It has been commonly agreed on that lying is wrong and never the answer. On the contrary, the real truth is that sometimes lying is the only answer to fix what life throws at people. Throughout Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, many of the characters would not have survived if they wouldn’t have told a lie here and there. Is there a difference between a “good” lie or “bad” lie? The lies that Huckleberry Finn told had the intent of saving Jim are justifiable. While on the other hand, the duke and the dauphine angered the readers every time these con men opened their mouths. What makes a lie good or bad? Is it determined by who lies? Huckleberry Finn was only thirteen years old when he lies while the duke and the dauphin are described as older men. “One of these fellows was about seventy, or upwards, and had a bald …show more content…
Throughout this novel, there is a repeating theme of lying happening. It becomes part of the lives of the characters and through the situations they encounter proves that sometimes lying isn’t always wrong. To survive in these adventures, one must lie their way through it or else the unthinkable might happen. Throughout the entire novel of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the theme of lying was an essential form of survival. Huckleberry Finn lies quite frequently in tough situations to save Jim from being a slave again. Finn’s lying has become his defense mechanism on surviving through all of the adventures he has to go through. Huck first learned this style from his father, Pap Finn. In the beginning, readers get a first view at what Pap is like and how he deals with life. He steals, cheats and lies his way in every situation. Huck’s first influence was his father so that directly influenced his decisions. “Yes, he’s got a father, but you can’t never find him these days” (Twain 6).
...eliable narrator; he begins his novel by showing that he is a character who sees things for what they really are. He acknowledges that some of the stories about himself and Tom Sawyer are exaggerated, and even suggests that Tom Sawyer was an unreliable narrator, “that book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth.” (Twain, page 4.) It seems possible for the reader to trust Huck though, especially as he himself points out that he has no reason to exaggerate his tale. “I reckoned he believed in the A-rabs and the elephants, but as for me I think different.” (Twain, page 14.) Huckleberry Finn then, is indeed, a fairly reliable narrator; he has no need to exaggerate parts of his tale and therefore he tells his story exactly as it happened, he sees and tells the truth within his tale.
Huck struggles with this . Lying is often thought to be bad but in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck’s lies seem justified and most are meant to protect himself or those that he cares for most.
Huck Finn, the main character of Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, travels down the Mississippi River in search of personal truth and freedom, which ironically he achieves by living a lie. Huck's journey causes him to wear a variety of disguises and masks to survive. Unfortunately however, the people he meets along the way wear disguises which they use to deceive and cheat the same society that Huck and Jim, a runaway slave, are trying to escape from. Jim must use his own cleverness, Huck's protection and disguises in order to avoid getting caught by society. Together, all these characters use disguises, which are lies in physical forms, to their advantage. Huck's motive is to escape the rules of a restricting society. The King and the Duke are con men who want only to cheat society and take what isn't theirs. Jim uses disguises for survival, to escape from social prejudice and unfair punishment.
Sometimes in a dangerous situation, one needs to lie to protect oneself. The first-time Huck lies to defend himself was when a drunk Pap comes and tries to hurt him. To save himself from his pretty violent father, Huck took the gun even though he did not intend to use it. That is not really much of a lie but the morning of, Pap asked Huck why he was holding a gun and Huck lied and said that someone was trying to get into the house. When really Huck was trying to shield himself from his intoxicated, aggressive father. This lie protected Huck and maybe got a little appreciation from his father. This is an example of when it is okay to lie to shelter oneself in a bad situation. Another example is when Huck was just getting fed up with thinking
Another big issue concerning growing up is telling the truth. Mark Twain showed in this book that Huck Finn made significant progress with being able to be honest. In the beginning, we saw that Huck was quick to lie, and he was very talented at making up believable stories to get out of trouble. However, as he continues to travel down the river, he sees that lying is not always the best way to go about things, and that it cleanses his conscious to be truthful. We see evidence of this when Huck unintentionally becomes part of one of the Duke and King's plans to scam some young girls. The Duke and King pretend to be people they aren't, in order to get their hands on six thousand dollars that was left to the girls. Huck feels so badly for them
In today’s society, everyday people struggle with telling the truth. As you grow into a young adult one thing that many kids are told is that a “white lie” is much different compared to a lie. Although everyone knows that this ultimately is not true, it’s become such a normal act that people tend to just go along with it. Many people try to justify this immoral action by claiming that they are using their lies for good, instead of evil. But it is often hard to know at what point a lie becomes an irreversible, cruel action as opposed to an alternate explanation. Huck Finn, the main character and narrator in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, also runs into this dilemma frequently throughout the story. Growing up in the South in the middle of slavery, Huck feels “forced” to be dishonest about his identity many times in order to
The book Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, has many themes that appear throughout the text. One such theme is that people must live outside of society to be truly free. If one lives outside of society, then they do not have to follow all of its laws and try to please everyone. They would not be held back by the fact that if they do something wrong, they would be punished for doing it.
In Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is thirteen year old boy who runs away in search of adventure. Huck’s morals tell him not to steal unnecessarily, but in some cases Huck must lie to people or steal from them. Huck only lies or steals if he has to do so, and if he is compelled to hurt someone he chooses to walk away from the situation, or chooses to do what is beneficial for both parties. When Huck is faced with a moral decision, his conscience prompts him to compromise. When Huck is faced with a moral decision, his conscience prompts him to compromise in the orchards with Jim. When Huck is faced with a moral decision, his conscience prompts him to compromise while with the King and the Duke. When Huck is faced with a moral decision, his conscience prompts him to compromise with the robbers on the boat.
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Lies and Deceit Quotes." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 8 Nov. 2016.
In Mark Twain’s book, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” there is a very common theme throughout the book and that is deception. In the book there are multiple instances of people, families, or even whole towns that are not quite what they seem. Over time Huck’s view on many things are shifted, whether the view was of strangers or of high class people he learns that everyone is trying to decieve you one way or another.
Many novels stick out to people because of defining moments that have an influence on the story. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain has this like other classic novels. The moment when Huck decides to humble himself to Jim changes the course of the rest of the novel, illumination their friendship that transcends societal norms.
In both Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Wizard of Earthsea, the protagonist begins his journey as a child. The actions they perform are a result of what little they know about the world. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck starts to get into some trouble from the start of his journey, but reacts with his conscience. When Huck and Jim steal the robbers’ boat, Huck starts to think about his actions and wants to help the robbers instead. Huck says: “I began to think how dreadful it was, even for murderers, to be in such a fix” (Twain, 54). By formulating a false story to help the robbers, Huck feels he performed a good act and Widow Douglas would be proud of him. He starts to evaluate all the conflicting rules that were set upon him, and although Huck wants to be independent and live his life his own way with no rules, he still remembers rig...
Huckleberry Finn is an emotionally independent boy. He has a hard time opening up to people, assumingly because of his father. In order to get away from the horror he thinks is his life, he fakes his death. Huck comes up with an elaborate plan to escape everyone and live on his own. His plan falls through when a kind-hearted slave named Jim finds
In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there are; lies, incidents of mischief, and deep moments of trickery. Without these, the story would not be what is it now. These moments happy constantly, and throughout the book when one lie is unveiled, a new one seems to rise. Most of the characters in the novel, seems to have some sort of made up statement to keep either themselves safe, or another character in the book safe. But these lies make the characters who they are. Huck starts to lie because of his friend, Tom Sawyer who in the end is very deceitful, just to get a kick out of it. But Huck doesn’t always make things up to get himself
Oscar Wilde mentioned, "Society exists only as a mental concept; in the real world there are only individuals." Wilde states that people may influence your life, but only you can make the decisions. In Mark Twain's book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, where a teenage boy named Huck, becomes best friend with a runaway slave. Huck runs away from an abusive father, and floats down the river with Jim. They end up together, in Missouri in the late nineteenth century, trying to get freedom for the both of them. During the trip, they are isolated from society. Throught the time together, no one can influence what they think, and judge them for their thoughts. Along the way no one can tell them what