Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, certain characters help influence the development of Huck’s morality immensely. For instance, Jim gave Huck a sense of loyalty and respect, Meanwhile Huck’s father and the con men Huck encountered allowed him to see how not to treat others and what not to value. With all these influences weighing on Huck, he was able to progressively learn how to choose between the rights and wrongs amongst the decisions made by himself and others around him. Huck’s moral development as a character is mostly credited to himself in learning how to analyze situations and people in his life and deciding whether or not they keep strong values and morality. Throughout the beginning of the story, Huck …show more content…
I think his new sympathetic trait is proved when he feels pity for the robbers upon the wrecked ship, and tries to save their lives. Even though they were murderous thieves, Huck felt bad for them and feels that one day he could be in a situation just like they had. Huck expresses this sympathy when he states “I begun to think how dreadful it was, even for murderers, to be in such a fix. I says to myself, there ain’t no telling but I might come to be a murderer myself yet, and then how would I like it?” (Twain 71).This plays a huge role in Huck’s character, he is finally able to acknowledge other people and their emotions and experiences. He is also able to put himself into their shoes. I think that he also feels sympathy towards Jim, though they both have very little, Jim has much less than Huck. I believe that Jim helps Huck develop loyalty, which might be unintentional, but still prevalent. Huck feels apologetic towards the widow for he is helping her slave escape, but he couldn’t cease his actions for Jim is his friend and he is loyal to him. This also supports Huck’s journey on the road of maturation. Being able to understand who really deserves your help and faithfulness is an idea even many adults aren’t able to completely …show more content…
The comrades allow the two strangers to ride along, even though they don’t know who they are. The men claim to be a King and a Duke, though Huck quickly figures out that they are con men. Everyone seems fairly oblivious to the fact though so Huck keeps quiet and plays along with their schemes. The men commit fraud and fool a town family into believing that they are to inherit the fortune of their deceased family member. This here is a point in which Huck’s morality comes to play, he is frankly disgusted by the men’s actions. Though he believes what they’re doing to the family is cruel, Huck hasn’t said anything to the family. He observes the situation for a while, to see how far the men intend to go with their schemes. At first glance, this doesn’t seem like a fair display of good morality, but it is in a sense for Huck is able to form the conclusion that these men aren’t good and resolves to return the money back to the rightful owners. This is also another huge milestone, revealing the truth about the men and giving back what they have stolen. Huck is able to identify when someone is doing wrong by harming another person and figures out how to fix it. There are many people who would turn the other cheek for they would believe that it is not their problem, but Huck believes he needs to make things right, and that is a huge display of character on his behalf. In
Living in the 1800's wasn't an easy task. There were many hardships that a person had to endure. In the novel, The Adventures of Huck Finn, the author Mark Twain portrays the adventure of a young boy. Huck, the young boy, goes on a journey with various dilemmas. The novel starts off in Missouri on the Mississippi River. Huck is taken from his guardians by his father and then decides to runaway from him. On his journey, he meets up with his former slave, Jim. While Huck and Jim are traveling down the Mississippi River, they meet a variety of people. Throughout the novel he takes on many different tasks which help shape his moral conscience. Taking on a new friend which society
In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is seen as a nobler person when not exposed to the hypocrisy of civilization. Huck does what he believes is right, even if this means going against common practices in the society around him. This is seen through Huck’s actions when helping his slave friend, Jim. Throughout the novel, Huck shows his friendship for Jim, especially when everyone is trying to capture him. This was also shown when Huck apologizes to Jim, and sees them both as equals and also freeing Jim after being sold.
In the middle of the book, Huck starts to distinguish what is the right thing to do. He starts to think if all the things he was doing before with Jim and Tom were too mean and stupid to do. One specific example is when he decides to steal the money that the king and duke have, “I got to steal that money somehow; and I got to steal it some way that they wont suspicion I done it." (Twain 133) After Huck stole the money Huck and Jim didn’t feel bad at all, and knew that they did the right thing after all. He learns that not everyone can be scammed on, that the real life is important and that you can’t do anything stupid like that. He sees eye to eye with Jim and realizes that he cant have someone taken advantage of just because of their
Along the path of self-discovery, challenges constantly present themselves as opportunities to grow intellectually and as a chance to succeed. Often times, the use of personal judgment and self-understanding is necessary in order to overcome these challenges. In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck experiences difficulties which compel him to use his moral judgment. Huck, a young boy in search of freedom, is accompanied by a runaway slave named Jim as he embarks on a treacherous journey down the Mississippi River. During his adventure, Huck must determine the fate of the runaway slave. However, as his relationship with the slave deepens, he comes to realize this task is far from simple. Huck faces this life-defining yet
Finally, Huck decides that he has had of enough of these frauds and he wants nothing else to do with them. He does not value money as much as he values honesty.
Huck and Jim form a friendship that transcends the boundaries of race and the morals of the society they live in. The strongest example from the text that shows how well their relationship has developed is when Jim is caught due to the duke and the king selling him out. After pondering many ideas and reflecting on his past actions, Huck eventually decides to save Jim and that “[He’ll] go to hell” (195). Even after living his life in a racially ignorant society, Huck still realizes that it’s better for him to save his friend than to give up and let Jim become enslaved again. Along the lines of morals, Huck also makes a good decision when the duke and the king are impersonating the Wilkes brothers.
