Lies In Huck Finn Essay

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In today’s society, everyday people struggle with telling the truth. As you grow into a young adult one thing that many kids are told is that a “white lie” is much different compared to a lie. Although everyone knows that this ultimately is not true, it’s become such a normal act that people tend to just go along with it. Many people try to justify this immoral action by claiming that they are using their lies for good, instead of evil. But it is often hard to know at what point a lie becomes an irreversible, cruel action as opposed to an alternate explanation. Huck Finn, the main character and narrator in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, also runs into this dilemma frequently throughout the story. Growing up in the South in the middle of slavery, Huck feels “forced” to be dishonest about his identity many times in order to
Enabling Huck to succeed in his quest to free Jim from Aunt Sally’s farm. While Huck was trying to free Jim, he finds himself staying with Tom Sawyer’s Aunt Sally, and impersonating Tom Sawyer. At one point, Huck is not sure how Tom would respond to a question his Aunt Sally asks. Huck narrates, “So I says to myself, here’s another place where I got to resk the truth. I opened my mouth to begin; but [AuntSally] grabbed me and hustled me in behind the bed” (222).
At that exact moment, Huck intended to confess his true identity in hopes to escape a sticky situation, but that does not serve Twain’s true agenda. Twain proves time and time again throughout the novel that sometimes lying is necessary to achieve honorable deeds such as breaking Jim out of bondage. By having Aunt Sally stop Huck from revealing the truth about his identity, Twain ensures that Huck can continue his lie and stay under the radar. Huck’s lie remains a secret until after Jim has already been broken out of jail, and at that time the lie has already served its

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