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Morality in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
In every persons life at one point they will have to make a choice based on their moral beliefs. These decisions can show what a person believes in right from the start. In Mark Twains' The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the main character Huck, makes two very important moral decisions. The first being how he treats Jim when he first meets him at Jackson's Island and the second is to tear up the letter to Miss Watson out of his love for Jim.
When Huck first runs away from Pap he goes to Jackson's Island and thinks that he is the only person there. He soon finds out that this is not true, and that "Miss Watsons Jim"(41) is taking refuge there as well. Many people would hate to be alone on an island with a "nigger"(43), but Huck is instead happy to have someone to converse with. At first Jim thinks he sees Hucks ghost and is petrified. Huck eases Jims feelings by changing the subject and saying "It's good daylight, le's get breakfast"(41), showing that Huck is not only real but he does not mind that Jim is black. Jim feels that Huck might tell on him for running away, but he then decides that it will be okay to tell him why he ran away from Miss Watson. Jim keeps asking Huck if he is going to tell anyone about his running away, and Huck replies "People would call me a low down abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum but that don't make no difference I aint gonna tell"(43). Hucks response truly shows that his ignorance has no bearing over his moral kindness. When taken into consideration good morality is much more important in the long run than being the most intelligent person. After journeying with Jim for quite some time Huck begins to feel bad about harboring a runaway slave. He decides to write a letter to Miss Watson explaining the whole story, because Jim had been sold and he does not know where he is. Huck was indeed confused about what he should do so he dropped he dropped to his knees and began to pray.
In both The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, and “On The Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien, the main characters are faced with situations where they must do either what they think is right or what the rest of the world they know thinks they should do. Huck must choose either to save Jim and help him escape to freedom, and maintain loyalty to his friend, or do as society would dictate and let the runaway slave remain in captivity. Tim O’Brien must either flee a war he thinks is wrong or obey his country’s call to arms. While the morals of both Huck Finn and Tim O’Brien are put to the test, only Huck is strong enough to stand up for his beliefs.
So when Huck fakes his death and runs away to live on an island he is faced with yet another problem, which revolves around the controversial issue of the time of racism. While living on the island he meets Jim, who was a slave, but Huck soon learns that he has run off and now in the process of making his way up north to Canada. Here Huck is faced with his first tough decision, to go with Jim and help him, or just go and tell the officials of a runaway slave and get the reward. Huck reluctantly joins Jim and promises to get him to free land for the sake of a good adventure, but he still feels guilty to be conversing with a runaway slave, let alone help him escape. Along the way Huck has many challenges, which are just like this one.
When one is young they must learn from their parents how to behave. A child's parents impose society's unspoken rules in hope that one day their child will inuitivly decerne wrong from right and make decisions based on their own judgment. These moral and ethical decisions will affect one for their entire life. In Mark Twains, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is faced with the decision of choosing to regard all he has been taught to save a friend, or listen and obey the morals that he has been raised with. In making his decision he is able to look at the situation maturely and grow to understand the moral imbalances society has. Hucks' decisions show his integrity and strength as a person to choose what his heart tells him to do, over his head.
In lieu of his escape, Jim emphasized his feelings of becoming a free man. Jim said it made him all over trembly and feverish to be so close to freedom (p. 238). Huck came to the realization that Jim was escaping for a far different reason than he, and began to see this “nigger’s” freedom as his own fault; he was an accomplice. Huck’s conscience became plagued by the fact that Jim was escaping the custody of his rightful owner, and he was doing nothing to stop this. In Huck’s eyes, Jim was essentially the property of poor old Ms. Watson, who didn’t do anything less than teach Jim his manners and his books. Altogether, Huck felt that he was doing wrong by concealing this, and felt miserable to say the least.
While traveling together down the river Huck and Jim, accompanied by the king and duke, came to a stop after passing their original destination, Cairo, during the night. While at the stop Huck overheard the king and duke put out a reward for Jim. Huck knows that if Miss Watson finds the reward notice, he will return back with Miss Watson.Therefore she will sell him elsewhere. When faced with this difficult situation Huck decided to write a letter to Miss Watson, however, after finishing his final sentence he realizes how Jim contains similar emotions and feelings as him and other caucasians. Huck yells after tearing up the letter “All right then, I’ll go to Hell” (Twain 31). This action supports the individual's right to think differently from mankind and express their free will or ability to choose how they interact with others. Huck treats a person of color equally when Jim discusses his relationship with his family and his past. While listening to Jim talk about his family, Huck understands that Jim cares about his family as much as a white person does and so he says “I knowed he was white inside” (Twain 30). This interaction between Huck and Jim signifies that Huck sees Jim as equal despite the racial bias set forth by mankind's stigma around different races. This scenario accurately supports Twain's idea of equality and fair treatment for all
Marlow and Willard seem like two epitomes of every people in the world. They are nobodies and have not strong power. However, they still have some difference. Marlow is a bystander but Willard is soldier. So he is both a bystander and a firsthand participator in the war. For Willard, “When I was here, I wanted to be there; when I was there, all I could think of was getting back into the jungle” (IMDb 1). Hence, Willard has a double identity to have a profound reflection of inhumane war and frangible human nature. Meanwhile, the film also keeps Kurtz’s name in Heart of Darkness. The novella and the film all introduce Kurtz by other people’s talking or other materials to create mystery. Kurtz has different backgrounds in the two works but they all come from the traditional civilized society. In the novella, Kurtz has European descent “All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz” (Conrad 4). In the film, Kurtz graduates from West Point and gains countless medals. Two Kurtz are convinced by people that they are civilized people, but the cruel realizations change them. Their behaviors are like wild animals and lose reason and morality. It is the decay of humanitarian in the realization because utterly false and hypocrisy social mores lead the evil human
Society establishes their own rules of morality, but would they be accepted in these days?
