Themes of Morality and Racism in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry Finn is a young boy who struggles with complex issues such as empathy, guilt, fear, and morality in Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". There are two different sides to Huck. One is the subordinate, easily influenced boy whom he becomes when under the "guide" of Tom Sawyer. His other persona surfaces when he is on his own, thinking of his friendship with Jim and agonizing over which to trust: his heart or his conscience. When Huck's ongoing inner struggle with his own duality forces him to makes difficult and controversial choices, the reader sees a boy in the throes of moral development. And it is, indeed, a struggle. Although Huck believes in the rules of the harshly racist society in which he lives, a deeper and

Mark Twain has always been one of the most controversial authors of all time. Though in recent years, there has been increasing controversy over the ideas expressed in his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In some extreme cases the novel has even been banned by public school systems and censored by public libraries. The basis for this censorship is the argument that Mark Twain's book is racist, but in reality Twain was against racism and used this book to make people aware of what was going on in the south. He did this by using the regional dialect of the south, showing the attitude of the other characters in the novel toward black people, and showing his depiction of black characters. If one were to "read between the lines"

There are many instances throughout the book where Huck doesn't do what's considered morally right in society back then. One example of this is when Huck is struggling to decide whether or not he should listen to his heart and treat Jim like a normal human being or if he should listen to his conscience and turn Jim in to the slave hunters like any other white man or woman would do back then, but he just cant get himself to do it because he knows that Jim is a great friend who has, on multiple occasions, risked his life and also his freedom to save Huck. Huck tells Jim "I said I

Throughout the realistic, historical fiction novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, the main character, “Huck,” shows blatantly racist ideologies. Constantly, Huck’s internal conflict between helping a fugitive slave and turning him in divides him. Huck ultimately ends up helping the slave, Jim, but treats him as subhuman, and takes advantage of his companionship. Shown in the novel, Huck does not learn to stop being racist. This is made clear in chapters where he allows others to make fun of Jim, refers to Jim as “ my nigger,” lies to Jim, etc. Huckleberry Finn was brought up in the south during the 1830’s-1840’s, where slavery was legal, black people were treated as subhuman, and racism was heavily influenced. Although it may not be Huck’s fault that he is racist, due to all of the societal pressure and influence he receives, his words and thoughts show that he is undoubtledy a racist.

“I tried to make out to myself… I couldn't get around that, noway." (p.82) Here we see that Huck is debating with himself trying to determine whether or not the choice to help Jim escape was right or wrong. While he tries to rationalize his actions by claiming he wasn’t the one who made Jim run, his conscience attempts to push his southern values onto him. This conflict between Huck and his conscience demonstrates how Huck wants to help Jim, but also doesn’t want to go against the southern morals that were ingrained in

By creating a setting in south during slave era, the novel is able to convey Twain's ideals of antislavery. The issue of race is addressed in this novel not only through the setting, but also through Huck rejecting society's view on black for his own. It is through Huck, the one who is not influenced, that shows that Twain wrote this book to express how he believed that society's influence is extremely strong in guiding one's thoughts and actions, but however strong that influence is, it is possible to overcome. Through the injustice, racism appears along with the protagonist who fights against it. The fight is not against a single character, but rather an idea itself, the belief that blacks were inferior solely based on their skin

The grasping novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is written by the author Mark Twain. It is set in St. Petersburg, Missouri, on the banks of the Missouri River. Considering this novel was most likely written in the mid 1800s, people are treated differently than others depending on their skin color, gender, or religion. Twain wanted the protagonist, Huck Finn, to make a point of equality. This is made obvious when Huck befriends an African-American house slave, Jim. Equality is a strong message in this novel: from the color of your skin, to your reading level, to your social class. Huck has very strong opinions and feelings about everyone he encounters.

