Huck Finn Civilization Analysis

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the author Mark Twain, points out the various flaws of civilization of that time period. It is corrupt, enslaving, hypocritical, and prejudiced. These various traits are seen through different sections of the book. The qualities of civilization being confining and too orderly are directly seen with how nature is placed to juxtapose civilization through the narration of the main character, Huckleberry Finn. Life under the control of Miss. Watson and the Widow Douglas was dictated by religion and a copious amount of rules. Huck had to eat properly, be religious, wear neat clothes, all of which confined his life into the boundaries set by them. This ultimately made Huck lonely and uncomfortable. By Huck becoming

Firstly, Huck sees hypocrisy in the case of his custody. The new judge fails to look deeper into the situation and instead sticks to societal norms by allowing Pap to abusively take Huck. In this stance, civilization fails to go beyond the typical rules. The Widow Douglas, someone who is stringent on following rules, makes Huck not smoke even though he wants to. She then later goes on to smoke herself. This shows how those in power in civilization do not follow the rules they set themselves. Twain ultimately shows hypocrisy through the example of race. The novel is set in America in which the qualities of freedom, justice, and equality are seen as rights of all. Yet, this is a country that continues to enslave innocent people, disregarding their value as a human being, and taking away their basic rights that are said to be for all. Therefore, Twain is showing via Jim’s innocent, humane, and amiable nature, that it is flawed for civilization to be based on equality when people like Jim do not receive that basic right. For Twain, civilization promised to advance the livelihoods of all the people, yet for people like Jim and countless other slaves, their life was suppressed by the same institution that supposedly is meant to free

Under the control of the Widow Douglas and Miss. Watson, Huck is taught how to interpret the world around him. He is not allowed to explore and understand for himself, but rather must follow the path of civilization. His inner conscience is confined to what society wants him to believe. His identity is molded by the principles instilled in civilization, not what he himself believes. He is told to believe that slaves do not care for their family or that they do not have basic human principles. Huck then tunes his outlook on life to match these perspectives, which are not true. Twain reveals that flaw by introducing the character of Jim. Jim is one who cares for his family and has a kind, generous, and caring human nature, which contradicts with what society told Huck. These differences in interpretations and the final culmination of Huck declaring that he will go to hell establishes the idea that civilization wrongly confined his perspective of the world. Him wanting to go to hell confirms the idea that what civilization taught him about slaves is wrong, since he willing to risk his soul for Jim. After the adventure, Huck sees the world for what it truly is, which mostly is different than what the Widow Douglas, and in a civilization in a larger sense, taught him. Twain shows by this change in outlook, that civilization is wrong to limit the freedom of people and that it is flawed to incorrectly