...e horror!'") and Kurtz's memory for the rest of his life. By turning himself into an enigma, Kurtz has done the ultimate: he has ensured his own immortality.” Kurtz’s status as an enigma serves to propagate an endless number of interpretations. Could his words be a declaration of the horrific dark side of man that lives within us all? Could they be a reaction to his first glimpse of the afterlife? Could they be a regretful look back on a life of sin? Kurtz’s last words leave the reader to draw his or her own conclusions about their meaning. Conrad does not tell us what to think, he makes us think. That is the sign of great art. Those very same words, however, when spoken by Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now, hold far less meaning. The fact that Willard makes the decision to kill Kurtz convinces the audience of Kurtz’s insanity, and his words can be most literally interpreted as a reaction to his own murder. These words, meant to hold the most impact of all dialogue in either work, serve as an accurate metaphor for the works as a whole. Conrad’s Heart of Darkness forces its reader into meaningful introspection, while Apocalypse Now fails to capture the depth of Conrad’s vision.
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.
In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain the main character, Huck Finn, grows and learns many lessons. Throughout my life I have learned many similar lessons. In addition, I have discovered that there is a relationship between Huck's life lessons and my life lessons. Also I have learned many different lessons that Huck was dispossessed from learning. Twain's character, Huckleberry Finn, and I can be compared and contrasted through lessons we both have learned and lessons that only I have learned. During my life I have learned that lessons are hard, complex, and above all else are universal. One lesson that Huck and I have shared in learning is that a person can choose to escape an unfair situation. Huck escaped his abusive father and was taken in by the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. I too escaped an abusive father. When I was six years old my mother divorced my father and I decided to live with her. Another lesson that Huck learns is to be his own person. He learns this when he left Tom Sawyer and his gang for his own adventures. I learned this same lesson when some friends wanted to go to a concert on a night that I had school and a project due the next day. I did not go with them and even though my friends had fun, I was proud to be an individual. Additionally, Huck learns that friends are very important because they are always there for you. He and Jim become very close over their long trip down the river. They do things for each other that shows that they are friends. Tom helps Huck rescue their friend Jim from slavery. Huck and Tom free Jim because he is a good friend to them. I have also learned that friends are a tremendous part of my life. On various occasions, friends have helped me study for important tests. Consequently, Huck and I have learned similar important life lessons though the experiences were different. On the contrary, there are also a few lessons that I have learned that Huck has not learned. I have learned that you must deal with your problems instead of running away 12/19/98 from them.
"What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right." Whether he knows it or not, the character Huck Finn is a perfect example of the truth in this quote. His struggle between knowing in his mind and what is legal, but feeling in his heart what is moral was predominant throughout the novel. Today, we'll examine three examples of situations when Huck had to decide for himself whether to follow the law, or his heart.
The character Huckleberry Finn displayed the human virtue of heroism when he decided to free Jim from the clutches of the Phelps family. Although he thought it would cost him his soul, Huck had the courage to follow his heart in freeing Jim as summed up by his thought, "All right, then, I'll go to hell"(Twain 273). Twain's other main character besides Huck Finn is a runaway slave.... ... middle of paper ...
The way Huck and Jim encounter each other on the island, draws parallels in their similar backgrounds. Huck is torn between a life of manners and etiquette and a dangerous life a freedom, and while Jim at an impasse because he is being sold into slavery farther away from his home and away from his family. Each choice, for both characters comes with a cost so they both decide to runaway, in an attempt to assert some control over their lives. After spending much time together, the pair establish a connection which at times Huck feels guilty about since it violates everything he was raised to believe. At a certain point, Huck considers turning Jim in by, writing a letter, but after recalling the goods times they shared, Huck exclaims, "All right, then, I 'll go to hell!” (Twain) and quickly tears up the letter. Twain depicts Huck and Jim 's eventually friendship as a source of emotional strife for Huck and Huck constantly has to decide whether to abandon Jim and turn him in or abandon his religious beliefs and stay with Jim. The ripping up of the letter that would have turned Jim in symbolizes the choice Huck 's has selected. For this moment onward, Huck is dedicated to keeping Jim from being sold back into slavery and has no intent on going back on his choice. While there are times, Huck pays attention to the color of Jim 's skin he believes that
In "Wuthering Heights," we see tragedies follow one by one, most of which are focused around Heathcliff, the antihero of the novel. After the troubled childhood Heathcliff goes through, he becomes embittered towards the world and loses interest in everything but Catherine Earnshaw –his childhood sweetheart whom he had instantly fallen in love with.—and revenge upon anyone who had tried to keep them apart.
The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda is far different from any other novel that we were assigned to read for apartheid in South Africa class. I had quite a love/hate relationship for the book, for it intrigued me, but I had to read it far too fast and don’t think that I got the true value of the book as I speed-read it. The first thing I noticed about the novel was of course the colorful cover, but when I thought about the title long enough I noticed that it sounded vaguely familiar. I had to read the Heart of Darkness while in high school, and not until I researched the book a little on the internet, was I able to actually correlate the title between the two. Apparently, the title Heart of Redness is actually an allusion to the Heart of Darkness by presenting an opposite presentation of the themes.