One of the oldest problems of humanity is the contradiction between
beliefs and actions. The Shepardsons and the Grangerfords act out this
contradiction in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
Contradictions
One of the oldest problems of humanity is the contradiction between
beliefs and actions. The Shepardsons and the Grangerfords act out this
contradiction in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
Although these families attend church and pay lip service to the
teachings of the church, they do not live by these teachings. The act
of Christian men and woman, such as in the Catholic faith, is often
contradictory as to how they believe they should live their lives.
In the book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain strikes a parallel
between two feuding families, and the contradictory patterns of the
Church they attend. This parallel is first grazed on when upon
attempting to explain to Huck why the feud started, Buck Grangerford
declares that "Oh, yes, pa knows, I reckon and some of the other old
people; but they don't know what the row was about in the first place"
(Twain 108). From this it is evident that the two families have no
idea what they are fighting about. The only reason they partake in the
feud is because the rest of their family has done so, and that they
are expected to.
This is similar to the actions of those who attend church every
Sunday. By being programmed by their parents or guardian to attend
church at such a young age, these children get into a habit of
attending a service they do not fully comprehend. And as time passes,
this programming is embedded into their minds.
As the great Thomas Paine once said "Time makes more converts than
reason" (Paine, 322). ...
... middle of paper ...
...s long as the human condition
prevails, humans cannot be forced into any single understanding of God
and God's laws.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
· Cardinal Bernardin. The Gift of Peace. New York: Doubleday, 1998.
· Conbeg, Matthew. Books of Catholic Customs. New England: Servant
Publication, 1995.
· Dolan, Robert. American Catholic Experience. Philadelphia:
University of ND. 1994.
· Gleason, Phillip. Contemporary Catholicism in the United States. New
York: Viking Penguin, 1973.
· Harris, Bristol. Lourdes: A Catholic Church. New York: Viking
Penguin, 1999.
· Lewis, CS. Mere Christianity. New York: Doubleday, 1982.
· McBride, David. The Story of the Church. New York: St. Anthony
Messenger, 1996.
· Paine, Thomas. Common Sense. New York: Norton and Company, 2003.
· Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Dover Pubns,
1994.
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Huck Finn, a narcissistic and unreliable young boy, slowly morphs into a courteous figure of respect and selflessness. After Pap abducts the young and civilized Huck, Huck descends into his old habits of lies and half-truths. However, upon helping a runaway slave escape, Huck regains morality and a sense of purpose. Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck lies to characters, casting the authenticity of the story into doubt but illustrating Huck’s gradual rejection of lying for himself and a shift towards lying for others.
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Society establishes their own rules of morality, but would they be accepted in these days?