The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, one of the most satirical classical novels, is considerably one of the greatest pieces of literature ever produced. By having his protagonist face constant internal and external dilemmas about freeing a benevolent slave, Mark Twain examines the complexity of several problems of the era and uses his work to reveal the prevalent issues in America. Huck chooses to embrace his conscience and rejects the contradictory dictates of conformity; his decision addresses the themes of societal hypocrisy, moral education, and racism as all of these factors combine to negatively affect Huck as he attempts to build his character. The controversial norms of society and the opposing beliefs of Huck’s integrity …show more content…
From the start, it is patent that Huck is somewhat an outcast who fails to agree with the morals and perceptions of society. As his bond with Jim tightens, Huck questions and disregards many of the lessons he has received about slavery and race. Rather than following the teachings of civilization, Huck decides to follow his own experience, logic, and conscience. At first, he struggles to decipher which is correct, society or his heart; but Huck decides that regardless of right or wrong, he is going to embrace his conscience in regards to Jim. In the beginning, Huck starts out seeing Jim as a worthless “nigger”, but he gradually defies the Jim Crow South by valuing and admiring the escaped slave. One sees Huck following his moral instincts when he battles social customs and accepts his ideas to help Jim in many dire situations. Regardless of feeling the pressures of having the social obligations to turn in a runaway slave, Huck remembers “how good [Jim] always was” (214) and is internally faced with the dilemma of trying to do what he perceives as right. More than once, Huck comes to the resolution, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell” (214), because he sees Jim as more of a father and friend than anyone he has previously encountered. For Huck, his time on the raft is where he truly receives his moral education because that is …show more content…
Along their journey together, the readers realize that Jim is basically the father that Huck has never had; Jim cares for and protects Huck despite whatever may become of him. Huck returns these sentiments because he soon grows to love the slave, and their mutual affection is cemented when Huck is “ever so glad to see Jim” (41). With this, Twain urges the audience to see Jim as an equal and compassionate individual. By doing so, Twain shows how the society is corrupt and foul, as it is enslaving and threatening the life of a man who is constantly risking his own salvation to save the people around him. Huck comes to the conclusion that Jim “had a good heart in him and was a good man” (286). For example, Jim is portrayed as a hero when he selflessly saves Tom Sawyer’s life. Despite the fact that Tom has been playing with Jim’s life-and-death circumstance, Jim decides to risk everything for the child even though he is well aware that that he is jeopardizing his own freedom. Here, the “nigger” is portrayed as more of a man than any white person and Twain uses this to show how wrong and sinful slavery is. The concept of slavery itself is built upon the idea that one race is better than the other; racism does not take morals, ethics, or beliefs into account when determining
Together, Huckleberry Finn and a runaway slave named Jim head south along the Mississippi during one summer. During their adventures, Huck has trouble with his conscience—he knows Jim is a runaway, and that the socially correct thing to do would be to turn him in and get him sent back to his owner. However, whenever the opportunity to do so arises, Huck finds it impossible to do. Near the end of the book, when Huck is out meandering and Jim is still on the raft in the river, Jim is captured by an old man as a runaway and gets sold for $40. It is here, at this point, that Huck has his largest moral dilemma. Should he let Jim remain captured, as he is legally the property of Miss Watson, or should he rescue the true friend who has stayed steadfastly and unwaveringly by his side? Huck does not want to remain “wicked,” as he himself calls it, so he writes a letter to Miss Watson informing her that her slave is being held by a Mr. Phelps down south of Pikesville. He cannot, though, bring himself to send the letter. He winds up ripping the letter to shreds, with the comment, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell” (p. 207). He is willing to sacrifice his soul, and do a deed he believes he will be damned for, to save Jim, the runaway slave. It takes a character of great moral strength to do what he did.
While living on the island he meets Jim who was a slave but Huck soon learns that he has ran off and now in the process of making his way up north to Canada. Here Huck is faced along 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 him 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. This is truly remarkable for a child to be able to break away from the influence of society and go with his heart and do what is right especially when it was considered wrong.
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...
Mark Twain, a famous American writer-satirist wrote many books highly acclaimed throughout the world. For his masterpiece, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the literary establishment recognized him as one of the greatest writers America would ever produce. This novel is about a teenage boy by the name of Huck Finn whose father is an alcoholic. Because of his violence, Huck runs away and finds a runaway slave Jim. Instead of turning Jim in, Huck goes against society and makes a decision to help Jim break free from slavery. As they travel together, Huck learns more and more about Jim and starts to understand that the common stereotype of black people is wrong. Huck sees there is no difference between Jim and any white man he knows except for skin color. Risking his life and overcoming many difficulties on the way, Huck succeeds in freeing Jim. Focusing on racism, alcoholism and mob mentality, Mark Twain uses his enthusiastic style of writing and satirizes the three traits throughout the novel.
