Huckleberry Finn Morality

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, author Mark Twain uses Huck to demonstrate how one’s conscience is an aspect of everyday life. The decisions we make are based on what our conscience tells us which can lead us the right way or the wrong way. Huck’s deformed conscience leads him the wrong way early on in the chapters, but eventually in later chapters his sound mind sets in to guild him the rest of the way until his friend Tom Sawyer shows up. Society believes that slaves should be treated as property; Huck’s sound mind tells him that Jim is a person, a friend, and not property. Society does not agree with that thought, which also tampers with Huck’s mind telling him that he is wrong. Though Huck does not

American author Mark Twain was one of the most influential people of his time. Twain is perhaps best known for his traditional classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a novel about an adventurous boy named Huck Finn as he traverses about on the Mississippi. Under first impressions, Huckleberry Finn would be considered nothing but a children’s tale at heart written by the highly creative Mark Twain. However one interprets it, one can undoubtedly presume that Twain included personal accounts within its pages, humorous and solemn opinions on the aspects of the diverse societies around him during his life. Throughout the entire story, Huck Finn would often come into conflict between choosing what was consciously right and what was morally

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.

As human beings our thoughts and behaviors are influenced by the world we live in. Mark Twain wrote the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn during the Civil War era, a time where the country was split because societal beliefs were being challenged. The novel examines southern morals during the 1800's through the characters Huckleberry Finn and Jim. Huck and Jim travel down river on a raft in search of a different life. Jim, a runaway slave, wishes for freedom for himself and his family and Huck, wishes for freedom from an abusive father and strict societal expectations which he does not understand.

Huck’s moral development is especially prominent through his lies, his decision regarding Jim, and his refusal to be “sivilized.” To begin with, while Huck does not lie as frequently as his friend Tom Sawyer, he still does tell lies throughout

When hearing an expletive, common reaction is shock, occurring many times in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. “The word ‘nigger’ (used over 200 times in the book)” (Walsh 1), known as the catalyst of the banning of Huck Finn, has an astounding effect. In the novel, Huck goes through many excursions and misadventures with his dear friends, Jim and Tom. As expected, in this time, the relationship of Huck and Jim is unheard of. Mark Twain proves with historical value and ideas of maturity, that the view of poor morals does not make this work garbage.

Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck, the main character, faces a great number of moral debates; Huck must decide if he truly believes slavery is wrong, and what to do with his runaway slave friend Jim. In order for a person to develop morally, he or she must not only do the right thing but also learn something new about his or her beliefs and come to their own conclusions. Huck does things that are considered the morally good, but Huck does not realize slaves as a whole are human, he regresses to his former self when with Tom, and Huck fails to see he is doing the right thing. While Huck makes some moral choices, his morals themselves do not develop.

When Huck found an island to stay on that was along the river that he would be traveling, he met Miss Watson’s runaway slave, Jim. At first, Huck was hesitant because he had been taught his whole life that slavery was a normal, and acceptable, phenomenon. However, Huck felt that he owed it to Jim to help him get to freedom. This is one of the first examples of Huck becoming a favorable and moral person. Huck and Jim had this conversation that showed Huck’s moral development early in the story. “But mind, you said you wouldn’t tell- you know you said you wouldn’t tell, Huck’ ‘Well, I did. I said I wouldn’t, and I’ll stick to it. Honest injun, I will. People would call me a low-down abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum- but that don’t make no difference. I ain’t a-going back there, anyways” (Twain 51). Here it is proven how even though Huck was taught that slavery was acceptable, he knew that he should save Jim because it was the morally appropriate thing to

Close relationships can affect many individuals, allowing them to see different perspectives on society. Morality plays a significant role in how people act, and also provides reason behind how they treat others as well. In addition, individuals can find freedom through forgiveness and honesty. People who face harsh circumstances may suffer, but end up taking a high moral ground even after these hardships. Hence, the people with hardships often have superior principles to those without several problems in life. A person’s position in society does not determine his or her moral or ethical status. In Mark Twain’s historical novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim plays a significant role by representing a moral figure while he also

Huck is on the right path in becoming a faithful friend to Jim. He finds himself struggling to be his support system. He feels divorced from the outside world. As expected, his heart is confused in deciding what is morally and ethically appropriate. His conscience pushes him to reflect on the effects of society and how it incites behavior like his: reckless and unforeseen. This situation made him “trembly and feverish…because [he] begun to get through [his] head that [Jim] was most free… and [he Huck] was to blame” (Gerald and James 100). As a white male, he is expected to turn it runaway slaves of color. Nevertheless, he has no personal desire to follow these expectations. Rather, he chooses to protect Jim, even if he undoubtedly fears to

In adolescent years a person’s mind is still developing and the people surrounding them play a big role in teaching them morals. Huckleberry Finn, better known as Huck has been alone most of his life and is missing that certain mindset to lead a normal life. Although people have different ways of becoming who they are and who they mature into. For some people, maturity comes more natural, but for those who are like Huck, it’s after experiencing numerous adventures and lessons they learned from throughout their lives. In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is about the adventures Huck takes and how they affect him in the way he looks at his life, and the way they mature him.With each challenge arisen by each adventure it brings

Slavery in America presented many different horrifying events that enfolded during what is considered one of the worst times in human history. The first time Americans used African Americans as slaves was in 1619 to boost the American economy. The enslaved African Americans all had their own stories and their stories would differ on a very large and individual scale. African Americans during this time were subject to treatment that an animal on a farm would receive, they were chained, beaten, sold, and subject to prejudice by the white Americans. Their stories are told through history and more specifically their culture that offers people today a perspective of life. The original calling for African Americans in American slavery was because

In the book Adventures of Huckleberry Fin the author, Mark Twain, has created a stir of controversy at the end of the book. There have been many opinions and theories formed about why Twain ended it this way, and what it means. One of these theories is that Twain didn’t have a consistent reason for ending the novel; he had never written a serious novel before and didn’t know how to end it. This is the theory that I will be explaining in this essay.

Despite an ardent view on slavery evident through interactions with Jim, Huck’s slowly shifting view of Jim from that of ignorance to seeming acceptance expresses his ability to stray from flawed societal values to his own developed moral code of conduct. This becomes evident when Huck protects Jim from men who board his raft, by hinting he has smallpox. Although one can see this as compassion for Jim, Huck questions with racist undertones, “s’pose you done right and give Jim up; would you felt better than you do now? No, says I, I’d feel bad” (Twain 127). However, he later affirms himself to “do whatever come handiest at the time.” (Twain 127). At this point, society still influences Huck, but his statement marks his decision to detach from societal values, and eventually allows him to form his own views on Jim. This comes slowly, as Huck cannot shake free from racism.

Morality has always been defined as having either a good or evil conscious. There is always a choice that a character makes that defines their moral integrity in a literary work and distinguishes them as the hero. In Mark Twain’s story, “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, not only does Huck encounters a number of moral circumstances where he or other characters displays situations in which moral ethics is called to questioned, but it proves that despite the religious influence and social expectation, it is through Huck that in order to do what is morally right, one must challenge the moral teaching of the world. Through observation of his world, Huck makes morally ambiguous choices that though may be against his moral teachings. Choice