Moral and Legal Dilemmas in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

689 Words2 Pages

In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, the author uses a character, Huckleberry Finn to help show the predicament that he lies in when he tries to aid a runaway slave. At this time in history it was against the law to help runaway’s and if you were caught of this, you could be imprisoned. In this story Huck tires to help a runaway slave, Jim escape to the northern Free states. Huck is young and innocent and doesn’t realize the risks behind what he is doing, but does the thing that is morally correct. Today this situation could be compared to that of a doctor who has to make an abortion. He has to think, should I take this life of an unborn child? What are some of the consequences that I may have to face? Huckleberry Finn has to make a tough decision, and in the end he realizes that what he had done was the right choice. One example of this is towards the beginning of the novel when he encounters Jim on Jackson’s Island. Huck has just faked his murder and Jim is the one that is accused of it. Ironically the two meet each other on this island. Huck deci...

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