Morality is the way an individual decides what is right and what is wrong. Morales can vary extensively from person to person; what is often right to someone is completely wrong to somebody else. Having morals vary to this extent raises questions, are we born with our morals, or do we gain them throughout our life? In Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain) Twain attempts to answer this with the help of Huck and how he contrasts with the other characters. He shows us that we are not born with our morals, rather, they are influenced by society, our experiences and our surroundings. He demonstrates this by illustrating the differences between Huck and Tom, by showcasing the more narrow set of morals imposed by the religious characters and by Huck's ability …show more content…
As a result of how these two were raised, their morales have developed in different ways. There are multiple occasions where these different morals are illustrated, for example, when Tom decides to start a band of robbers we can see a major difference in their ideals. We see that Tom is an idealist and a leader, while Huck is a realist and more of a follower. Tom grew up with books, using his imagination to have fun, he wants to do everything the it is “in the books” (Twain 9). Huck, on the other hand, is not educated like Tom, he wants to be a part of the band to be apart of something. Huck tends follow, listening to what Tom has to say. This illustrates perfectly how Toms upbringing influenced his morales. Another example of this in the book is when the band when to steal jewels, elephants, and camels from the arabs (Twain 13). When they arrived at the location where the arabs were supposed to be, there was nothing but a Sunday school. Tom tells the …show more content…
He is completely surrounded by religion, it affects his everyday life. While we know he does not quite like religion, or even respect it, we know that the others around him do. These religious people tend to have a more narrow set of morals than our protagonist which can be explained by the influence put on them by the religious society they live in. A great example of these more narrow morals would be Mrs.Watson. She relies heavily on religion for her moral guidelines, but also uses it to justify what she deems right. She sees the world as black and white, the good place or the bad place. Sitting up straight would send you to the good place, while slouching or misbehaving would send you straight to the bad place (Twain 2). The pressure that society has put on her to respect religion made her form such narrow views on morality. Huck, comparatively, has not been influenced as heavily by the religious society. Part of the reason religion was mostly kept out of Huck’s life is thanks to his father, who thinks religion is bad. When Pap finds out Huck is getting educated he say, “It's so. You can do it. I had my doubts when you told me. Now looky here; you stop that putting on frills. I won't have it. I'll lay for you, my smarty; and if I catch you about that school I'll tan you good. First you know you'll get religion, too. I never see such a son.” (Twain 20). This shows us how much Pap truly dislikes religion and how it
Ernest Hemmingway once described a novel by Mark Twain as, “…it is the ‘one book’ from which ‘all modern American literature’ came from” (Railton). This story of fiction, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a remarkable story about a young boy growing up in a society that influences and pressures people into doing the so-called “right thing.” It is not very difficult to witness the parallels between the society Huck has grown up in and the society that influences the choices of people living today. However, what is it that gives society the power to draw guidelines to define the norms, trends, and what is morally right and wrong in life? Is it always the best choice to listen to your consciences, which is under the influence of society, or is it sometimes just as important to listen to your heart and what you think is right?
Huckleberry Finn - Moral Choices There were many heroes in the literature that has been read. Many have been courageous and showed their character through tough times. Through these tough times, they were forced to make important decisions and this is where you get the real idea of who deserves to be called a hero. The most influential though of all these was Huckleberry Finn. Through the innocence of childhood, he is able to break through the societal pressures that are brought on him and do right.
Huckleberry Finn, “Huck”, over the course of the novel, was faced with many obstacles that went into creating his moral compass. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn begins with Huck, a 12 year old boy heavily swayed by society and by Tom Sawyer, a fellow orphan. His opinions and depiction of right and wrong were so swindled to fit into society’s mold. Throughout the story Huck Finn’s moral compass undergoes a complete transformation in search of a new purpose in life. Huck was raised with very little guidance from an alcoholic father, of no mentorship. He was forced to live with Widow Douglas and with Miss Watson’s hypocritical values. Upon learning of God and Heaven from Widow Douglas, he remarks that he is unable to see the benefits of going
Twain uses Huck to show the readers how living under an authoritative figure causes one to conform to the ideals and beliefs created by society. He proves to the readers, that while under the care of adults, Huck is forced to follow rules and is limited in his own freedoms. However, in the setting of nature, Twain explains how Huck has more liberties and is free to live his life as he pleases, including “shameful” activities such as befriending Jim. As the story unravels, Twain emphasizes to the audience that society is the cause of one to conform and that action should be taken to permit more liberties and uniqueness within
People have a general belief that they know right from wrong, but how does one truly know the difference? In the fictional works of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain expertly portrays this idea through his main protagonist Huck. Some people believed that this book was nothing more than a boy 's adventure story, but Sloane discredits this idea by stating “In 1885 the Concord Library Board pulled Huck Finn from its shelves. What could possibly have been so offensive in this humorous book, seemingly directed at children?” (Sloane). Huck begins this novel with the ideals and beliefs that society has forced upon him; a both figurative and literal black and white way of thinking. Before Pap comes along and forces him to run off, he thinks of Jim as one thing; a slave. The longer Huck spends time away from
Society can have a huge impact on an individual's moral growth. Sometimes the impact is positive but other times the learned habits and set morals of society have a negative effect. In Mark Twain's novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character, Huck, struggles with what society teaches him and with what he knows to be good and true. During different conflicts concerning either the king and duke, various women or Jim, Huck's sound heart wins the battle over his conscience, which the reader knows to be ill-formed.