When Huck found an island to stay on that was along the river that he would be traveling, he met Miss Watson’s runaway slave, Jim. At first, Huck was hesitant because he had been taught his whole life that slavery was a normal, and acceptable, phenomenon. However, Huck felt that he owed it to Jim to help him get to freedom. This is one of the first examples of Huck becoming a favorable and moral person. Huck and Jim had this conversation that showed Huck’s moral development early in the story. “But mind, you said you wouldn’t tell- you know you said you wouldn’t tell, Huck’ ‘Well, I did. I said I wouldn’t, and I’ll stick to it. Honest injun, I will. People would call me a low-down abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum- but that don’t make no difference. I ain’t a-going back there, anyways” (Twain 51). Here it is proven how even though Huck was taught that slavery was acceptable, he knew that he should save Jim because it was the morally appropriate thing to

Mark Twain purposely places Huck Finn, a young narrator, in a hatred filled, hypocritical society, to demonstrate the obstacles that must be overcome for him to break free of the learned racism so he can develop into an open minded human being. Firstly,

As a result of his relationship he’s developed with Jim, Huck settles the internal conflict of how he was raised in Mississippi versus his own feelings. While trying to figure if his action of helping Jim was morally correct, Huck says, “Hold on,-s’pose you’d done right and give Jim up; would you felt better than what you do now? No, says I, I’d feel bad-I’d feel just the same way I do now,” (Twain, 113). Huck figures that it’s more trouble to take the action that is socially accepted than to follow his conscious and not have to worry about it. Huck decides not to bother with the thought, because weather continues to help Jim or, he would feel the same regardless of his action. Huck is now free of conscious and he is willing to further support Jim on his journey towards freedom. As a slave, Jim does labor for his masters for free, because he is considered property. However, on the raft with Huck after receiving $40 from the slave catchers, Jim and Huck “talked about the money. It was a pretty good raise, twenty dollars apiece,” (Twain, 114). Huck willingly splits the money with Jim without any remorse or hesitation, an action that a typical member of the southern society would not attempt. Huckleberry Finn is a unique character, one that is not bound to the shackles of society, but is able to transcend the mental boundaries society tries to place upon him, because his ethical nature is stronger than voices of

Although Huck admitted that it was wrong to free a slave in God’s and society’s eyes, he couldn’t find fault in Jim and couldn’t betray him after all they’d been through. Huck was wrestling with the climactic decision of whether or not to turn Jim over, or help him escape. During this process Huck states, "And I see Jim before me all the time. But I couldn't seem to strike no places to harden me against him. He would always call me honey, and pet me, and do everything...said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world"( Twain 214). The reason that this event is so important in the book as well as a life lesson is that it shows the power of emotion, feeling, and the heart. Huck befriended Jim and built a strong father-son friendship that persuaded him to declare “All right, then, I’ll go to hell”( Twain 214). A final decision was made in which the heart won over the conscience. Society, however forceful, was overcome and abandoned by Huck, who broke the constraints and made a critical decision to become independent and put into place his own individualistic and moral

Huck’s first moral decision to not turn Jim in is one of thought for Huck. Huck has a hard time with deciding what to do with Jim because Jim is a slave and the world that Huck has grown up in is one where those that

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

Huck uses his morality to make a decision while in a conflict with slave hunters. . His decision came naturally to him. Huck knew that helping a slave was against society and was very frowned upon. However, Huck decided to help Jim anyways. Huck knew people were looking them because Jim was a runaway slave. Instead of leaving Jim he made sure Jim was safe and helped him.Huck realized people were after him and Jim when he was told “The nigger run off the very night Huck Finn was killed. So there’s a reward out for him—three hundred dollars.” (Twain 63). As he realizes people are coming after them Huck exclaims, “Git up and hump yourself, Jim! There ain't a minute to lose. They're after us!”(Twain 68). The conflict is between Huck

Society can change from a person’s influence based on their ideas and nature. However, some people would not agree with a person’s influence and left isolated and be free from the society. Everyone usually agrees mostly everything and that within our lives, those ideas could support and are difficult to revolt and cause a permanent problem for people who do not support the person’s ideas and left isolated. Regardless of the perception, people have different opinions and it could lead catastrophic on a society.