Enviromental Influence in Huckleberry Finn

The environment that someone is in can greatly affect his or her actions, decisions, and way of life. In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, Huck is faced with many tough decisions. Huck is a young, white boy, raised in the south. His father is a drunk, and doesn’t teach Huck good morals. As we continue in the book, Huck is faced with the decision, to free a runaway slave, or not. Growing up in the south, he was taught that whites were always better than Negros. But Huck goes against his teachings and continues to help Jim escape to freedom.

Huck’s father was an abusive drunk, so legal custody of Huck was switched over to Widow Douglas, who had a slave named Jim. Living with Mrs. Watson, Huck was taught good morals, values, and manners and was forced to go to school. However, he did not live there very long. Huck’s father went on a drunken rampage and kidnapped Huck from Mrs. Watson, and locked him up in his cabin. However, Huck enjoyed living with his father for a while, because he didn’t have to act civilized. Huck eventually figures a way out of the cabin, so he fakes his death so his father doesn’t think he ran away, and then escapes. Huck runs away to Jackson Island, because it is remote and no one lives there. Wandering around the island, Huck runs into Jim, who then explains to him that he ran away because he thought Huck was dead. Jim and Huck converse for a while, till Jim explains that he wants to buy his family back from slavery. Huck then agrees to help Jim escape to freedom by getting to Cairo and finding the Ohio River.

The time period and location that Huck was living in was very prejudice toward black people. Huck and Jim can only travel down the Mississippi River by raft at night, because Huck fears that people living along the river will think that Jim is a runaway slave and attempt to capture him and turn him into authorities. Huck and Jim have to stop every now and then to pick up necessary supplies, (i.e. food, water, tools) and Huck gets many questions from locals, as to what he’s doing with a black man. The constant questioning annoys Huck and eventually, he reflects on his decision to free Jim. First he writes to Mrs.