Huck Finn

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The conflict between society and the individual is a very important

theme portrayed throughout Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry

Finn. Many people see Huckleberry Finn as a mischievous boy who is a bad

influence to others. Huck is not raised in agreement with the accepted ways

of civilization. He practically raises himself, relying on instinct to guide him

through life. As seen several times in the novel, Huck chooses to follow his

innate sense of right, yet he does not realize that his own instincts are more

right than those of society.

Society refuses to accept Huck as he is and isn't going to change its

opinions about him until he is reformed and civilized. The Widow Douglas

and Miss Watson try to "sivilize" Huck by making him stop all of his habits,

such as smoking. They try to reverse all of his teachings from the first twelve

years of his life and force him to become their stereotypical good boy.

However, from the very beginning of the novel, Huck clearly states that he

does not want to conform to society. "The Widow Douglas she took me for

her son, and allowed she would sivilize me...I got into my old rags and my

sugar hogshead again, and was free and satisfied." (page 1) Huck says this

shortly after he begins living with the Widow Douglas because it is rough for

him to be confined to a house and the strict rules of the Widow Douglas.

Huck’s father, a dirty and dishonest drunk, was also a problem. He

was so angry that his son could read, that he severely beat him and then

forced him to stay in a secluded cabin. Huck then devises a plan to escape

and heads down river were he teams up with Jim, a runaway slave.

The theme becomes even more evident once Huck and Jim set out

down the Mississippi. As they run from civilization and are on the river, they

ponder the social injustices forced upon them when they are on land. The

river never cares how saintly they are, how rich they are, or what society

thinks of them. The river allows Huck the one thing that Huck wants to be,

and that is Huck. Huck enjoys his adventures on the raft. He prefers the

freedom of the wilderness to the restriction of society.

Also, Huck's acceptance of Jim is a total defiance of society. Society

automatically sees a black person, and even further, slaves, as inferior. They

never think of slaves as human beings, only as property.