Huck feels alone and abandoned. Huck’s past has failed to make him an abusive and mean person, it hasn’t influenced him to believe in racism or a doomed government. And despite his crummey experiences with guardianship, he still allows Jim into his
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 Finn, a narcissistic and unreliable young boy, slowly morphs into a courteous figure of respect and selflessness. After Pap abducts the young and civilized Huck, Huck descends into his old habits of lies and half-truths. However, upon helping a runaway slave escape, Huck regains morality and a sense of purpose. Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck lies to characters, casting the authenticity of the story into doubt but illustrating Huck’s gradual rejection of lying for himself and a shift towards lying for others.
This can be clearly shown when Jim gets bit by a snake after Huck makes the mistake of not getting a rid the one that he killed. “Then I slid out quiet and throwed the snakes clear away amongst the bushes; for I warn’t going to let Jim find out it was all my fault, not if I could help it” (40). When he says this he is beginning to it sort out in his head that it was his fault that Jim had gotten bitten by the snake and that he feels bad about it. Although he feels bad about it at the same time he is also doing it so that Jim doesn’t get mad or upset with him. This shows an improvement in his sense of morality for Huck while he is with Jim. When with Jim he starts to see that he isn't that different from him and that he should be nicer to Jim. Another good example of this is when Huck learns that people are heading over to the island to search for him and Jim and he took the chance to go back and get Jim when he knew people were on their way. He easily could have just left but after spending time with Jim and seeing him as a friend he goes back to get him. “Git up and hump yourself, Jim! There ain’t a moment to lose. They’re after us!” (47) This shows a big moral leap with Huck as he could have left Jim to fend for himself when he had his own boat and could easily have fled and escaped. As a friend of JIm you see him feel for someone who isn't the same race which is unheard of and looked down upon at this time. This varies vary much from earlier
Knowing that his companion was hurt because of something Huck did created a guilt that was worse a punishment then getting hurt himself. Jim's superstition coming to life made Huck develop some respect for
One component of these chapters that I felt was extremely prevalent was the character development of Huck. There were multiple instances when Huck had to make certain decisions that would effect him in the long run, and with most of those decisions came a moral struggle. It seemed as if within these chapters, Huck is trying to find out who he truly is as a person. One example of these moments is in chapter 16 when he is having an internal battle, trying to convince himself that helping Jim gain his freedom is in fact the right thing to do. The quote reads, “I couldn't get that out of my conscience, no how nor no way. It got to troubling me so I couldn't rest; I couldn't stay still in one place…I tried to make out to myself that I warn't to blame, because I didn't run Jim off from his rightful owner” (Pg. 87). In the quote stated above you can clearly see the internal struggle that Huck goes through, trying to find himself along the way. He looks at the situation with 2 different perspectives, one of them being that taking Jim to gain his freedom is immoral and the wrong thing to do, the other being taking Jim to gain his freedom is the right thing to do. Although Jim knows that either way he will feel guilty but he ends up choosing to take Jim's side because of his loyalty. Jim shows his appreciation to Huck by saying things like, "Dah you goes, de ole true Huck; de on'y white genlman dat ever kep' his promise to ole Jim”(Pg. 92), causing Huck
When the King goes to feel out one of the towns to see if the people of that particular town has heard of the fraud of a show that he and the Duke had been putting on Huck is planning his and Jim’s escape. Huck at this point knows that the King is actually going into the town to look for more people’s houses to rob. The Duke is visibly agitated for some reason and Huck senses it. When Huck and the Duke go into the town to look for the King he is obviously drunk. Huck runs as soon as he sees an opportunity to lose the King and the Duke. Huck thinks he and Jim are finally free only to find that Jim is gone. When Huck realizes Jim is gone and he cannot find him he actually cries. We see the emotional attachment and bond that Jim has formed with Jim. When Huck comes across a young boy who tells him of how a runaway slave was caught and he learns that he was caught because the Duke and the King tricked them. Following this encounter Huck is upset. The first reason he seems upset is because he was turned in by the hands of people he thought he was helping but the most ironic reason for his anger
During the beginning chapters of the book readers might assume that he is carefree and could care less about anyone but himself but from his many decisions throughout the book it clearly points to the fact that Huck is a very thoughtful and caring character deep down. Finally, Huck made the decision to save his friend Jim, who was a runaway slave, and go against society’s morals. This is a huge turning point in the story as it shows the definite change in Huck’s attitude towards Jim, which had be slowly turning for the better up to this point. Huck states that he would prefer to go to hell and save Jim then leave Jim behind as a slave. This increasingly brings out the fact that Huck has made a moral change to go against
Mark Twain wrote the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. At the beginning of the novel, Huck Finn is an immature thirteen year old boy. He goes south on a river with a runaway slave, Jim, trying to leave his old life behind. During the course of the novel, Huck meets many different people who teach him very valuable lessons. Throughout the novel, Huck has changed in several different ways. There are many things that he obtained from these people that will help Huck build the foundation of the person that he will become. He learns what true friendship is, how dependable, and how to be honest.