During his moment of contemplation, Huck exclaims, “Alright then, I’ll go to hell” (242). Despite the fact that we, the audience, and Twain understand how Huck feels about Jim is, in actuality, quite normal and morally righteous, Huck’s mentality still evokes the sentiments of the slave-holding society that Huck had resided in during the entirety of his adolescence. Another aspect of his maturation that Huck needs to reflect upon is his views on the concept of slavery. When declaring his willingness to help Jim escape, Huck states, “...I would go to steal him out of slavery again…” (242). Through this line, Huck apparently expresses the fact that he is willing to “steal” Jim, implying that Jim is property, which ultimately hints at Huck’s failure to make the connection that slavery is unjust. In spite of the fact that Huck has consistently proven to us, the audience, that he is fully capable of positively expanding his knowledge of the world around him, he still has certain notions of his that need to be pondered upon before we can entirely conclude that Huck has separated his personal ideals from the ideals of his slave-holding
Mark Twain’s masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through much criticism and denunciation has become a well-respected novel. Through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy, Huckleberry Finn, Twain illustrates the controversy of racism and slavery during the aftermath of the Civil War. Since Huck is an adolescent, he is vulnerable and greatly influenced by the adults he meets during his coming of age. His expedition down the Mississippi steers him into the lives of a diverse group of inhabitants who have conflicting morals. Though he lacks valid morals, Huck demonstrates the potential of humanity as a pensive, sensitive individual rather than conforming to a repressive society. In these modes, the novel places Jim and Huck on pedestals where their views on morality, learning, and society are compared.
Mark Twain once described his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as “a struggle between a sound mind and a deformed conscience”. Throughout the novel, Huck wrestles with the disparity between his own developing morality and the twisted conscience of his society. In doing so, he becomes further distanced from society, both physically and mentally, eventually abandoning it in order to journey to the western frontier. By presenting the disgust of Huck, an outsider, at the state of society, Mark Twain is effectively able to critique the intolerance and hypocrisy of the Southern South. In doing so, Twain asserts that in order to exist as a truly moral being, one must escape from the chains of a diseased society.
The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn introduces readers to a variety of ideologies plaguing the minds of Americans during the mid-1800 's. Written during a time where slavery remained an issue in the south, the novel provides insight into a young man 's mind as he comes to understand and question the ideologies of his southern society. Through his interactions with a vast variety of characters, Huck resolves on his own definitions of right and wrong after giving up on the definition society expects him to accept. Mark Twain 's attention to the society of which Huck Finn is based as well as how he wrote the characters of the novel suggest he believed there were serious flaws in how that society saw people; therefore, the novel Huck Finn
Studying the novel points out moral issues of the 19th century that cannot be overlooked. This was a time that society created this hypocritical concept of morality that was clearly evident throughout the The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as Huck is influenced by different factors including his caretakers, Jim, Tom, the duke and the dauphin and even the raft one could add. By attempting to uncover the realities and better meanings of the world, Huck molds his own values and morals, but at the same time he creates an identity for himself that is not based on the ideas of those around him.
Even at the beginning of the novel, before Huck has gotten an opportunity to explore what he feels is right, Huck is growing tired of dealing having society and what culture thinks is right and also civilized. Huck says, "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 “(Twain 1). Huck prefers living free and having the ability to think what he wishes, rather than being “sivilized”. When Huck escapes from the surrounding society, at Jackson Island Huck runs into Jim and he is very happy to see him. Later Huck takes on a mean trick with Jim. He kills a rattlesnake and puts it on the foot of Jim’s comforters. Huck expects that Jim will react like almost any stereotypically, foolish, black man or woman. But Jim is not really a stereotype, and the joke becomes bad when Jim gets bitten through the snake’s mate. This tests Huck’s morality. Huck senses ashamed for what he did, but does not take responsibility for not understanding that Jim is a human being. This situation shows Hucks immaturity early in the novel.
Upon his encounter with Jim, Miss Watson’s slave, on Jackson’s Island, Huck learns that Jim has run off. However, having already promised Jim he would not report back to Miss Watson, Huck keeps his word, despite knowing that “‘people would call me a low down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum—but that don’t make no difference. I ain’t going to tell, and I ain’t going back there anyways’”(Twain 55). This quote not only depicts Huck as a man of his word, but it also goes to paint a bigger issue here in regards to a rising moral dilemma, one between Huck and society. He is raised during a period where slavery is ubiquitous; it is a period where whites are put up on a pedestal and blacks are repressed. Therefore, it is abnormal to think that any white man, or child for that matter, would choose not to break his word on a promise to a slave. To do so would mean that he is going against what his society upholds, marking this as one of Huck’s many moral dilemmas. However, that is not enough to discourage him from doing what he feels is right because not keeping a promise is the same as disrespecting himself and hurting his self-esteem. When Huck keeps his promise, it communicates to Jim that Huck values him because like Jim, Huck too, has run away. In that case, they are not different and Huck can relate to Jim. Huck continues to learn to respect and care for Jim, not as a runaway
In 1883, Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which deals with several problems in society. The novel seems to be innocently full of nonsensical adventures that focus on the two main characters, Huck Finn, a young boy, and Jim, a runaway slave. With a closer look Twain reveals a deeper meaning, full of satire regarding at the view of society at that present time. Mark Twain exposes the evil on his society by satirizing the institutions of religion, education, and slavery.
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
Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is said to be one of the greatest American novels to ever be written and is what all other pieces of American literature are based off of. The novel has been debated for over an entire century and will continue to be debated for much longer. Never the less, Huckleberry Finn teaches young students and adults the important life lessons. ”The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain should remain required reading in American Literature classes because it enlightens students about the horrors of racism and slavery, familiarizes students with the South during time period, and properly portrays the powers of conformity.
The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an extremely important work of literature that addresses many world problems such as: poverty, race relations, and our role in society. Although some of these issues are not as prevalent today as they were in the 1880s, the novel still sends an important satirical message to anyone who is willing hear this story. This essay will analyze Huckleberry Finn and its relation to society today; the main issues that are addressed include: Huckleberry’s growth as a moral and upstanding person, race relations between African-Americans and Caucasian-Americans including Huck’s relation to Jim and the issue of slavery, the role of society and an analysis of Huck’s role in society and society’s role in Huckleberry’s personality.