Jim is a white man who has smallpox (101). By this point in the story, Huck begins lying to help others such as Jim, not just himself. He slowly loses the overwhelming desire to protect only himself that he developed while with his father. Huck

The fact that Huck gives a valid attempt at conformity signifies that he has somewhat of an interest in becoming what is considered "normal", and thereby pleasing the Widow Douglas. There is a sense that Huck has a genuine gratitude towards the Widow Douglas for taking an interest in his well being, especially since she appears to be the only one that does so. However, given that his attempts are short-lived, it can be assumed that Huck's desire to adhere to his personal virtues overpowers his desire to become civilized or to please the Widow Douglas.

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

The moral code of individuals shape their personality and contribute to the thoughts of people in society. Twain uses Jim to signify the journey Huck takes regarding his ethical values: “People would call me a low-down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum—but that don't make no difference” (Twain 43). Twain shows how Jim’s relationship to Huck makes him question what society teaches him about the lower class. When individuals encounter issues that question their ethical values, the result reassures their moral code. The decisions that people make happen for a reason. Therefore, every decision that individuals make reflect their principles. Additionally, in “Huck, Jim, and American Racial Discourse,” David Smith examines the topic of Jim’s role through the effects he has on Huck. As a moral figure, Jim allows Huck to develop his ethical values while using his own

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

Despite an ardent view on slavery evident through interactions with Jim, Huck’s slowly shifting view of Jim from that of ignorance to seeming acceptance expresses his ability to stray from flawed societal values to his own developed moral code of conduct. This becomes evident when Huck protects Jim from men who board his raft, by hinting he has smallpox. Although one can see this as compassion for Jim, Huck questions with racist undertones, “s’pose you done right and give Jim up; would you felt better than you do now? No, says I, I’d feel bad” (Twain 127). However, he later affirms himself to “do whatever come handiest at the time.” (Twain 127). At this point, society still influences Huck, but his statement marks his decision to detach from societal values, and eventually allows him to form his own views on Jim. This comes slowly, as Huck cannot shake free from racism.