Huck Finn’s Experiences

Huck Finn’s Experiences In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain presents the problem of slavery in America in the 19th Century. Twain poses this problem in the form of a character named Huckleberry Finn, a white boy raised in the antebellum South. Huck starts to question his view regarding slavery when he acquaints himself more intimately with a runaway slave while he himself tries to run away. Huck’s development as a character is affected by society’s influence on his experiences while growing up in the South, running away with Jim, and trying to save Jim. Although Huck decides to free Jim, Huck’s deformed conscience convinces him that he is doing the wrong thing. Huck’s experiences in the society impact his conscience by raising him to believe that human beings can be property. This quote by Pap Finn is taken from a conversation that he is having about a black professor from the North, “…prowling, thieving, infernal, white-shirted free nigger, and-” (Twain, pg 27). In this quote, Pap Finn expresses his feelings towards black people, and he is not the only person to think this way. Pap feels as if the most accomplished black man is always beneath the basest white man. When Huck returns to Aunt Sally, they have this conversation: Aunt Sally: “Good Gracious! anybody hurt?” Huck: “No’m. Killed a nigger” Aunt Sally: “Well, it’s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt…” (Twain, pg 221) Southern society seems to share this idea of how white people belittle blacks. Aunt Sally shows how it does not really matter about a ‘nigger’ being shot and how she does not consider that a person getting hurt. Society’s influence on Huck is clearly evident when he says, “They took my nigger, w... ... middle of paper ... ...as he must be white inside. This shows how in his mind, white is good and black is bad, but since Jim is black and he is doing something good, then he must be white. Huck’s experiences and surroundings change him day by day. Even though Jim is black and he hasn’t changed, Huck has changed and now recognizes Jim as a human being and not as property. Through out the entire novel, Huck has grown as a character because of the experiences that he has gone through. Along with society's impact, running away with Jim and trying to save Jim have also changed and impacted Huck's character. Huck's views on slavery have changed due to his experiences with Jim. Although the end of the novel does lead Huck to how he was at the beginning, the reader can still see how much Huck has changed and grown. Huck does not view Jim as property anymore, but as a human being with feelings.