Most people think that education only happens in a school, but there are other ways to be educated. The adventures of huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, illustrates lessons learned by a young boy, Huck Finn. Huck has met many people on his travels and many of them taught him at least one thing he could use in his life; Huck’s most important educators are Pap, Tom, and Jim; these men have taught him more than anyone else. First off jim, a slave at first but after his owner died she set him free but people think he is a runaway slave, he follows huck on his adventure and they set off to do amazing things. Jim teaches him two main things, that blacks are as good as white and that blacks care for each other as whites do. Jim saying that blacks are as good as whites is true of course but Huck does not know that until he really looks at how Jim is and how he works. Huck realises that blacks care as much as whites do for their people, “and I do believe he cares just as much for his people as white …show more content…
Pap is Huck’s father, but Huck does not like him because he is abusive, a drunk, and does not treat huck good at all. Still he taught Huck so much in his life. One of the things he teaches Huck is how to borrow, “it warn’t no harm to borrow things if you was meaning to pay them back some time”. But of course he would never pay them back. Pap also teaches Huck that you don’t need to go to school, but Pap is just afraid that Huck will become smarter than him. It just shows how arrogant Pap is. Last but not least, Tom. Tom is not the person that helps a lot. He only gets his ideas out of books, and everything has to be just like the books that he read. “I don’t know. But that's what they do. I've seen it in books; and so of course that’s what we’ve got to do”. He teaches Huck that there is a whole nother side of adventure. Huck believes that if someone can read and write, they are better and Huck listens to them, and believe that they are always
This clearly illustrates Huck’s great ability to outwit and think on his feet and it is clear that Huck has some smarts in him it's just that it is not express all the time due to certain factors that influence him to make certain decisions. Like when Tom is around because Tom has such a latch on Huck's mind to the point where Huck will pretty much do whatever Tom thinks is best because Huck believes he has a “gifted mind”. So yea sometimes Huck can be quite dumb when he is pretending to be someone else or when he is influenced by Tom but when push comes to shove it is pretty clear that Huck is a lot smarter sometimes than what Mark Twain makes him cut out to be because he has a gifted mind too. Take for example when Huck is faking his own murder to get away from Pap and how he uses his resources ever so
	Huck’s attitude for Jim is racist which is seen when he decides to play a trick on Jim during their voyage. After Huck plays his trick his attitude toward Jim begins to change, "It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn't ever sorry for it afterward, neither" (Twain 72). The dialogue throughout the book between Huck and Jim illustrates that Jim is more than property and that he is a human being with feelings, and hopes for a better future.
Twain makes the reader look at society in a different lens. When reading Huckleberry Finn the reader is transported back in time to America during the 1840s. The reader meets Huck and Jim, two unlikely friends who are both in bondage with society. Olsen says that literature shapes the way people view the world by exploring different viewpoints. These viewpoints include society’s view about slavery at the time, and Hucks changing view about Jim even though he is a slave. High school students are mature enough to think about the points Twain is trying to make about racism and society through his themes and satire. Simmons states in his article that, “It seems fairly obvious to me that as students mature, they benefit by thinking critically about literary texts.” DelFattore says in her article, “Being required to confront difficult, embarrassing, and controversial matters and learn how to deal with them does not constitute a hostile learning environment. It constitutes an education” (DelFattore). Through reading Huckleberry Finn students begin to develop and question society and the prejudices that still exist. Students need to be given the opportunity to read this book and think about it critically so that they can learn to address important issues and how to work through
Jim's character traits are easy to over look because of his seeming ignorance, but in reality Jim possessed some qualities that created a positive influence on Huck. He began by demonstrating to Huck how friends teach friends. His honest compassion also eventually causes Huck to resist the ideas society has placed upon him, and see Jim as an equal-- rather than property that can be owned. Huck knew he was going against society, and of the consequences that he could receive for freeing a slave. "It would get all around, that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom; and if I was to ever see anybody from that town again, I'd be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame", (269-270). Huck then claims, "All right, then, I'll go to hell…"(272) This shows that Huck was willing to put himself on the line for a slave, because he ceased to view Jim as property and recognized him as a friend. At the beginning of the story Huck would have never done this, but after the many adventures that occur, Jims unconditional love for Huck pierces the shell society placed ar...
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain includes characters that have varying views on the importance of education. Both Huck and Jim seem to value learning through experience, rather than learning from books and school. Also Jim cannot read or write so that inhibits Jim from going to school. Jim is a slave which means he is not allowed to get an education. Tom also enjoys learning from experience rather than books, but he reads more than Huck and it seems that he sometimes values learning from books rather than learning from experience.
Jim’s anticipation for freedom grew higher as he expressed his future dreams and aspirations. Jim began saying things that “niggers” wouldn’t normally dare say. Jim was speaking like a white man, not like someone’s property, a slave. This attitude began to lower Huck’s vision of Jim, and his conscience grew even hotter. Huck had never been exposed to a slave who spoke this way. It was his inadequate education that told him this was wrong.
