How Does Huckleberry Finn Mature

While at the cabin with Pap, he figures out a way to escape (the cabin acted as a constraint) for the day Pap is gone, without it looking like he has run away. He makes it look as if robbers came into the house and murdered Huck by using pig blood to mimic a human’s blood. This shows the more mature, smart Huck that has not been seen before. IT shows how much potential Huck has, and street smarts (definitely not school/math smarts). Also it shows how he is ready to live by himself, even if that means his family and friends thinking he is dead. The quote “There was a little gray in the sky now; so I stepped into the woods, and laid down for a nap before breakfast,”(Twain 36) shows that he has no cares in the world, and could not be happier to be alone. He is able to do as he wishes whenever he wants, like smoking. Huck is more than capable of taking care of himself which shows more signs of maturity. Huck has to fish for food, hike for materials, and create shelter for survival. It shows how Huck has escaped the harsh society he was used to, and could not be

Huck's maturity grows with the same issue later on. When approaching Cairo, the point where Jim can become free, Huck decides that he has done something terribly wrong by not turning Jim in and decides he is going into town to tell on him. However, in a split second, while encountering some slave hunters, Huck decides against it and continues to protect Jim. This episode is particularly significant because even though Huck was "feeling bad and low, because [he] knowed very well [he] had done wrong" (91) he still made a conscious decision to do what he felt was right rather than what society thought was right.

In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, the main character Huck matures throughout the book due to a sense of growing morality and accepting responsibility for his actions. The character of Huckleberry Finn is introduced to the reader as a lower class, uneducated kid with no manners that is influenced by a greedy society. As the novel progresses Huck into a wonderful, strong character that has dug deep into what it means to be an individual, and by becoming mature, he has also escaped from the negative way society depicts African Americans.

“I got to thinking that if I could fix up some way to keep Pap and the widow from trying to follow me” (42). Although illegal to stage one’s death, Huck’s intentions were highly justified, suggesting that his free nature is more mature for his age. Skeptics may question why he took such extreme action when he could have ran for safety under the widow’s custody. Huck’s nature makes him very independent from adults although he is still a young teenager. He knows, should he return to the widow, he will be forced to attend school, become “sivilized” and be restricted of his freedoms.

Pap shows the effects of “barely there” parenting. In fact, it’s difficult to truly call Pap a parent, except in the biological sense. He abandoned his child and then took advantage when he thought he could benefit monetarily. Readers see the impacts this type of parenting can have. Huck is not as developed or as well read as his friend Tom, however he has learned great lessons in practicality and survival skills. This can be seen when Huck fakes his death and through his ability to survive adult-free, with the exception of Jim, for an extended period of time. During Huck’s stay, or hostage-situation, with Pap in the cabin we see Huck’s childlike nature as he enjoys the structure-free world without religion or education. Ultimately, however Pap’s alcoholism and abuse of Huck causes Huck to flee this situation as well.

     The final sign of maturity occurs at the end of the novel when Tom and Huck are mistaken for thieves and Tom is shot. If this occurred at the beginning of the novel, Huck would have probably tried to fix it himself, making up a grand story to go along. Now, at the end of the novel, after Huck has matured, he decides to blow their cover and against Tom’s wishes, seek medical help.

Although he predicts society will deem him to be "a low down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum," he prefers to be shunned and to risk punishment and shame for the sake of freeing Jim (Twain 43). Clearly, Huck's fondness for Jim is evident when Huck intends to send a letter to Miss Watson returning Jim but chooses to rip it to save him instead. Huck responds, "‘I'll right, then, I'll go to hell'- and he tore it up" (Twain 214). Huck accepts his rebellious nature and terrible fate to hell as he escapes from civilized society and into a place driven by his instincts. Jim's desire for freedom puts Huck in a moral dilemma because he must decide whether to follow his innate sense of morality or the restrictive guidelines of society.

T.S. Elliot said, "Huck is alone: there is no more solitary figure in fiction. The fact that he has a father only emphasizes its loneliness; and he views his father with a terrifying detachment" (329). Most parents like to see their children excel in life and become productive members of society, but Pap is thinking only about himself. Instead of wishing the best for his son, he is angry because he is becoming a better person than his father. This man would be an awful influence on any child, and should be kept away from Huck.

Huck has had enough with their failed relationship, deciding he can handle such an atrocity, he decides he will run away from his monster of an alcoholic father. Pap will never be able to have a relationship with his father, because he was probably drunk, got into an argument and was shot and killed. Alcoholic parents’ actions often hinder the child’s ability to tell what is right from wrong.

Another possible reason for Huck’s passive judgement is his limited experience with people other than Pap. Huck’s mind embodies English philosopher John Locke’s theory of tabula rasa, which refers to “a state where in which a child is as formless as a blank slate” (Duschinsky 1). Life experiences are what eventually fills up their blank slates, and Huck’s ‘blank slate’ is only filled with his unstable home life with his drunk father. Thus, Huck is at a loss when confronted with different people such as the slave hunters, and prefers to do “whichever come handiest at the time” (Twain 344), and filling up his ‘blank slate’ with the experience.

During his journey with Jim, Huck begins to understand his own beliefs better. He comes across many people who test those beliefs and he grows internally because of it. When Huck and Jim discover The Walter Scott, a wrecked steam boat, Huck decides to go on and have an adventure. He discovers two robbers threatening to kill a third. As he?s leaving, Huck feels genuinely sorry for these robbers who are stranded on the wreck. The fact that he is able to feel badly for these terrible people shows that he is maturing. After he comes on land, Huck meets the Sheperdsons who show him the nature of human violence through their feud with the Grangerford family. Huck matures through witnessing the feud and also begins to comprehend the hypocrisy of religion:

Huck needed discipline and nurture to open up and become himself, with Pap he did not get

Huck's dissatisfaction in civilization and it's beliefs is the trigger to his development and growth. At first, Huck is shown as an ignorant 12 year old, born in to the harsh life of pre civil

We saw a glimpse of Huck’s maturity when he found a robbers stash of gold and had gained a lot of money from it. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with it. The Widow Douglass and Miss. Watson were trying to civilize him and make him more of a gentlemen. In fear that his father would take his money, he convinces Judge Thatcher to take it all. Judge Thatcher was the town judge and was a close friend to Huck. Huck gave the money to Judge Thatcher because he trusted him to take care of it. This shows a growth of Huck’s maturity because he is somewhat standing up to his father by not letting him touch his money. Once his father found out that Huck gave away his fortune he was outraged. He then kidnapped Huck and locked him in a cabin Huck decided that the only way he would be able to escape would be to fake his own death. When he decided to fake his own death this showed us how he was thinking more maturely. Although

The notion of “coming of age” refers to the crucial process in a person’s life in which one pieces together childhood lessons and societal influences to formulate a unique ethical code that defines his character. Contrary to the misinterpretation that people automatically mature over time, a pivotal element of development is when one must freely decide upon a set of values to live life by. However, depending on the level of parental guidance and influence through example and society’s acceptance of originality, this decision is harder for some than for others. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain depicts the struggle of the son of the town drunk to discover his unique intellect in a society that demands conformity. Due to the lack of a stable parent or guardian to teach him the difference between right and wrong, in the beginning of the novel, Huck lacks moral conviction and lets Tom’s fantasies control his realities.