Huckleberry Finn – The Changes of His Character Throughout the Novel
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is a novel about a young man's search for identity. Huckleberry Finn goes through some changes and learns some life lessons throughout his journey. Huck changes from being just an immature boy at the beginning of the novel to being a more mature man who looks at things in a different perspective now.
In the beginning of the novel, Huck tends to have an immature side to him. There are some things in the beginning that show that Huck still has a very childish side to him. "They get down on one thing when they don't know nothing about it." (Twain 2) This is showing the ignorance and stubbornness that all children experience throughout life. He thinks as if everything he does is right and everyone else is wrong. "That all comes of my being such a fool as to not remember that wherever you leave a dead snake its mate always comes there and curls around it." (Twain 40) This goes one step further. This shows Huck's Immaturity and Stupidity gone one step too far when he puts the snake in Jim's bed and he ends up getting bit by it. If Huck was more mature and less childish he wouldn't have been playing this so called joke on Jim. Huck learns that jokes have a limit to them at times and need to be thought out more clearly.
When the middle of the novel comes around Huck begins to distinguish what is right and wrong in life and begins to mature and do the right thing. He shows this when he chooses not to partake in the scam that the King and the Duke are playing on the Wilks family. Instead he takes the money back from the King and Duke to hide it because he believes it is only fair to the family. "I'm letting him rob her of her money...I feel so ornery and low...I got to steal that money somehow; and I got to steal it some way that they wont suspicion I done it" (Twain 133) This shows that Huck is starting to see the line between games and real life. Even though the King and the Duke turn scamming people into a game Huck notices that it is unfair to the family and decides to take it upon himself to stop them. This shows that he is beginning to mature and turn into a man. He learns that no one should be taken advantage of for the personal benefit of another.
By the end of the novel Huck now realizes no matter how bad someone is their life is still of worth. This shows true maturity because and immature person would want someone to get what they deserve rather than think about the worth of their life first. "Well it made me sick to see it; and I was sorry for them poor pitiful rascals...It was a dreadful thing to see." (Twain 174) By Huck saying this about the King and the Duke, after they got tarred and feathered shows that he is maturing and has a true heart. For Huck to overlook the fraudulent things the King and Duke Partook in and feel sorry for their punishment even though they might have deserved it shows that his mind has matured from a boy into a man.
In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck learns some valuable lessons on him journey to rescue Jim. He learns the value of life, the line between right and wrong, and how the immaturity of some degree of jokes can threaten lives of others if not properly thought out. It is clear that Huck found his identity as a caring and thoughtful person by the end of this novel. He matured from a boy all about games into a man that now understands new aspects on life.
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