Nature helps people make up their moral code and choose how that person wants to live. Once they make up their code they must accept the consequences of their moral code. The film “The God Father” directed by Francis Ford Coppola and the novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, written by Mark Twain, show two people, Huck and Michael, make up their moral codes. To make a proper moral code, one must need Nature, or God to help influence the construction of the moral codes. Huck makes the decision to go out to Nature to form his moral code and while in nature he decides to go ahead with his plan and help free Jim. He went against society in this decision and even accepts he is doing the wrong thing in the eyes of society. Michael, however, does not go out into nature and he does not have a moral code at all. He is ruthless as a Don and does what he thinks is
In the novel, Pap didn’t seem to care about Huck. The only reason he wanted to take Huck into his custody was for the money so he could buy alcohol, as that‘s what the people in the town thought. Huck was afraid of his father since he always abused him. “I used to be scared of him all the time, he tanned me so much. I reckoned I was scared now, too” (Twain 19). Huck was in a good home, living with Widow Douglas and Mrs. Watson; he was actually getting educated and the positive teaching such as praying as he should. “She told me to pray everyday” (Twain 12). Pap didn’t want that; he didn’t feel the need for his son to be educated if he wasn’t. “You’re educated, too, they say--can read and write. You think you’re better’n your father, now, don’t you, because he can’t?” (Twain 21). Even though Pap was very abusive, a drunk and seemed to be really mean, he struggled through the death of his son.
Morals are something that cannot be taught, one has to learn them on their own or follow by example. Huck starts the book without most morals, but if the reader looks at Pap, Huck did not really have an example to follow. As Huck grows through the book there is noticeable change, especially when Huck apologizes to Jim.
In Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, the values of Huck and Jim traveling down the Mississippi River are contrasted against those of the people residing in the southern United States. Twain satirically portrays organized religion and society's morals throughout the novel.
To begin with, there are many shapes and twists that make Huck Finn have a questionable sense of his own morality throughout the course of this novel. First, Huck Finn, in the beginning of the novel, does not truly have his own sense of making his own decisions until Tom Sawyer is out of the picture. Huck, in many ways, gets abducted by his father who has a serious problem with alcohol and forces Huck to live with him despite Huck already having a home he lives at with Miss Watson, who takes very good care of him. Secondly, once Huck finds a way to leave his father successfully he runs into Jim, the runaway slave that Miss Watson owned, on the river at one of his first stops. Huck knows that befriending a slave and taking him on his journey
Huck acts as a much nobler person when he is not confined by the hypocrisies of civilization. Throughout the story we see how he distance himself from society and creates his own world in which he follows his own feelings of what’s moral and honorable. From the beginning of the story we see his instinct come into play and how it affects his decisions throughout the story. He almost always goes his own way, makes up his own mind, and lives by his own standards.
At the beginning of the tale, Huck struggles between becoming ?sivilized? and doing what he pleases. He doesn?t want to listen to the rules that the Widow Douglas and her sister force upon him, even though he knows the widow only wants what is best for him. Miss Watson pushes Huck away from society even more through the way she treats him. She teaches him religion in such a dreary way that when she speaks of heaven and hell, Huck would rather go to hell than be in heaven with her: ?And she told all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there?I couldn?t see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn?t try for it? (12-13). Huck is taught a very different kind of morality by his father who believes ?it warn?t no harm to borrow things, if you was meaning to pay them back?? (70). He likes his father?s idea of morality better because he is not yet mature enough to fully understand right and wrong, although living with the widow...
Pap says this during their first meeting in the book. He cannot believe that Huck is becoming an educated person and having a normal life. Pap is already angry because of Huck's money, and now he is just irate.
Through his experiences, Huck has learned to be his own person. Huck forms his own ideas about Jim, who is a slave. It is civil in Huck’s society to see one’s self above a black man. But by Huck saying “I knowed he was white inside” (Twain 283). Marcia Lusted who wrote “Mark Twain … activist!” agrees with this point by saying that “Huck comes to see Jim not as a runaway slave, but as his equal and his friend”. These statements conclude that Huck has a moral center, and that he does not see race, but the person themself. When Hucks learns of Pap’s death, he realizes he can not be independent. Kravits agrees with this claim by saying “Huck finds himself trapped once again in the grasp of civilization”. Huck once again is in society. Richard Jr. Ernsberger who wrote “Andrew Levy: have we misread Huckleberry Finn?” said “Huck [would] like to break the cycle, but is fairly locked into it”. BY the cycle he means society. Huck wants to get out of society in a whole At the end of his adventures, Huck understands that he does not want to be in society. Aunt Sally wants to adopt Huck, but he does not want to be adopted, by saying “...Aunt sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me and I can’t stand it” (Twain 293). At the beginning of the novel, Huck returns to the widow’s house, only learning she wanted to civilize him. So Huck finding out that now Aunt Sally wants to adopt him, Huck cannot stand it.