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
One possible theory to this statement is that Huck Finn did not have a nurturing, supportive family to go home to everyday and instead had to return to his drunken, abusive father. Early in chapter two, readers get a brief glimpse of Pap’s personality for the first time when one of Tom Sawyer’s gang members says, “Yes, he’s got a father, but you can’t never find him these days. He used to lay drunk with the hogs in the tanyard, but he hain’t been seen in these parts for a year or more” (Twain 13). Shortly after, Pap returns into Huck Finn’s life and takes him by surprise. Pap’s neglect and disdain for Huck can be summed up in chapter five, when Huck watches Pap, “He took it and bit it to see if it was good, and then he said he was going downtown to get some whisky; said he hadn't had a drink all day.
Huckleberry Finn, a young boy from St. Petersburg’, is able to disregard the typical views of African Americans and see them as the humans they are. When Huck and Jim begin to converse and learn more about each other Huck is constantly surprised by Jim’s knowledge; even
Before Huck sets out on his raft adventure, he is exposed to the values and morals of his poor, drunken father. Pap Finn instills a "Southern race prejudice" and leads Huck to believe "that he detests Abolitionists" (374). Huck comes into conflict with this philosophy as he journeys on the raft with Jim. He can not decide if he is wrong in helping Jim escape slavery or if the philosophy is wrong. The education of Huck also stirs some values from Pap. When Pap tells him that education is useless, Huck is confused because the Widow Douglas told him that education was important. As a result, Huck's values towards education are uncertain. Pap Finn, as a figure of the lower class, does his part to confuse the growing morals of his son.
Huck Finn learns from the actions of people around him, what kind of a person he is going to be. He is both part of the society and an outlier of society, and as such he is given the opportunity to make his own decisions about what is right and what is wrong. There are two main groups of characters that help Huck on his journey to moral maturation. The first group consists of Widow Douglas, Miss Watson, and the judge. They portray society and strict adherence to rules laid out by authority. The second group consists of Pap, the King, and the Duke. They represent outliers of society who have chosen to alienate themselves from civilized life and follow no rules. While these characters all extremely important in Huck’s moral development, perhaps the most significant character is Jim, who is both a fatherly figure to Huck as well as his parallel as far as limited power and desire to escape. Even though by the end of the novel, Huck still does not want to be a part of society, he has made a many choices for himself concerning morality. Because Huck is allowed to live a civilized life with the Widow Douglas, he is not alienated like his father, who effectively hates civilization because he cannot be a part of it. He is not treated like a total outsider and does not feel ignorant or left behind. On the other hand, because he does not start out being a true member of the society, he is able to think for himself and dismiss the rules authority figures say are correct. By the end of the novel, Huck is no longer a slave to the rules of authority, nor is he an ignorant outsider who looks out only for himself. This shows Huck’s moral and psychological development, rendering the description of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” as a picaresq...
Life in the late eighteen hundreds was very different from the life we know today. Not only was there more inequality, there were also more health concerns and lapses in education. Mark Twain, in his book “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” has given us a special look into the past through the eyes of a young boy. Though this book is one of, if not the most highly criticized books in the American school system, it is also one of the most highly renowned. Through the criticism, Twain has given us a golden reflective opportunity.
As they travel together, Huck learns more about Jim and realizes that the common stereotype of black people is wrong. He sees that there is no difference between Jim and any white man he knows except for skin color. Despite risking his life and overcoming many difficulties, Huck succeeds in freeing Jim. Focusing on racism, alcoholism, and mob mentality, Mark Twain uses his enthusiastic writing style to satirize these three traits throughout the novel. Although the book contains many words full of vivid disgust towards black slaves, it also shows that there is more to people than looks and race, emphasizing the importance of beliefs and character.
In the beginning, Huckleberry Finn hasn?t fully formed opinions on topics such as slavery. He is quite immature and content to just have ?adventures? with his friends. During his journey on the raft, he learns much more about himself through his dealings with others. He establishes his very own standards of right and wrong. Huck?s most important lessons are learned through Jim. He learns to see Jim as a person rather than as a slave: ?I knowed he was white inside? (263). More than any other character in the book, Jim is a catalyst for Huck?s maturity. Through Jim as well as other people he meets along the way, Huck becomes a more defined person who?s more fully himself. His development through the course of the novel proves The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to be a gradual journey toward growth and maturity.
In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Pap is a horrible parent to Huck, and constantly berates him. When he hears about Huck's new 6000 dollar fortune, he comes back to town to get back his son and the money. He is furious when he finds that he cannot get the money, and he becomes even more enraged when he finds out that Huck is going to school and living a civilized life. He says to Huck