Morality And Beliefs In Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

People have a general belief that they know right from wrong, but how does one truly know the difference? In the fictional works of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain expertly portrays this idea through his main protagonist Huck. Some people believed that this book was nothing more than a boy 's adventure story, but Sloane discredits this idea by stating “In 1885 the Concord Library Board pulled Huck Finn from its shelves. What could possibly have been so offensive in this humorous book, seemingly directed at children?” (Sloane). Huck begins this novel with the ideals and beliefs that society has forced upon him; a both figurative and literal black and white way of thinking. Before Pap comes along and forces him to run off, he thinks of Jim as one thing; a slave. The longer Huck spends time away from

Throughout his adventures, Huck slowly molds himself into a person guided by his heart rather than a person guided by his own corrupted conscience.

In the beginning of the novel, Huck is led solely by his conscience instead of his emotions. When Huck makes the oath with ‘Tom Sawyer’s Gang’, he doesn’t think of what this pledge really means due to the fact that he is so accustomed to blindly following. “‘Must we always kill the people?’ [Ben Rogers] ‘Oh, certainly. It’s best…’ [Tom Sawyer]” (Twain 9). Ben raises questions about some of the things that Tom says, but is quickly shot down. He is the only child that questions Tom, which shows how the others are used to being followers instead of thinking for themselves. In this situation, Tom symbolises society because he has everyone following him, doing what he says, and praising him without many questions. This among many other events in the book shows Twain trying to incorporate a deeper meaning, but some people refuse to see what is blatantly here. A good example of one of these ignorant white men that Twain is targeting is this